Richard Heidseik. Darn him. My art teacher, freshman year, Menlo-Atherton High School.

I learned perspective drawing in eighth grade drafting class in 1953, and thought it cool enough that I began learning the finer points - pencil on paper with ruler - on my own. Then when I entered Menlo-Atherton High School, Mr. Heidseik was my art teacher and I quickly realized he was a superb draftsman! He knew perspective inside and out. So, daily, I picked his brain for nine solid months of school and ever since then I've been drawing houses, buildings, shops, stores, in the same way women make quilts, or other average men work on cars or play baseball. Heidseik got into my brain and changed my priorities. Drat!

I'm sure I would have become an architect were it not for my total failure as a mathematician. Heck, when I was in high school the calculator wasn't even invented yet. Not that I had to use an abacus or anything, but I just didn't get math and algebra. It didn't compute. I loved geometry, however, because that involved drawing and my desire to do well at the drawing gave me the openness to learn how to figure areas, circumferences, and pi is still my friend. But algebra and I never got along, therefore, becoming an architect was out. Doubly out since I couldn't grasp operation of a sliderule. I missed the curve, I guess.

So I draw. Now on a computer. And not with drafting software, but with standard everyday paint software. Nothing more complicated than the ancient Paint Shop Pro Version 5.0. It's what we had in 1991 when I started using a computer to draw and paint.

What appears below are simply sketches of houses I've drawn plans for and then created something 3-D-ish to show myself what I had wrought, in two dimensions. I amuse myself this way. Just as my wife frequently passes her curio shelf and stops to slightly adjust one or two of her treasures, I frequently re-visit my drawings, adjusting here, modifying there. They are always works in progress, so I can't guarantee that what you see today will appear the same tomorrow.

If you wish to actually build one of these idea-houses, you would need to see your local architect for appropriate planning as I do not bother myself with the possibility someone might want to actually construct one of my renderings. My effort is strictly "play."

Below: Some Examples
CLICK PHOTOS TO VIEW ENLARGEMENTS

Constructed of a poured concrete/insular mixture with nylon fibers and styrofoam beads in the mix, this "whipped-concrete shell home (it takes a gigantic blender!) looks from the front to be an intimate cottage, however it is a very expansive three bedroom home with office, art gallery and a huge gathering, dining and kitchen common area." And did we mention barbecue patio and pool? Enter over a flowing bridge into the gallery and office levels, then a couple steps down into the main home through a dramatic entryway. Prepare to party. And for those who feel their master bath is too small, this home's will be perfect. See PLAN

A floor for the artist's studio (first-hand experience here), a floor for sleeping, bathing and some office space for the hosts, and plenty of room for guests. Then there's the grand main floor dedicated to entertaining. The owners of this house would best be party animals with many friends to take advantage of the gaming room, the informal area with bar which leads to a large deck and pool area. Space for large TVs, plenty of seating, and a good-sized dining area all combine to make this a place for fun! The concrete and steel framing means low maintenance, coolness in warm summers and there's an elevator accessing all three floors as well as a "whipback staircase." See PLAN

The nice thing about designing homes is the lack of investment. I let my mind wander on this one, hence the second "butler's kitchen" off the dining room and adjacent to the main kitchen. Note the elevator, lobby and dual guest restrooms right across the hall from the "assembly rooms" - dining, gaming and library. The dining room features a bump-out, glass paneled, carousel-roofed garden view, and - of course - there's a ground-floor maid's quarters. Family and friends can gather in the wide open kitchen/breakfast/gathering room, when they feel less formal, and upstairs are all the private quarters including two suites with full libraries and reading space. Windows are spare on the front of the home, but plentiful on the sides, unseen from street view, lending a much more formal appearance. See PLAN

Who doesn't dream of living in an oasis? I decided to plunk down a home in one of these beautiful Arabic settings. Cool, crisp with a flowing stream and sweet dates falling from the palms. Now where did I put that lamp? The camel is parked out back. See PLAN

My childhood included spending summers at Lake Tahoe. Ever since, I remember daydreaming that someday I'd own a house at Tahoe (didn't happen), and while perplexed at the current crowding of the lake area with standard non-mountain-type homes, I decided to erect a place where the likelihood of many neighbors was remote. Placing the home on steel supports atop a granite outcropping seemed ideal, no lawns to mow, and a view simply unmatchable. See PLAN

Sure! Why not buy the property on both sides of a stream and - assuming you had control over the middle part - build a home that spanned it. Imagine sleeping at night with the sound of water tickling the rocks. A new concept for "living on the water."

Thanks to a sturdy concrete pylon and a convenient island surrounding it, the home - resting on horizontal steel beam frame - is solid, yet sleek in appearance. See PLAN

Water is always involved wherever I plant a house. It's a standard "western style" home, but with unseen touches in the plan that turn its standard-looking exterior into a hip, modern, sleek and open interior.

Some people like to live on a beach, others like the atmosphere of their town below and a clear view of the entire ocean. My preference changes day to day. I like to think this one's in Australia and there are koalas, 'roos and tropical birds inhabiting the outdoor space. It's well above the trafficked, touristy throngs and yet the reef is only minutes down the hill.

Frank Lloyd Wright was still alive when my fascination with his concepts hit me. I have been to two of his works: Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, and his Taliesen West architectural headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. His work bespeaks a very civil era in architecture and I like the purposeful, functioning of Taliesen West, as it was not only a home, but his western campus where young architects can perfect their crafting of his humanist home styling. This is my attempt at some level of homage.

