Homemade Handmade

January 13th, 2011

I am shamelessly reposting these images from Andrea Zittel’s A-Z West, because I can’t get Garth and his home out of my mind. These images are of Garth’s handmade pool and sauna which make up just part of his incredible desert domicle up off of Gamma Gulch in Pipes Canyon. The pool built straight into the rock has me hypnotized with its curling lines of brilliant meandering color paired with those incredible rock formation and landscape views. Just the idea floating around on a hot day and then stretching out on that bed of warm stones in a personal sauna makes my heart flutter.

There is something fascinating about people who reshape the world around them, continuously test out ways of living and experiment with those notions of home we all seem to refashion in response to needs (or what we thought we needed).

I’ve had this above image in my “do this” landscape folder for some time. It’s of Andrea’s patio, which includes a spectacular fire pit fabricated by TK. The concrete stairs that seem almost pored into the rock and the chunky organic furniture mixed with the modern Bertoia chairs just hits me right in that sweet spot. It’s lovely and unfussy, casual and considered, examined and inviting all at once.

I recommend reading through all of A-Z West. It’s completely inspiring as is an in depth inspection of A-Z’s institute of investigative living.

Something about this sort of wild west handmade desert architecture reminded me of this book about the rambling and pieced together architecture of Woodstock homes in the 1970′s. I am enamored of the raw initiative of these places (and BEE – it made me think about you).

Woodstock Handmade Houses by Robert Haney, David Ballantine and Jonathan Elliott.

All images via Old Chum. Visit the Old Chum Tumblr as well.

“heavy on imagination, light on money”

While the clutter and disarray would make me feel slightly overwhelmed, it’s refreshing to consider a less rigorous and more investigative way of approaching space and how to live in it. I admire the gumption, the making do, the slow and constant arc of reassessment and collection that necessitates homemade architecture.

As we continue experimenting with our little home,  it couldn’t hurt to instill some of that can do 1970′s hippy attitude.  Or furniture…

Now I just need a couple of acres in the desert and a shack to build out.
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    18 Comments

    1. Laura F. on 01/13/2011:

      This is wonderful: Thank you for re-posting the pics. If you hadn’t, I never would have seen this amazing home.

    2. Sarah on 01/13/2011:

      Amazing post.

    3. Heather @ REOlisticRenovation on 01/13/2011:

      BEAUTIFUL! That pool makes me want to climb in right now. Amazing!

    4. jamie on 01/13/2011:

      you are killing me.

    5. ella on 01/13/2011:

      Oh man…. gorgeous!

    6. my little apartment on 01/13/2011:

      yummmm, thank you for posting.

    7. aeb on 01/13/2011:

      Thanks for posting these-they make me nostalgic for the way my uncles’ houses looked when I was little.

    8. modernhaus on 01/13/2011:

      Shut the front door!
      I love all these images…the tops remind me of Hundertwasser’s buildings in Austria. The Woodstock ones remind me of my childhood home…my ma managed to make a Victorian look like a commune.
      Desert people are radical…you should check out Taos, NM.

    9. bianca on 01/13/2011:

      this is my favorite post ever. ever? yeah ever. the hippie in me is freaking out.

    10. erin@designcrisis on 01/13/2011:

      Andrea Zittel is just straight up crazy — in a good way. We could all certainly learn to make do with less.

      Love the pics.

    11. robyn on 01/14/2011:

      There aren’t enough words to describe how much I loved those pictures.

    12. Tamoto on 01/14/2011:

      WOW, we are all freaking out. Thank-you!

    13. Karin on 01/14/2011:

      LOVE the teepee shaped bedroom. How incredible would it be to sleep under those windows when it was raining?

    14. Sarah on 01/14/2011:

      dude! i actually live in Woodstock and i need to A. find that book and B. find that house and go squat in it (i’m sure the current owners won’t mind, we’re all into communal living around here after all)

    15. Simone on 01/17/2011:

      I’m with you on this. And I remember how to macramé as well.

    16. spookyzo on 01/25/2011:

      I picked that book up a few years ago on ebay- it is virtually my bible! Ahh, to live in a wooden house built around a tree skeleton, or in a dome with a woodburning stove! One day….

    17. Detex on 02/01/2011:

      I have that book! it is amazing. One of my favorites is the house over the river!

      Nice find!

    18. bigBANG studio on 02/05/2011:

      Divine. And A-Z West is a weekly read. Someone needs to do a book on Joshua Tree/High Desert Houses. Ahem, someone.

      Another one to check out: Handcrafted Modern- see drool-worthy pics here:

      http://freckle-farm.com/2010/12/27/handcrafted-modern/

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