About the houses

Beginnings

In 1993 I arrived in Bali for a business trip and was met and then taken to a party by my friend Made Sandi, (maa–day) who is an art dealer and village leader in Ubud. Made told me about a recent land purchase, and later, asked me if I would like to build there. I said most emphatically no, but that I would like to see it. The next day he took me to the property, not far from his home, and we walked thru rice paddies to a screen of trees at the far end of the second terrace. We walked through the trees and I saw the most breathtaking view I'd seen in a long time: a river gorge perhaps 1/4 mile (400 meters) wide and deep, with paddies and coconut trees rising above the far ridge, and Gunung Agung, the holy volcano rising above all.

The next question was: "Made, is your offer still open?!"

We began with a rough plan for a small bungalo on two or three levels. An architect friend helped clean our ideas up, and I sent his drawings off to Made, who was to oversee construction.

Building

My next trip was about 5 months later, and I was very excited to see my nearly completed (I thought) house. I arrived early in the morning at the site and was shocked to see that Made had excavated a huge area, and a concrete skeleton rose three stories, much bigger than I had envisioned. A bamboo sub-roof was being finished, and about 50 men and women were weaving elephant grass into batts to make up the roof. Made's explanation was that it was nearly as cheap to build bigger, so why not. Besides, it worked better in the site, and his Japanese engineer friend (earthquake specialist) had helped with the design, it had been signed off with the district engineer, and was done.

He was right. It works much better as a place to live and structurally than the first design, and was not much different, except a little bigger.

I watched the roof put on, and took video footage. It was amazing to see so many men working together. Made had bought the finest materials, and when we ran out of grass, drove all over Bali to find the best available. The roof was a bit of a wonder, much finer than the Balinese normally construct, and much admired by one and all. That is when I knew I had a great partner.