A unique woodshed, a unique love story

Dennis Silvers is a throwback — and a romantic.

Silvers, 74, has a story about construction as well as love.

“I worked in a timber framing shop and knew the trade,” said Silvers, who lives in Lushmeadows.

Last year, after lugging firewood from piles covered with tarps, he decided something different needed to happen.

He came up with the idea of building a woodshed. But not your average woodshed.

Silvers, a lifelong carpenter, decided to use timber frame construction. It’s a throwback to the early days where mortise and tenon construction was utilized in the early days of building in America.

But in fact, the Japanese were the first to use this type of construction and to this day, some buildings in Japan are more than 2,000 years old and still standing. They have survived earthquakes, tsunamis and much more.

“The only nails are in the roof,” he said.

He said this type of construction makes it “flexible,” but also strong.

“It gives without breaking,” said Silvers.

Mortise and tenon is a strong, traditional woodworking joint where a projecting tenon on the end of one piece of wood fits tightly into a rectangular hole (mortise) in another piece, creating a durable interlocking connection, commonly used at right angles for furniture frames, doors and timber structures.

He came up with the concept after looking everyday at a dead standing pine tree in his yard. Silvers just knew that tree could be utilized. Trees on the ground rot quickly, but this one remained standing.

He called on the help of a neighbor to fell the big tree and that’s when the process began. Silvers and his neighbor each had the necessary equipment to cut the wood into four-inch slabs as well as the 2X6 tongue-in-groove wood utilized on the roof.

He began the project last spring. He said it took about five months to cut all of the pieces for the woodshed.

The building is 8X14 feet and has no windows or doors.

Each side of the building has a four foot area to stack the firewood.

But the key, he said, was leaving enough room in the middle to drive his quad with a trailer to load the wood.

“Have you ever tried to back up a trailer with a quad?” he said.

Not to mention how it saves his back. He simply drives inside the shed, loads the wood on the trailer and drives out the other side to unload it at his house.

Getting it to that point took the help of a lot of neighbors, he said. Once the walls were constructed and laying on sawhorses, they then had to be lifted into place.

Like the old days, he said 12 men showed up at his place to get that part of the job done. It was a real community effort, he said.

Now, it is completed and being used by Silvers, a real step up for him and his back.

The love story

But don’t think the unique shed is the only story Silvers has to tell.

The other one may be even more unique.

It was 50 years ago when Silvers worked in Yosemite National Park. He worked as a carpenter and in campground maintenance.

Also working at the park was Nancy Biskovich.

They knew each other back then on a friendly basis, going to gatherings together and the like, but that was about it.

Silvers went to Isanti, Minn., where he worked as a carpenter. He was originally from Iowa but took a job in neighboring Minnesota and that became his career.

Then tragedy entered his life when his son died.

“I needed space,” he said.

Silvers decided to “make a circuit of the country,” he said, including coming back to his old stomping grounds in Yosemite.

He spent three days visiting with his old friend, Nancy.

But he was also about to leave for Spain to further his education.

The day he left Nancy’s house, she was heading off to work before he was going to be leaving for Spain.

He leaned into the window of her car and gave her a kiss.

She told him during that day she wondered “what just happened,” so he decided after getting back from Spain, he would come back to Lushmeadows and see “if there is a relationship there.”

Indeed there was.

They were married a year ago last October and are living “happily ever after” in Lushmeadows.

After spending a lifetime doing carpentry work and then enduring the tragedy of the death of his son, Silvers has found a new lease on life — and new love.

Not to mention that woodshed.