On a blustery day in early May on the quiet shores of Rodanthe, North Carolina (located on the Outer Banks), Christian Thompson tediously hand cut and fit individual cedar shingles to replace those missing from a 19th-century lifesaving station cookhouse.
For 30-plus years, Thompson has put his hands to a plane, saw, hammer, chisel, and more in order to bring back a historic structure to its authentic, original state—or to precisely replicate a building lost to time and neglect.
