Lloyd Kahn is a writer from my neck of the woods who built this home in 1961. It has a sod roof, and was built without power tools for the most part. Lloyd says, "We sold the property in 1967 and many years later I went back and discovered that a young couple and their child were happily living in the building. I took a photo of them, which appeared in our book Home Work. Some time around 2000, the property was sold again, and the new owners bulldozed all the buildings and built two large homes :-(
Unfortunately tearing down cool homes and putting up mansions is a trend in northern California. For myself, the following is what makes this place appeal to me even more. Lloyd say's, "After building this, I never looked back. From that point on, I’ve lived in owner-built homes (over 50 years now), and have never paid rent or had a bank mortgage."
Did you know the word “mortgage” comes from the French “mort-gage”, literally death-pledge. Why do we do this to ourselves? My wife and I are headed towards a debt and mortgage free life. While we are not there yet, the journey is invigorating and the goal worthy. Does this sound like something you would dream of? Don't know where to start? Lloyd has some great advice. "...when you don’t know how to start, simply begin. As you go along, you’ll figure things out.…"