In order to accurately grasp the relationship between damaged wooden frame nodes and their mechanical properties and to provide a foundation for evaluating the overall safety of a structure, a reduced scale, single room architectural model in a 1:2 ratio was built according to Qing Dynasty construction codes in magnificent building size. The dovetails of the model building were of four different degrees of off the tongue. Through vertical loading tests, the main forms of node damage and ultimate load bearing capacity were recorded and analyzed. The experimental data and conclusions can be used as reference for researchers doing similar structural analysis.