“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
― L.P. Jacks
I’ve told people many times that when I met the builder of my dreams in 2005, it turned out his name was — Lloyd — pause — House!
Background: In 2005, I’d finished Home Work and started to gather material for a book to be called Builders. I’d filmed Chuck Kroger, a great builder (/ultra-distance runner) in Telluride, Colorado and the many creative builders — including Dave Sellers — in the Green Mountains of Vermont, and then I headed up the coast to Vancouver Island, to check out the builders of the north coast, encouraged by my good friend Godfrey Stephens — painter, carver, boat builder, sailor (he once sailed around Vancouver Island in a catamaran he built on the beach). For years, Godfrey kept telling me I had to come see these builders.
When I finally did, I realized there were enough unique builders on the Pacific Coast for an entire book.
The Genius of Lloyd House
Lloyd built this home on a small island in a cove in West Vancouver in 1972. He told the owners they couldn’t drop in on him while he was building and that they were limited to three visits. (By this time was well enough known and his work was in high demand, and he’d had too much experience where owners would come by and not realize what the finished product would look like.) When it was finished the owners, Bill and Sheila Rivers, were delighted.
All the building materials had to come across the water in a boat or a barge; Ferrying the plate glass was particularly difficult.
Lloyd is the featured builder in Builders of the Pacific Coast, with 37 pages and 174 photos of his work. Here, in this post are a few photos of his creations. Then, in a second post, I’ll show his last building, which I told him was a masterpiece. It has never been documented before.
Caravans For Ex-Girlfriends
Each time Lloyd would break up with a girlfriend, he would build her a small portable home. He fashioned this one to look like a construction worker’s place, but the inside was designed for Rosalind of whom he said, “She was beautiful. Everything about her was art nouveau.”
Cliffside Home
When I first met Lloyd, he was living in this house, which was 6 miles by water (no roads) from Tofino. When he pulled his boat into the dock, he fitted a sling underneath it, which was attached by rope and pulley to a 50-gallon container. He would then turn on the valve, which would fill the container with water, and as it became heavier, it would lower down and lift the boat out of the water.
Stefan’s Home
Stefan’s house, on Hornby Island, was my favorite building of all time. I was alone when I first saw it, and it took my breath away. It was perfect in every aspect.
Community Sauna
Sauna overlooking a pond built for a small community on Hornby Island. One day I was asking Lloyd about his method of designing while a building is under construction, and he said “I just get the bullet out of the gun and then I run after it to get it to get the right spot.”
I’ve been so busy getting ready for Burning Man, and other things, that it’s been a long time in between posts. My goal is to start posting at least twice a week.
The next post will be on Lloyd House’s last creation. (He passed away a few years ago.)
Next week I’ll be reporting on Burning Man (my first time there) on both Instagram and Substack. (I wonder if I’ll be the oldest person there.)
Lloyd H's creations have been truly inspirational for me. The curves, the proportions, the material choices and balances, mmmmmmmmmmmm. Lloyd K is an inspiration on another level - the conduit through which we all learn about life.
Great tribute to Lloyd and his fantastic buildings. Thanks for reporting from “outlaw” territory where the real revolution is still going on, in the mind and on the ground.