Will Gusakov will share his experience working for six months in France to rebuild the nave roof frame of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. He'll share images, videos, stories and insights from the rebuilding effort, both from the workshop in Normandy and on-site at the cathedral in Paris. The talk will provide some background information about the cathedral - a masterpiece of both gothic and neo-gothic architecture - but the primary focus will be on the extraordinary rebuilding effort writ large, and on the recreation of the nave timber frame in particular.

Will Gusakov, a native of Bristol, Vermont, has been restoring, designing and building timber frame structures for the last twenty years. The work has brought him around Vermont and New England, across the US, and to places like Ghana, Poland, Estonia, Italy and France. In 2010 he was invited to spend a year working and studying in France with the medieval trades guild Les Compagnons du Devoir, and he spent 6 months in 2023 working to rebuild the timber frame roof of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. He's a member of the Timber Framers Guild of North America and Charpentiers Sans Frontieres (Carpenters Without Borders). He runs Goosewing Timberworks, a small custom timber framing shop, from his home in the mountains of Lincoln, Vermont.

Sponsored by the CSC, RHS with help from RFL. Free and open to all.

Event Info

Feb 1, 2025, 9 AM

Feb 4, 2025, 5:30 to 7 PM

Feb 8, 2025, 9 to 10 AM