Company History

Riverbend Timber Framing actually began years before its conception in 1979. The house that was the motivation behind Riverbend was built in 1949 on a “bend” of the Maumee River in northwest Ohio by the founder’s grandfather who was also named Frank Baker.

The first timber frame home., built by Frank Baker's Grandfather. Now this home design is known as the Cottswald.

That home, with its warm, strong timbers and timeless design was the central gathering place of a large extended family for more than 50 years and ultimately became the inspiration of Riverbend Timber Framing.

Because of that amazing home, timber framing was a natural course when Frank began planning and designing his own home. Realizing the distinctive and unique rewards of living in a timber frame as well as the sustainable advantages of timber framing, Frank and Brenda began plotting out the plans for their home as well as their future.

After locating an interesting piece of property on the “bend” of the River Raisin in Blissfield, Michigan, the first Riverbend structure, a reproduction of a 1700’s gambrel barn which eventually became the Riverbend timber shop, was cut and raised on site in the summer of 1979. The Baker house followed shortly after and soon Riverbend was cutting joinery for timber frames across the country.

The first timber frame home of Frank and Brenda Baker was built on the River Raisin in Blissfield, MI. It was later named: The Franklin, a design that still exists today.

As the timber frame industry was experiencing a rebirth, structural insulated panels (SIPs) were also becoming the preferred enclosure system. In their early days they were often referred to as stress skin panels, but as the technology and engineering properties of the panels expanded, they were also recognized as an independent building system. By incorporating SIPS in the design and development of their timber frame homes, Riverbend became a leader in the “hybrid” movement. Hybrid design allows more effective and efficient use of the timbers in the general living areas of the homes along with utilizing the structural insulated panels in other sections of the house. It became evident that timber framing combined with SIPS was the ideal technology to produce incredibly energy efficient structures using fewer natural resources than stick built homes.

In 1990 Riverbend created Midwest Panel Systems to manufacture and market SIP structures. Soon afterward Midwest Panels became affiliated with Insulspan to produce panels under the Insulspan trademark and building codes listings. In 1998, Midwest Panels acquired ownership of Insulspan, and Insulspan soon grew to become the #1 Brand in SIPs as documented by Professional Builder Magazine. In 2004, Riverbend and Insulspan merged with PFB Corporation which allowed for expanding opportunities to both companies.

From that first project in 1979, Riverbend is now one of the nation’s oldest and most accomplished designers and suppliers of timber frames. With approximately 2,000 structures, including homes, restaurants, offices, churches, retail shops, clubhouses, wooden bridges and public pavilion under our belt, Riverbend’s goals are still simple: to make the planning, designing, building, and living of your timber frame a pleasure from beginning to end.