The springboard to a 21st century technology proved to be a thousand-year old building tradition — timber framing. Early American houses were built of hand-hewn timber frames, in-filled with smaller studs. At the time our West was settled, we realized that the structures would stand using the light in-fill timbers alone. Our stud-framing system was born, and the more labor- and cost-intensive methods of timber framing virtually disappeared from the American building scene.

Timber framing experienced a resurgence in the 1970s as people began to turn away from a factory-produced housing look and turn back to the fine, hand-craftsmanship of earlier times. But in order to achieve the energy-efficiency that people had come to expect, timber frames had to effectively enclose their frame with a conventional house. Winter Panel was formed in 1981 to make insulated panels to wrap outside the timber framed structures.

The first panels were laminated of sheet rock, rigid foam and wood sheathing, glued together with construction adhesive. The combination timber frame and panel system created an uninterrupted envelope of insulation By enclosing the frame, the panels also worked to prevent rot and decay in the frame itself. The timber frame and panel industry grew hand-in-hand.

We realized that stresskin panels could stand alone as complete houses, offering the advantages of panel insulation construction, without the cost of the timber frame. The company developed the continuous laminating process, which has put us at the forefront of the industry. Computerized design gave us the freedom to create curved panels for roofs, easier manipulation of space within the house, and the ability to design according to a client's wishes and yet use just one standard building technology.

Your home can be built with today's Structurewall panel system, a system offering continuous insulation with no wall cavities, a system combining the best in energy-saving technology with complete architectural freedom in design.

Please visit our facility in Brattleboro, Vermont, or call us with any questions you have about our panels. We know you will enjoy taking part in a new tradition.

All of us at Winter Panel thank you for your interest in our insulated panel systems. We encourage you to learn about them and find out why they are the method of choice of discerning home builders. Please let us know either by email or on the form if there is particular information you need and can't find here at this site.