Grindbygg Boat House - North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum

This project was the catalyst for my trip to Norway in the fall of 2012 to learn grindbygg construction techniques. As is true with so many great projects, it started with the spark of an idea, of shared mission, when the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum contacted North House Folk School about possibly constructing a timber frame in a class to protect an old herring skiff. I suggested pairing the history of the fishermen from Norway settling on the shores of Lake Superior with a Norwegian grindbygg frame. The idea took hold and all the pieces fell into place: an Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant for the project and my trip to Norway, material harvesting for the tamarack root knees and curved birch for bracing and the Red Pine pole rafters, good class enrollment, and lots of enthusiasm. The frame was dedicated at the Museum in August 2013. As far as I know, this is the first grindbygg structure in Minnesota, and maybe in the U.S.A.