Welcome To our Dream Build
Thanks for your interest in our crazy home/studio build. This has by far, been the most overwhelming yet satisfying, frustrating yet enlightening, scary yet exhilarating ride my husband and I have ever embarked upon in our lives individually or as a couple. The sheer will, fortitude and perseverance it has taken us on our journey to build an unconventional home (the first of its kind in our state of Connecticut) has challenged us in mind, body and spirit since we began in December of 2021.
Our dream to build this home was born from our love of nature and art and the desire to live in a home that would not make a mark on the land but rather become a part of the landscape. A home that would allow us to grow more of our own food, to align ourselves with native flora and fauna, where we could create walking trails with art altars in the woods and truly be good stewards to the land where we will live out the rest of our days being hugged by our round house and all the joyful memories that were created there.
Chapter 1: Two dreams aligned…
June 2015 initial sketch of our home by Matt Dean: Note the living roof and multitude of windows
I met my husband later in life, our love story began in the summer of 2014 and on one of our very first ‘sunday drives’ we discovered we each had the hope of one day building a custom home. That alone doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence, many people imagine building their own home, but our dreams aligned in the style of home we envisioned, an Earth Sheltered home. The following year, Matthew began sketching concepts for what our house could look like and we began looking for land.
Fast forward six years later and we found our little plot of joy. Finding the land was a true testament to faith, patience, perserverence and vision. The day after we closed on the land we connected with Formworks Builders. We had first communicated with the company back in 2016 when we discovered them based out of Durango Colorado which had boasted having built earth sheltered homes for 40 yrs in nearly every state. We spent the next several months working through the design phase to create a structure that was adaptable through the system of building that the company utilizes which consists of steel framework, rebar infrastructure and concrete domes.
Are you curious to see more? Any Level Monetary Gift gives you access to upcoming chapters! The passcode to unlock more chapters will be emailed to you
Chapter 2: 700 feet of Solitude
Chapter 3: The Forest, the ferns and falling in love