This 90-Year Old Carpenter Is Still Doing What He Loves

Peter who calls American House East I home, turned 90 this past December. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Woodworking came to Peter at a young age when he began learning the craft from his father. As a team, they would build birdhouses, from cutting the wood by hand to piecing them together.

At age 10, Peter created his first Eiffel Tower. He says, “For Christmas, my older brother, Jacob, had given me and my twin brother, Joe, a toothpick kit to make different things. It came with instructions to make a small Eiffel Tower.”

Peter’s interests quickly grew as he accepted an apprenticeship for carpentry. In his free time, he began to construct model airplanes. In the early 1970s, technology was evolving as were his carpentry skills. It wasn’t long before Peter began making radio-controlled model airplanes. Challenging his abilities, he even created a miniature Merry-Go-Round, which he placed on a cufflink, and it successfully spun.

Peter finished schooling for carpentry and remodeling, in which he enjoyed a long career, and retired at the age of 78.

When he moved into American House East I, Peter was immediately drawn to the woodworking shop at the community. For the past five years, he has been creating various Eiffel Towers. “I plan on giving them to each of my children,” he says.

With the largest tower standing six feet tall, Peter laughed and said, “It’s all a challenge in itself.”

“There were no instructions of how to create the large towers, so I created each of them by remembering what I could from making the small ones as a kid,” he explained.

Peter continues to spend much of his free time building in the woodworking room. He doesn’t know what’s next for his amazing creations, but he does know that it’ll be something big. Whatever that may be, we can’t wait to see it!

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