Our philosophy at Great Northern Woodworks is simple: What you see is what you get. We use strong, sturdy timbers to build strong, sturdy homes. We insist on elegant rooflines that make sense and well-proportioned interiors that just feel right. At the end of the day, our timber-frame homes are timeless; they're not about us. They're about the wood.

That's how it's always been here in Minnesota . I began Great Northern Woodworks as a one-man cabinet-shop in 1976. In 1982, I raised my first timber-frame structure––by hand––with a small crew of workers. Since then, the company has completed over 250 custom homes across the Midwest , from Wisconsin , Minnesota , Iowa , North Dakota , South Dakota , Montana , Colorado , and Illinois , all the way up to Ontario , Canada . We've been featured in Fine Homebuilding , American Bungalow, Better Homes and Gardens Building Ideas , Midwest Home and Garden , and Lake and Home Magazine , Architecture MN , and our timber-frame structures have been showcased on public television and HGTV.

Things have changed a lot in the past 30 years, but our combination of honest character and honest construction remains the same. Every one of our designs is unique, every timber lovingly selected, and every home carefully constructed. It's that simple.

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Phil was born in 1954 in Tokyo , Japan . He spent his childhood in Minnesota and Illinois , graduating in 1973 from Evanston Township High School near Chicago . He studied architecture, industrial design, photography, and filmmaking as an undergraduate at Bemidji State University , and experiential education as a Masters student at Mankato State University . Phil worked as a wilderness canoe camp director, college instructor, cabinetmaker, and journeyman carpenter before founding Great Northern Woodworks in 1976.

When he is not building timber-frame homes, Phil is an accomplished stonemason, Rumford fireplace builder, and boat builder.