I've tried several times to photograph Randy's home and failed. It was designed, engineered and built within a previous dwelling by Randy. He is also a highly skilled craftsman in wood, plastic, and glass. Much of the building's marvels lie beyond the scope of a camera within the structure the electrical system, the plumbing, and the heating. Randy did all the woodwork, shelves, cabinets, stucco and cement.
The heating system is both high and low tech. Water is heated in the same high efficiency wood burning fireplace that heats the house. Water is also heated in a passive solar collector on the roof. Both the home heating and water heating are also backed up with natural gas fires. There is a thermal pool under the house where the motor oil change pit was originally.
Apart from the nice collection of Barry Smylie prints Randy and Lisa also own a few landscape sketches. This one is by the Alberta artist Ronald Gissing who rode with a pack horse and his camping gear to his sketching sites.
I like the entertainment room on the second floor not because it is decorated with my prints but because it is fun. The house is equipped with an extensive Local Area Network. Mary, Lisa, Randy, and I watched about 3/4 of the American Horror Story first season in a scary marathon.
Click on the Flash...
On the third floor Randy built the Skydoor. It was constructed by him from fibreglass and epoxy resin. In architectural terms it is a dormer. A person can stand in it and look around and up through a clear acrylic roof. It is hinged at the top. Two compression shocks help to lift the Skydoor to it's wide open to the sky deck position.
