In his workshop in Theodore, Doug Frederickson is recreating one of the town’s oldest buildings.
A retired drafter, Frederickson painstakingly constructed a model of a decade’s old farmhouse at 1/12 the original size.
“It’s probably the origins of Theodore itself,” Frederickson said. “The people who lived there actually named the community before it was even incorporated.”
Frederickson was born and raised in Theodore and wanted to do this project as a work to give back to the community.
“We’ve got to preserve this because (when) it’s gone, it’s gone,” he said. “I figure I’ve got the time and hopefully the expertise to do it, so that’s why I decided I’m just going to go do it.”
The farmhouse, on the other hand, has seen better days as the original structure is in a decrepit state.
Frederickson had to use old photographs and his own measurements to find the right dimensions for the model.
He mapped the entire house and then reduced it to scale so he could return it to its former glory.
The project took almost 1,000 hours and he has no plans of slowing down. He’s hoping to keep creating historical models to preserve the town’s history.
“I’m sure in all reality you probably could have built an actual house as fast or as quickly as you built a model of it because of all the work involved in it but it was worth it,” he said.
Based on reporting by CTV’s Nathaniel Dove
