When Old Meets New: The Oakwood Farm Barn Restoration Story & the Rebuilding of Notre Dame

A Talk by Rich Benton and Josh Jackson, April 2026

Members of our community were treated to an entertaining and engaging presentation on both the restoration of the Oakwood Farm Barn and Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

In 2025, Rich Benton, a longtime Sandwich resident and building contractor specializing in timber framing, who’d been hired to move and restore the 200 year old Oakwood Farm Barn in Moultonborough, collaborated with Josh Jackson to construct and install the timber-framed spiral staircase that is one of the most remarkable features of this now beautifully restored building. Then Jackon told the story of how, in 2019, a massive fire destroyed the roof, spire, and some of the upper walls of Notre Dame de Paris. In his presentation, Josh Jackson recounted how he and “a small, international group of carpenters got the Chance of Ten Lifetimes to rebuild, by hand, the roof of one of the Western World’s most iconic buildings.”

Our Presenters:

• Josh Jackson, Co-founder of TimberHomes, Vershire VT

• Rich Benton, R. L. Benton-Builder, Sandwich NH

\Thank you to our host for this event:

• Janet Tiampo and David Parker, Owners, Oakwood Farm Barn, Moultonborough