I built my first house in 1971 when friends and family conspired to purchase 60 acres outside of Burlington, Vermont. At that time, a couple of local forward thinking advocates named Ben and Jerry set up shop in a gas station and dished up the best ice cream from contented cows. I wonder what ever became of them?? Current US Congressman Bernie Sanders was the mayor and we all lived on the shores of Lake Champlain with the most memorable sunsets in existence.
The house was inspired by Ken Kern's book, The Owner Built House, and built out of recycled railroad ties (pay no attention to that toxic creosote).
Imagine today still living in a place where you are able to go to a neighbor and have him mill up local cherry logs into furniture grade material; living in a place where the biggest thrill on a snowy winter night is having a stranger from New York get stuck in the blizzard on our road and after pushing them out, celebrating with a bottle of wine. In more sober moments now, as a long time craftsman, I try to revisit those times for a reality check on our current building situation. More and more, I am confronted with what I call The Modern Dilemma of building, the often graceless dance between clients, contractors, budgets and expediency rather than craft.
Most often, the Client hires well known Architect, Architect hires friend General Contractor, General Contractor hires cheap Labor to make his margin and we Finish Guys are hired at the end of the project to fix all the problems that the Labor didn't know how to do, that the Architect didn't have a plan for and that the General Contractor hadn't included in his useless bid.
All the time, the General Contractor is screaming, "you're taking too much time, hurry up, I'm losing money". Am I leaving anything out?? Don't get me started on Interior Decorators and their charges and timelines. At the end of the day, the Client has to pay big dollars for useless waste. Hello, Extreme Homes, I am offering you a series on The Great American Rip Off.
I understand that my 35 years in nail banging does not a sage make but I have observed this odd human process called building. Today, I looked at a friend's house who had hired a cousin with "years of experience" to do a quick remodel. As I stood in a totally demolished shell with a floor 3 1/2" out of level and studs an inch out of plumb, the distraught owners had the "deer in the headlights" look. They hadn't bothered to get a building permit, were red tagged by Codes and were living with above mentioned cousin while he did their suppossedly "quick" remodel. They asked me, "Could I suggest some advice ??". For some reason, my answer of gasoline and a match fell on deaf ears.
My point is, whether its a small remodel or a 20 million dollar architectural wonder, I see the same disconnect happening. All good builders are slandered by unscrupulous contractors. Home owners are also lost in the haze of DIY cable programs, architects beyond their grasp of materials, glitz design magazines and SubZero fever. I am in the difficult position of being a problem solver and also in the money chain of expenses. If I keep my mouth shut and solve the problem, I make more money from the Contractor paying me to fix the problem, that could have been done right the first time, and if I do it quickly, then the Contractor might receive a bonus for completing ahead of schedule. But it all ultimately costs the Client more in the end because costs were so tight on the front end and things were done wrong.
Wait, this isn't new. I can just hear the designer talking to the Pharaoh... Listen Ramses, its a hip pyramid design built out of ten ton stones that come from 200 miles away and it may take 50 years to build. But trust me, you'll love it...
I started building because of my love of space, texture and creativity. The Modern Dilemma in custom building has all these dynamic elements but is missing the one item that the American Dream Machine doesn't offer...integrity.
As a craftsman, I look for intelligent clients; clients who have been through this before and know that doing it right the first time, even if it seems to initially cost more, may in the end, be most effective, aesthetically and financially. Those kind of clients are the ones I like the best: those who know how to be collaborative, co creative and respect the skills and experience of all those involved. We honor each other through our personal committment to integrity in building a home or a commercial space and a relationship. Now that, to me, is art.
Just for the sake of nostalgia, here are a couple of classic books.
