Some Tree Buffs in D.C. Took It Upon Themselves to Help Rebuild Notre-Dame
Ben Witman wields a goosewing ax. Photo: Greg Kahn/GRAIN “I started getting calls as soon as the fire was put out,” said Rick Brown, standing on the lawn at Catholic University the other day. Brown and his wife, Laura, are the co-founders of Handshouse Studio, an educational nonprofit that replicates large historical objects using the precise techniques with which they were built. In 2011, he led a trip to Poland to rebuild by hand the Gwo?dziec synagogue, raised in the 17th century and then razed by the Nazis. This time, the calls were about a much bigger house of worship: the...
