High atop the roof of a timber-framed structure in the heart of Spotsylvania, Paul Guilloux, his wife, Araceli, and four of their six children were in a race against time.
The first snow of the season was coming. While other families were rushing to the store for an extra gallon of milk Jan. 1, the Guilloux family, armed with nail guns and secured with safety harnesses, were steadily shingling their dream house. Each gust of wind was met with undaunted determination until the last shingle was secured just hours before the snow began to fall.
This epic family project started as a scribble on a napkin and is turning into a reality.
“Even before we were married, we talked about wanting to build our own home,” said Paul, who found his passion for carpentry while attending the diocesan WorkCamp in high school.
When the family found 36 acres of wooded property just down the road from their parish, St. Matthew Church in Spotsylvania, they decided the time was right. Unfortunately, it also happened to be when the price of lumber skyrocketed.
Fortunately for the Guilloux family, their property was once a tree farm, filled with hundreds of Southern Yellow Pine, a durable softwood known for its strength. So, instead of giving up, they bought a sawmill.
“That’s how we can afford materials,” said Paul. “After that, we started designing and decided on timber framing for the house. You use bigger pieces of wood and fewer of them. This is more efficient when you are cutting your own lumber.”
After convincing the county that they were not crazy for trying to build their house off the power grid and using their own trees, they were issued a building permit, and the real fun began.
They timber-framed the barn first and then got to work on the house. They needed hundreds of timbers.
It is not every day that you see a five-year-old operating a sawmill, but that is exactly what you could find on the Guilloux build.
“It sounds scary, but the sawmill is quite safe and easy to manage,“ said Paul. “The kids roll the logs and make the next cut. I then have them sign the timbers. We carve the names where they will be visible in the house.”
Paul and Araceli have six children: Lizbet, 16; Jack, 13; Dylan, 11; Sammy, 9; Elena, 8; and Ezra, 6. They all have contributed to the build, from cutting joinery to helping with sanding and staging.
“Lizbet has stained 80 percent of the whole house by herself,” said Paul. “My wife got a feel for running the crane. She has a steady hand. Dylan likes to be on the roof. Jack helps with chiseling out the timber frame. Elena likes to keep the site clean; Sammy did a lot of sanding; and Ezra likes hammering in the pegs and cutting off the ends.”
“It has helped us grow a lot together as a family and has shown the kids the value of hard work and what it takes to make dreams happen,” said Araceli. “It gives them a different perspective and teaches them how to work together as a team and love each other while doing it.”
The build has grown from a small family affair to a community project with dozens of family members, friends and neighbors coming by to run the sawmill or help with framing. One of the most familiar faces on the job site is Paul’s brother, Father Edouard Guilloux, parochial vicar of St. John the Apostle Church in Leesburg.
“The very first thing we built after clearing the site was an altar, complete with log pews and facing east,” said Paul. Now, whenever Father Guilloux comes to visit on his days off, they have Mass there and invite anyone helping to join them.
Taking on a project like this with his family, Paul feels a special connection to St. Joseph.
“He is not only a patron saint for me as a husband and father but also as a builder and woodworker,” said Paul. “I wrote a prayer to St. Joseph that we say every day before working on the house.”
The Guilloux family hopes this will be the year they move into the house this summer, but they are also determined to do things right. They have responsibilities that keep them busy off-site. Araceli is a realtor and works for Mary’s Shelter in Fredericksburg, while Paul has his carpentry business, Gilly Custom. Together, they share the giant task of homeschooling their children.
People who are interested in watching the family’s progress can subscribe to their YouTube channel @GillyCustom. They recently posted a video detailing the installation of their off-grid solar power system from Ozark Mountain Offgrid.
In addition to their building updates, they have a series of workshop videos to encourage others to try more DIY projects, such as how to refinish a door.
There is still a lot to do, and there are sure to be more challenges along the way, but until the work is done, they will continue building the dream one tree at a time.
Kassock is a freelance writer in Fredericksburg.
