Western Timber Frame™ designs, engineers, and builds custom timber frame pergolas, pavilions, and outdoor living structures across the Avenues in Salt Lake City. Every structure is engineered to the specific lot: its soil, its grade, its snow and wind load, and the way you use the space.
18+
Years
7000+
Projects
50
States
28
Awards
Designed and Built in Utah — Delivered to the Avenues
Our structures are made in Utah — designed, engineered, and CNC-cut at our facility in Payson, about an hour away. Every one of the 7,000+ structures we’ve delivered nationwide since 2008 started as raw timber on that shop floor.
For an Avenues buyer, that means an in-person consultation, timber cut in-state, and real joinery you can drive to before you commit. We’ve built across the Salt Lake Valley, including the cabana suite, the timber awning, and the arched-beam pergola pictured on this page, and projects in Salt Lake City, Millcreek, and South Salt Lake.
It’s also why the U.S. Small Business Administration named us the 2026 SBA Utah District Manufacturing Small Business of the Year.
Designing Timber Structures for the Avenues’ Climate & Lifestyle
The Avenues rises from South Temple into the Wasatch foothills, so many lots sit above the valley floor. Salt Lake City Building Services’ design criteria list a 115 mph residential wind speed, a 30-inch frost depth, and a minimum 28 psf ground snow load at or below 4,239 feet, with higher sites set by the Utah Snow Load Study. NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for Salt Lake City International Airport show an average July high of 94°F and about 52 inches of snow a year.
Building Services exempts sheds, playhouses, and similar residential structures under 200 square feet from a building permit, but zoning rules still apply. In the Avenues local historic district, the city says a Certificate of Appropriateness is always required for exterior work. Many Avenues lots are zoned SR-1A, where the city’s accessory building guide caps a detached structure at 14 feet with a pitched roof (9 feet flat) and a 480-square-foot footprint. We work through those requirements with you during design, before a single beam is cut.
Our standard engineering starts at 115 mph. Where the project requires a higher design wind speed, the structure is engineered for that requirement. We also engineer to your lot’s real snow load, soil, and exposure.
Neighborhoods we design for:
Historic homes in the lower Avenues
Homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s, where a new structure needs historic review and has to fit the home’s style, brick, and rooflines.
Foothill lots in the upper Avenues
Sloped lots higher on the bench, where grade, valley views, and a higher snow load figure shape the footing and roof design.
Narrow lots and tight backyards
Split lots with small rear yards, where an attached cover, an entry cover, or a compact pergola fits the setbacks and still gives real shade.
The Avenues sits beside some of Salt Lake City’s best-loved outdoor spaces. Memory Grove was dedicated as a memorial park in 1924 at the mouth of City Creek Canyon, and the neighborhood’s landmarks include the Madeleine Choir School and the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. A timber structure earns its place here by fitting that history and standing up to real snow, wind, and sun.
Structures We Build in the Avenues
Every structure is a Custom-Engineered Kit — purpose-built for your space, architecture, and lot.
Custom Pergolas: Best Fit For the Avenues
With July highs averaging about 94°F, an Avenues patio needs shade that actually works. A pergola has to deliver real shade and read as a permanent part of a historic home, not a mail-order add-on, whether it sits behind a Victorian on a narrow lot or on a foothill yard with valley views. That’s where custom engineering separates from a catalog cover.
Many aluminum and light-frame pergola kits provide significantly less coverage, while our ShadePrint™ approach measures actual coverage and can reach 80–85%, varying by orientation and time of day. Unlike metal, timber has low thermal conductivity, so it doesn’t heat the skin as quickly in the sun and surfaces stay more comfortable to the touch. Engineered for the Avenues’ summer sun and winter snow, the Dovetail Difference® interlocks the timbers without metal brackets or exposed fasteners, with no visible hardware to loosen. Add lighting and power through TimberVolt® — engineered in, not bolted on.
The same craftsmanship scales up: Salt Lake City’s businesses, schools, and event venues use commercial timber pavilions to turn a patio into a year-round, instantly recognizable space.
Our Timber Frame Design & Build Process in the Avenues
Design Consultation
In person or remote, designed around your lot, home, and views.
Engineering for Avenues Conditions
Engineered to your lot’s soil, grade, snow load, and wind, based on the specific conditions of your property. We provide engineering documentation to support permitting and stamped drawings prepared by a licensed engineer where the project and jurisdiction require them.
Fabrication & Quality Control
Every timber is cut in-house at our own Payson shop, on CNC machinery we own and run ourselves — not sent out to a third-party fabricator. That means the same team that engineers your Avenues structure also cuts it, with one line of control and accountability from design to delivery.
Warranty Coverage
Every Western Timber Frame structure carries a limited structural warranty. Length runs from 3 years on Deck Structures to 25 years on the 12K Series, based on the series you purchase.
Delivery & Installation Support
Ships as a Custom-Engineered Kit with complete instructions; DIY-friendly, or we can coordinate installation support.
We build around local permitting, including Salt Lake City’s design criteria, accessory building rules, and historic district review.
Also Serving the Areas Around the Avenues
We serve homeowners and businesses across:
FAQs About Timber Structures in the Avenues, Salt Lake City
What Our Clients Say About Us
2026 SBA Utah District Manufacturing Small Business of the Year
National recognition for excellence in craftsmanship, client service, and small business leadership.
National Timber Frame Expertise, Built in Utah
With 28 Best of State Awards, multiple Inc. 5000 honors, an HGTV Design Excellence Award, the 2026 SBA Utah District Manufacturing Small Business of the Year, and 7,000+ structures built nationwide since 2008, Western Timber Frame designs and builds custom, structural, real-wood timber structures for homeowners and commercial clients who want true craftsmanship, not off-the-shelf catalog designs.
Send us your project details, and we’ll design a structure purpose-built for your Avenues property.