Dan Phillips:
Dan Phillips is a man full of knowledge and many talents. A former dancer, college professor, and antique dealer, he finally returned to his childhood fantasy of being a builder...
In 1996, he and his wife, Marsha, started the Phoenix Commotion, a homebuilding project that uses salvaged materials to build houses for single mothers, low income families, and artists. In 2003, the company received the award for most innovative housing worldwide from The Institute for Social Invention in London. Phillips’ innovative approach to housing has been featured in Fine Homebuilding, People and Reason magazines and on CNN, HGTV, and other major television programs. To date, Dan has built twelve beautiful homes in Huntsville, Texas. In addition to keeping stuff out of landfills, Dan also helps his community by hiring only unskilled workers. Often, the people living in his homes participate in building them.
Unlike most builders, you’ll often catch Dan quoting famous philosophers and artists as he hammers away. Dan’s inspiration for design comes from anywhere and everywhere. As he says, “I pick something up and go ‘What can I use this for?’ Then your imagination clicks in.” While the frames and walls of his homes are made from salvaged lumber, Dan has used items such as soda cans and license plates to create siding. Bottle caps, wine corks, and T-shirts become “tiling” for floors, and picture frames, CD’s, and mirror shards take the place of traditional dry wall.
His most recent project involves using cattle bone throughout the home. Dan explains that he loves building with the most basic structure on the planet, and every rancher near Huntsville has a lot of bone that just accumulates in the back fields. So, he thought he’d put it to good use. Rib bones become a guardrail for a staircase made of vertebrae. A jawbone becomes a towel rack. There is even a bone countertop, and a bone door latch.
Currently, Dan is putting the finishing touches on The Bonehouse, but he has already bought the property for his next project. He says it will look a little off-kilter: “like somebody punched it in the side, and it went ooff!”
For more information on Dan visit his website: http://www.phoenixcommotion.com/index2.html
Kipp Nash:
Kipp Nash was born and raised in Fort Collins, Co. After pursuing a career in Internet programming, he decided an office job just wasn’t for him. He began traveling the world searching for new experiences. Finally, he worked on an organic farm, and he knew he had found his passion.
In 2005, Kipp settled in Boulder, CO; and was trying to figure out how to be a farmer. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to buy a land. So, he decided to start Community Roots, a program where his neighbors could donate their front yards and backyards for use as gardens. The plan took off, and Kipp started tearing up the grass.
Currently, Kipp is managing eight gardens, roughly half an acre, and selling the produce at his local farmers’ market and CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) program. Kipp’s CSA program has around 25 families who pay an up front cost of $400 to $550 for a 20 week share. Each week members show up at a local church to pick up their veggies and herbs.
For Kipp, growing food locally and giving it back to his neighbors is a way to cut down on food miles and create a sense of community. Instead of looking at yards as “show pieces,” we can start looking at them as food resources. As Kipp says, “Most people would like to have their food grown by somebody they can connect with and know...and that’s a powerful move from this detached type of agriculture.”
In addition to Community Roots, he is working part-time as a bus driver to support his farming project. Someday he hopes that Community Roots will be his only job. It’s very likely that his hopes will come true quite soon. Kipp is often asked to speak all over the country and share his knowledge about growing your own food and starting programs similar to Community Roots.
For more information on Kipp, visit his website at: http://www.communityrootsboulder.com