I concieve houses as huge sculptures that you can live in. These are not sculptures of ego and cold,abstract intellect, but ones of feelings and textures. My love of work and of creating, and my good fortune at being blessed with a work partner who shares in the effort, provided the energy for 4 1/2 years of process.

Clark Sanders (myself) is a native of Delaware County, New York and Tjalling Heyning a native of Holland. We began working together in the early 1980’s. As builders we complement each other in our abilities and interests. My strengths are great patience in design and planning, in investigation in alternative building techniques, and in the general study of vernacular architecture. Tjalling’s strengths lie in his carpentry/building skills, good design sense for space and volume, and in his ability to spontaneously development solutions throughout the building process.

Tjalling and I usually work alone, without radios, in as much silence as possible on a jobsite, in order to be in touch with the moment by moment process as it unfolds so we can constantly adjust the spaces and material to keep them in balance. Although we work within a general design, many of the actual details and forms were undesigned until we were actually creating them. It is unlikely that you can create something truly alive on paper at a desk at another location.

We’ve worked together for many years, so there is an unspoken work rythym between us that allows us to communicate well. When we move a beam or boulder, we share a certain understanding of how this will happen, that turns the process into a dance.

"Each of us wants to be able to bring a building.......to life....... It is quite simply the desire to make a part of nature, to complete a world which is already made of mountains, streams, snow drops, and stones, with something made by us: as much a part of nature, and a part of our immediate surroundings." (1)

"The quality without a name. There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named." (2)

The above quotes are from the architect Christopher Alexander whose two books, The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language are among my most valued possesions. I immersed myself in these familiar books once again before and during the design stages and site excavation of this project. (These books have been in continuous print since first being published in 1979 and are still available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. To understand our building philosophy completely you may want to investigate these books).

"(the quality without a name) can flow from your actions; it can flow with the greatest ease; but it cannot be made. It cannot be contrived, thought out, designed. It happens when it flows out from the process of creation, of its own accord. But we must give up all together that it is something we can capture, conciously, by working over drawings at a drawing board."

And it is only in keeping the process of building alive that we have a chance of creating a product that feels whole.

Closing statement an invitation:   Tjarling and I are grateful for the chance to see our vision come to fruition. We feel that we’ve created a place where one can feel whole, alive, at rest, and at peace. We invite you to experience our work and judge for yourself.