[Silverback Lloyd is one of my go-to guys. He’s 90 years young and snubs his nose at every cliche about aging. His advice proffered here is applicable in many realms beyond building, especially people in the information processing businesses. A lot of these jobs are not going to be around in the coming years, and you are well-advising to be able to DO SOMETHING besides riding a keyboard. If nothing else, develop your work ethic. It will come in handy, no matter what you do. SB SM]
Nov 24, 2025
It still takes hands to build real homes
In the late ‘60s, I flew to Boston to attend an MIT conference called Responsive Housebuilding Technology.
At the conference I found myself at odds with architects advocating plastics and space-age computer design of homes. When I returned home, I put together a hand-stapled newsletter called Smart But Not Wise, criticising MIT’s contingent of erudite architects and their techno fantasies as applied to home building.
Strangely enough, a bunch of the day’s young poets (e.g. Ed Dorn, JoAnne Kyger) really liked it, and circulated it, probably for its anti-technology stance as applied to housing.
The next year, Bob Easton and I reprinted it in Shelter (pp. 112-114).
I had taken my son Peter, about 9 years old, along and, after the conference, I rented a car and we drove to Provincetown on Cape Cod to visit my cousin Mike.
On the way, we stopped off at an old inn. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was a beautifully crafted elliptical spiral staircase with flawless bannister.
It takes a master carpenter to build a spiral staircase, but an elliptical one is even more difficult. The owner of the inn told me it had been built by an itinerant carpenter who travelled on horseback, carrying all his tools, and that he had built 3 such staircases on the Cape.
How wonderful, I thought, an independent builder with his own transportation and all tools necessary for his craft.
In the ‘90s, I met Lew Lewandowski, a carpenter who travelled in a VW van with his two dogs and all the tools necessary for building (including a small table saw and a router). He even did on-site cabinet work with those tools.
Lew worked mostly in West Marin County, California, but got a remodeling job on the east coast, drove there, and worked for a couple of months, then back to Marin. He had all the work he could handle.
Over the years, I’ve described this modus operandi to young builders: your own wheels and tools. I think the concept is still valid — especially so during our present era of astronomic difficulties in creating shelter. Not a contractor and his subcontractors, but a BUILDER. And especially desirable if he can do a lot of the plumbing and electrical work.
And these days, guys, I’d maybe recommend a van: your home and shop combined. No rent. Have tools, will travel.
For example, as shown on p. 39 of Rolling Homes: Greg Watson’s Sprinter van, equipped with a bed, kitchen, and his tools (as well as kayak and surfboard) — tight but rent-free:
Flash forward to one of the builders in our book Small Homes The Right Size and an article titled “Solo Builder of Small Homes,” about Jim Bahoosh, who was single-handedly designing and building small homes — one at a time — in New England.
“In 1983 I started buying, moving into, and rebuilding old houses. Next, I turned to building new homes designed to look and feel like the traditional New England homes I love. Since 2000, I’ve focused on smaller homes: between 500 to 900 sq. ft., still designed in a traditional manner.”
SO: you guys in your 20s-30s or so, here’s what I might have done at your age:
Learning skills: in the ‘60s my friend Paul Wingate wanted to become a carpenter, so he went around to various building sites offering to work for free. A contractor took him up on it and Paul went every day and swept up and carried lumber and looked for ways he could help out. Pretty soon he was working with carpenters, cutting studs and rafters, and picking up tips. He ended up becoming a highly-skilled carpenter.
If paying rent where you want to live is impossible and you can’t afford to build a home right now, I’d get a van and set it up like Greg’s. If you haven’t got building skills, try to find a carpenter you can help. Learn as you go.
Once you’re somewhat competent, you’ll find that people will welcome a single builder, especially for remodeling, as opposed to hiring a contractor.
Note: a woman can do the same thing.
OR: Build your own house somehow. That’s what I did, starting with minimal skills. I had to learn carpentry, plumbing, and electrical, and I came out of it with this concept:
Start, and you’ll figure it out as you go along. (You have to!)
A couple of final thoughts:
- Maybe kids don’t have to go to college. Is it really worth it?
- It looks like robot drivers are going to replace American truck drivers, of whom there are some 3 million. And it seems AI is replacing programmers. If so, what are these guys going to do?
- Trade schools are booming.
- Computers are not going to build homes. (I’m not living in no stinking 3D extruded home!) Human hands are always going to be necessary. No AI need apply.
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