This is my favorite house in the world. When I first saw it, I sat down. I was stunned. Every feature about it was beautiful, inside and out. It was built by master carpenter Lloyd House, and is shown in detail on pages 36-41 of Builders of the Pacific Coast. Unfortunately, it burned down.
I just started looking through the photos from this book (which in many ways is the best building book I’ve done) and decided to post some of them large-size here.
I’m also going back into blogging — bigger and more often.
Photos on a smart phone (Instagram) are pretty skimpy.
For tiny homes, I like the curved roof (as in vardos or Gypsy cabins). It gives you a feeling of spaciousness, as opposed to, say, the typical steep gable roof used in tiny homes. Another factor, which I learned from master builder Lloyd House, was to have windows at eye level; this focuses your attention on the outside, and the room feels much larger than it actually is.
The paneling is from a recycled hot tub. I had the staves band-sawed. Insulation is with recycled denim. Most of the work on this was done by Billy Cummings.
Here is a 2020 update on Swedish world sailor Sven Yrvind, whose lifetime of solo sailing was documented in Tiny Homes on the Move (pp. 148-151). Here are a few glimpses of what we referred to as “Sven’s Next Boat” on p. 151, and a 15-minute interview.
“At sea, I can find my youth.”
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Teo Briseño did the beautiful bathroom in SunRay Kelley’s temple dome at Harbin Hot Springs, near Middletown, California (which unfortunately burned down a few years ago). It’s shown in Builders of the Pacific Coast.
Here’s his most recent creation, a dome bathroom inside a conventional home in Southern California.
Hello Lloyd…
Here is most recent work of mine towards living in natural sculptured environments.
This dome is made with natural stone and wood; some is locally harvested and wood was cured for 2½ years.
Thin-shell dome construction of one-inch-thick cement over basalt rebar and mesh without metal, so will not rust, corrode or block natural bio-magnetics between the Earth and ourselves.
Planters are sculpted in wall: they include drip irrigation and recycling water drain to flush toilet.
Carbon-sequestering plasters: made of natural lime plaster, an “Old World” technology — warm, inviting, breathable, and is resistant to bacteria.
The shower is of the finest natural lime plaster, giving a smooth, burnished, monolithic finish called Tadelakt, and sheds water as ancient Moroccan bath houses do.
Offering natural bathrooms for healthy self-care environments…
Bringing the outdoors in … naturally, with ancient building ways.
18 solar panels charge a Leaf battery bank that powers the electric motor. When battery runs low, a diesel generator kicks in to power the motor and extend the range.
It has a 1937 Willy’s front end and custom-made doors and grill.
