BE YOUR OWN CONTRACTOR: VACATION HOMES
Sedona: Dome Home -
Episode DBCV-101
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| AIR TIMES |
July 07, 2005
9:30 PM Eastern |
July 08, 2005
12:30 AM Eastern |
July 10, 2005
1:00 PM Eastern |
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On this episode of Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes
you'll meet David Walske and Rick Goldstein. They acted as their
own contractors on the building of their geodesic dome vacation
home in Sedona, AZ. You'll hear about David's life-long dream of
building his own house and how he dealt with a lot of the more
physical aspects of building the dome, while living on site in
the trailer they bought. You'll also find out how Rick dealt
with hiring sub-contractors and the tons of paper work while
living in Los Angeles.
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Below is the press release on David and Rick's Sedona Dome
David and Rick's Sedona Dome Opens Season two of "Be Your Own
Contractor" on the DIY Channel
Air Dates
"Be Your Own Contractor" Season Two Season Premier Show
Channel:
DIY (Do It Yourself) Channel
Date and time:
Premiers Thursday, July 7, 2005 at 9:30 PM on the Do It Yourself (DIY)
Cable and Satellite channel, with an encore on Sunday, July 10, 2005 at 1PM.
David Walske, long time TiVo subscriber and fanatic had dreamt of
building his own house from the ground up for as many years as he could
remember. As a young boy riding in the car with his family David would often spot
construction projects in progress and announce confidently to all
within earshot that he would one day build his own home. This aspiration
continued to grow with David. In the early nineteen-seventies he became
interested in the work of renowned engineer, architect, and visionary R. Buckminster
Fuller. The dream of building a home became the dream of building a
Dome Home.
David went on to pursue career goals far different than that of home
construction, but the dream of being an owner-builder of his own home
never left his heart or head. Walking past construction projects, be they
commercial or residential he would often find himself mesmerized by the
sight. On occasion entire lunch hours would be devoted to studying the
structural components of buildings in progress. Then one year while on
vacation in Sedona, Arizona David was bit by what the locals call Red
Rock Fever. An idle thought to spend a few minutes chatting with a local
Sedona real estate agent became a quest to find the perfect property upon
which to owner-build a Geodesic Dome home. The quest became one that consumed an
entire week of vacation and would then continue ceaselessly via FAX
machine and phone upon returning home to California.
This quest would not go unrewarded, and with property secured David and
his partner Rick would have the good fortune to make the acquaintance of
Dennis Johnson of Natural Spaces Domes, Inc. David was impressed by the fact
that Dennis, the co-founder and president of Natural Spaces Domes took the
time to become personally involved with each of his customers. At the time
of their meeting Dennis had been directly involved with the creation of
more than 800 domes over a period of more than twenty years. Some other Dome
system manufacturers that David and Rick had contacted seemed a bit
"here today, gone tomorrow." But with Dennis Johnson and Natural Spaces
Domes, David and Rick knew they were dealing with the "real thing." David and
Rick attended Dome Building School at the Minnesota headquarters of Natural
Spaces Domes. Untrammeled by the complexities of building upon the
steep rocky slopes of Sedona, in 1993 the two intrepid dome-owner-builders
began construction of a forty-six foot base diameter dome that would sit
nobly upon a steep hillside, overlooking the adjoining Coconino National
Forest and Sedona's fabled majestic red rock buttes, spires, and mesas. Dennis
became more than a Dome vendor. He and his wife became trusted advisors
and dear friends. This is a friendship that continues to this day.
David and Rick, along with contracted and volunteer help, went to work
on the project. That spring the foundation building work, proceeded by
excavation which included the blasting of portions of the solid bedrock
shelf underlying the topsoil, were completed. In the summer of 1993 an
all-volunteer unpaid effort raised the dome shell over a single
weekend, much like an old-fashioned barn raising. At the end of the weekend,
reveling in their accomplishment volunteer Dome builders gathered under the open
framework of the dome struts and danced to music from a portable boom
box while the last silken rays of the Sedona sunset began to flicker golden
becoming embers in the western sky. Everyone there felt the primal joy
that generations extending into the distant past of our ancestors must have
also experienced at the act of successfully building shelter with their own
hands. The joyously exhausted volunteers included one who happened to
be a top-rated and highly paid civil engineer that had been contracted
months earlier to design the elaborate foundation system for the Dome
suspending it on high. But on this weekend Roger had chosen to spend his own time
pining Dome struts into place and doing any other task he could find on-site,
no matter how menial. Volunteers were gifted with t-shirts emblazoned with
images of the Dome, the Sedona skyline, and the slogan, "I Survived
David and Rick's Sedona Dome Raising." As the last of the sunlight
disappeared over the ridge, the communal howl of a pack of wild Coyotes was heard
in the distance. All at once a spontaneous howl of another pack erupted, led
by Pete a volunteer that had been fondly and unanimously dubbed "Site
Guru" for his calm demeanor mixed with extreme attention to detail. The ragged
but happy group savored the shared moment.
Many months of hard work ensued, and in 1995 the project was complete.
In 2004, Cable and Satellite Television's, "Do It Yourself" (DIY) channel
took an interest in the story of the Sedona Dome project for their highly
successful series, "Be Your Own Contractor," a show which had just
been picked up for a second season. Television producers Blaine Pate and
Craig Frisina contacted David and Rick about doing a full half-hour segment
for the show on the Dome and the story of its owner-builder construction.
New footage shot on location at the Dome in Sedona, Arizona was combined
with archival home video footage and still photography, and was then
skillfully blended and crafted into a half-hour episode by Craig, Blaine, and the
editorial staff to create a stunningly entertaining opening episode for
season two of, "Be Your Own Contractor."
The show premiers Season Two of, "Be Your Own Contractor" on Thursday,
July 7, 2005 at 9:30 PM on the Do It Yourself (DIY) Cable and Satellite
channel, with an encore on Sunday, July 10, 2005 at 1PM. Don't miss it. If your
Cable or Satellite provider doesn't offer DIY, visit
http://getdiy.cablesource.net to let them know you want your DIY.
For more information visit: www.sedonadome.com
David Walske
1647 S Bedford ST
Los Angeles CA 90035
Email: www.davidwalske.com/email
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