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WEB-EXTRA Contractor Profile: David Walske and Rick Goldstein; Dome House From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-101

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Following below is some additional information on the dome house and the homeowners featured in this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes.

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	Homeowner David Walske
	Homeowner Rick Goldstein.
	Dome house. Sedona, AZ.

Owner/Builders
David Walske, and his partner and co-owner of the home Rick Goldstein.

Bios

David Walske is a renowned computer software designer/developer and lecturer on the topic. Additionally, he is a published author of fiction. However, David left all of the aforementioned endeavors to pursue a new career as a professional magician.

Rick Goldstein is a film editor of Hollywood studio film coming attractions (trailers), and television spots.

Home Specifics

2500 square feet, 2BR/2BA, geodesic dome.

Location

Sedona, Arizona. Just outside of the Sedona city limits near the Village of Oak Creek, bordering the Coconino National Forrest.

Why Sedona?

David and Rick wanted a second home within a days drive of Los Angeles, where they could spend most of their time. They were attracted to the natural beauty of the area and the "new age" aspect of Sedona. The Sedona area, while beautifully mountainous in appearance, actually has no mountains. The dramatic red rock structures of Sedona are buttes, spires, and mesas. Sedona has some of the most spectacular views in the country.

Why act as their own contractor?

David: "Since I was in High School it has been my dream to build my own house from the ground up. But then there's some very practical reasons as well. What was more important to me was that in each and every phase of the construction, I was presented with the opportunity to make choices."

Why a Dome?

David: "In the 1970's I was influenced by Stewart Brand's book, The Last Whole Earth Catalog. This book was like a pre-internet print version of the Internet. It was while flipping through this book that geodesic dome homes and Buckminster Fuller first came to my attention."

Involvement in the Dome's construction

David: "I was directly involved in every aspect of the construction. I did most of the water supply [which was] copper line. I did framing and other carpentry work. I helped set forms for concrete work. I did some masonry work. I did some painting -- both interior and exterior. (I don't like house painting so I tried to avoid most of that work.) I installed windows and doors. I installed sheathing. I installed exterior paneling. I did the entire sewer line. I worked on the wrap around redwood deck. I installed floor joists and beams and sub-floor. I did not install hardwood floor or carpeting. I installed a wrought iron circular staircase to the cupola from the second floor."

For the purpose of remaining directly involved in the construction, David purchased a small trailer, parked it on the site and lived there. "I would not consider having been an absentee owner/builder and I stand by that statement yet today," he says. "I bought the trailer new for eleven thousand dollars, lived in it for eighteen months and then sold it for seven thousand dollars to a private party. [It was] much cheaper than renting an apartment in the area -- which were very hard to find at the time."

Rick flew from Los Angeles to help on the project approximately twenty times during the two and one half years that took to complete construction. On site he did whatever needed to be done. While in Los Angeles he remained in close telephone contact and made many calls to coordinate workers and sub-contractors while holding down a full time job.

Interesting facts

• The "dome raising" -- i.e., erecting the inner strut skeleton of the dome -- was conducted over a single long weekend by a mostly volunteer crew of family, friends and local contractors. The contractors who worked on that particular phase did so for free because they were so interested in the project.

Challenges

• Two builders and an engineer told them that the lot was too steep to build on. David decided that the steep incline could be built on, proceeded to excavate 300 cubic yards of Earth and did in fact successfully build the home on that same lot. "When I first stepped foot on that lot," says David, "I could see this home in my mind."

• The semi-trailer truck filled with 40,000 pounds of house became stuck in a ditch a block away from the building site.

• David lived by himself, in a trailer on the construction site, for two years during construction.

RESOURCES :

More information on dome houses:

Natural Spaces Domes
Website: www.naturalspacesdomes.com

American Ingenuity Domes
Website: www.aidomes.com

Monolithic Domes
Website: www.monolithic.com

sedonadome.com
Website: www.sedonadome.com

GUESTS :

David Walske and Rick Goldstein
Homeowners
Sedona, AZ
sedonadome.com
Website: www.sedonadome.com