As Notre Dame reopens, Grand Marais man reflects on his role in reconstruction

The iconic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France reopens this weekend five years after a devastating fire, thanks in part to the work of a carpenter from Grand Marais, Minn., who helped rebuild it.

Peter Henrikson, an expert in the traditional building method known as timber framing, was one of several timber framers from the U.S. who traveled to France to help rebuild the cathedral’s massive roof.

They used axes to hew oak trees into massive beams, much as carpenters would have done to build the original cathedral more than 800 years ago.

“There were proposals to do all sorts of wild modern roof systems built on to it,” said Henrikson.

But in the end French officials made the decision to replicate as much as possible how the original cathedral was built, so that ax and chisel marks will again be seen on the woodwork.

“Notre Dame has a lot of importance to the French people and they really want to stick with that tradition. I think that was really important to a lot of people,” Henrikson said.

His unlikely journey to France began with a trip to Washington D.C. shortly after the fire, where Henrikson joined a group of about 25 other timber framers to recreate one of the cathedral’s roof trusses, working only with hand tools.

Connections Henrikson made on that project eventually brought him to France through an organization called Carpenters without Borders.

For seven months he built trusses in the Loire Valley, about three hours from Paris, with timber framers from France and across Europe. He said there are only a small number of people around the world who have traditional timber framing expertise, where only hand tools are used.

“I think I met and worked with a very high percentage of the timber framers who know how to hew timbers in France,” Henrikson said.

The scale of the project was massive. More than 1,400 oak trees were felled to make the roof tresses. The cathedral’s original roof was known as “the forest,” because it looked like a thicket of trees, there were so many timbers used to build it.

Henrikson and others used axes to transform the trees into square timbers used in the roof’s construction. If the tree was crooked, he said they’d hew a crooked timber, following the grain of the tree.

“Obviously, that couldn't be used for all pieces, but that's the way it was originally done,” Henrikson said.

They also laid out the timbers as carpenters would have done hundreds of years ago, stacking them on top of one another and marking them where they intersected.

But Henrikson said much of the construction was done with modern power tools, in places where it couldn’t be seen.

“There were some of the real purist French timber framers who actually chose not to work on the project because of those shortcuts,” Henrikson said.

But without them, he said it would have been impossible to meet the aggressive timeline proposed by the French government.

Henrikson, 63, teaches timber framing at North House Folk School in Grand Marais. He’s passionate about the tradition and passing his knowledge on to younger generations.

He said the majority of the crew who worked on the Notre Dame reconstruction were younger people in their 20s and 30s.

“So that was really fantastic to see a lot of young people really excited about not only producing the project, but learning the skills,” Henrikson said. “It was just fantastic in that way of getting people excited and giving them the opportunity and experience to work in the traditional ways.”

While Henrikson admits it’s been a bit of a letdown to return to smaller projects after helping to reconstruct one of the world’s most iconic structures, he said he’s finally had the chance to do some projects around his own house.

He also recently worked on a new welcome center at the growing North House Folk School.

While he won’t be in France for the grand opening, he plans to return in May 2025, when one of the architects involved in the project promised to give a tour to the timber framers who built the roof—and take them up to where they can actually see it.

From the ground, all the intricate carpentry, crafted painstakingly, much of it with hand tools, is hidden behind the ceiling.

“It is kind of a hidden gem up there in the roof.”

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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