By John Rowe.
Blair Meerfeld and I met at the “Old Men’s Breakfast,” in Moffat, several months ago. Blair gave off a gentle, friendly vibe making me want to get to know him. I discovered he is building his own home in the Grants. He has been getting lots of help from the guys at breakfast — both technical expertise and labor. Blair is apparently the kind of fellow that people just naturally want to help. He is the classic case of a guy getting by “with a little help from his friends.”
Blair and I sat down in June outside his partially-built little house in the southern Grants. Despite all the Crestone growth, the outlying Grants still has few people living there. A lot of people would think it too empty and remote but men like Blair and I think it is just heavenly. And so, surrounded by nothing but desert, we talked.
Eagle: So why Crestone? And why build your own home? You are not exactly a young guy.
Blair: I have a lot of history here in the valley, having grown up in San Luis and I owned a pottery shop in Saguache for 25 years, selling a variety of things I made. One day I was approached by someone who wanted me to teach pottery in the Washington, DC area. The time seemed ripe for a new adventure, so I took off for the east coast. I taught pottery there for 15 years and found it very rewarding. The last eight years I taught “recovering veterans” pottery-making and many found creating this art very helpful. But I had the sense that my work there was done and being 69 years old, I thought it was time to consider retirement. I wanted to retire while I was still healthy and had good energy to have a full life for the time I have left. So I started to ask myself some questions. Where is a place that I could belong? Where is there a place of natural beauty where I could see myself living out the rest of my days? Where is there a place that was all that, and cheap? I am a man of limited means. Where is a place I could make it alone as I have no living family and no partner? Crestone immediately came to mind as I had many “weird tickles” lurking about inside about the place. I had hung out there as a teen and young man and was introduced to some remarkable people who encouraged me to open my mind and open my soul to all sorts of possibilities. Every time I came here I left with a feeling of peace and reverence. I feel that I embraced a life of awareness of an unseen world as a result of my time in Crestone. So that settled it, Crestone it was.
I had no real plan when I arrived and was somewhat scared. Building my own place seemed like the only option for my budget — I am not an apartment kind of guy. I had a little money and a little building experience but that was about it. I trusted the world to provide answers and I have not been disappointed. I have already made more friends here in under two years than I did in DC in 15. I am learning what I need to about building every day.
Eagle: So why build a stick frame home?
Blair: Originally, I wanted to build a strawbale but in talking to folks who know alternative building, I concluded that I could not build that way in the one-year time frame I had in mind. Not only am I not an apartment guy but trailer living gets old, too. I also thought that to gain the knowledge necessary for a strawbale would also take too long. So, a traditional stick frame seemed the best and quickest way to go.
Eagle: What things did you think you needed some professional help with and what things have you decided you could do yourself?
Blair: I had professional help with the foundation and, of course, the septic and leach field and am having a pro dig me a well. I can do the rest although I will need knowledgeable help with plumbing and electrical, and solar. I have a couple of young guys that I can call for this or that also.
Eagle: Tell us about your house.
Blair: It is just over 1,000 square feet and has large south-facing windows. It has tall ceilings to make it look bigger and a large potter’s studio where I can continue my journey with clay and have friends [visit]. I have propane hot water and a propane in-floor heating system and will put in a wood stove. This way I believe I can get by with much less than the $20,000 to $30,000 some folks say you need for solar. I won’t know for certain until I move in, but I am hopeful it will be way less.
Eagle: Do you have any wisdom that you would like to impart to prospective builders?
Blair: [smiling] Everything costs three times as much as you think. By the time I move in this fall I hope to have more helpful things to tell people. I am not ready to say just yet, but I believe I can have my house ready to live in for far less than the market rate for a nice little home like mine.
Eagle: Even with land, labor and materials through the roof like in the last few years?
Blair: Yes, if I keep it simple, do most of the work myself and am careful. It’s no longer cheap, but affordable to many of us.
Eagle: So, you are happy here, glad you made this daring move?
Blair: Being here, meeting so many kindred souls and building my own place has been quite the healing process. People here seem to care about each other more than other places I have lived. No one is here by accident, people are intentional. I love that I have so many peoples’ spirits in the house. Every nail they drove, every board they cut, everything they have done makes a difference to me. And this may sound a little strange, but I talk to the mountains every day, thanking them for letting me be here. They are such a source of strength and peace. I very much want to finish my life right here in this house.