Every home I've lived in, the workshop was a corner of a dark garage. So while designing a new detached garage for a house I haven't designed yet, I decided that this one would be well lit, and by natural light streaming in from twelve slot-windows, each 24-inches wide and six feet high from the top of the surrounding workbences to the pyramid-vaulted ceiling. Heaven.

It is an abandoned bridge in England. It just stood there, and I thought, "if the bridge isn't being used any more, it would be a perfect foundation for a home. So I built one. There! You can do that with a computer.

Trees. This one's all about trees. High windows surround the exterior, shaded by the roof, and the view is the treetops and the sky. The rear of the house has wall-sized windows for taking in the view of the valley and the far mountains. The walkway from the garage, out of sight behind the viewer, leads up the steps into a deep cool porch injecting the visitor right into the center of the home. From there, minimal walls allow a view of the entire public area of the home. Bedrooms are front right and left.

Living in Turkey, one would be crazed not to spend every spare moment visiting the sights. And fortunately, northwest Turkey connects directly to Greece. If I could waive a wand, I would do so and eliminate the bad blood between the Greeks and the Turks. They are both beautiful, caring, wonderful peoples and it is a shame that ills of the past are still with them when, together, they caretake the most beautiful real estate on the earth and certainly a wealth of historical sites. This home is my imagination of modern Greece living at its best.

We enjoy traveling Ben Hur Road between the little early-California towns of Raymond and Mariposa. It's a perfect hour-long drive full of mountains, hills, streams, trees, wildlife providing a very relaxing time. Each time we pass this mountain, we get into a conversation about how great it would be to own a house up there. So I built this one. With the hot afternoon sun setting behind the house to the west, the front would be cool, shaded and the views spectacular.

You only want to drive Italian Bar Road when you are quite alert. It is a lane-and-a-half wide and winds around the cliffs of high mountains, with blind hairpin turns, but leading to Redinger Lake, one of California's most pristine, rarely visited spots. Enroute I noticed a small farmhouse over in the oak trees and stopped to take a picture. Once home, I vastly remodeled the farm house into an ultra-modern - and therefore incongruous - tower. The location is not far from the monument signifying the exact, geographic center of California, just outside North Fork.

I enjoy the Italian architecture habit of symmetry in design. In this case I can't decide if I invented a duplex, a fourplex, or one giant estate home. I do know I would love to be the guy rowing the little boat at right.

This little building started a huge spare-time project which has lasted over a year now. Famed artist, the late Jane Gyer, and her husband Jack - former museum curator in Yosemite National Park - and I talked frequently about establishing an arts camp similar to Interlochen in Michigan or Idyllwild in southern California, but located near where we live in the Yosemite area mountains. Janie was a born teacher and thought a true camp dedicated to teaching graphic arts, painting, drawing, photography as well as performance arts - writing and performing music, videography, film, and live performance - would be enormous in molding talents of young and old alike. Sadly, Janie passed away in 2005 and she never realized this lifelong dream. Jack is 95 now and still mentions it occasionally. So I started designing and "building" the "Jack and Jane Gyer Arts Camp" - thus far the overall map is completed, several of the types of buildings designed and, among them, little two-person chalets like this. Obviously, their dream has become mine.

Fourplex housing units for Arts Camp attendees would be located around the campus, near the teaching centers of their specialties, and would house students studying similar media.

These two-to-an-apartment duplexes would also dot the campus, providing visual plus living variety, and all located in proximity to dining halls, canteens, swiming, athletics, and arts sites.

For music and theatre arts, there would be indoor theatres, performance, rehearsal and study spaces, as well as outdoor facilities such as this amphitheatre nestled in the woods.

Continuing my quest for a good reason houses must be located near water, when it would be perfectly acceptable - to me, anyway - to locate a house IN the water. Like this one. Boat required.

For music and theatre arts, there would be indoor theatres, performance, rehearsal and study spaces, as well as outdoor facilities such as this amphitheatre nestled in the woods.

Why not Malibu?

I cannot shake this desire to live in the middle of a lake - much better than a moat. No mosquitoes, prying neighbors, prickly animals, just peace and no hiking to catch fish.

Many folks don't like a garage as the focal point along a street. Everyone wants to hide the garage. To me, however, a garage such as in this case, can give you 22 to 30-feet of soundproofing when located along a busy roadway. This is the european tradition where many homes and apartments are in buildings where they face an internal courtyard, not the street. And the property along busy roadways is generally cheaper, too! And don't the trees make a lovely canopy, as well?

The little treatment above the front door caught my eye while watching NCIS Los Angeles one evening. So I built a different house around it. I don't remember what sort of criminals lived in the house on TV, but this one cries out for a couple of adults like my wife and I.

This is a quick computer sketch. I liked the idea which reminded me of a train on the tracks. This is as far as it has gone, however, thought I may work it into something one of these days. Sort of looks like it was a foggy day.

Save the rainwater for watering your garden in the spring and summer. This quick-sketch home is designed to capture rain, funneling it to settling tanks, and from there to an underground storage tank to keep it cool and refreshing for the hot-summer plants.

This rounded, rolled-metal roof, thing appeared to be a passing fancy. But during its heydey, the thought occurred to me that the walls could be corrugated material as well. Petunias optional.

Modern, with odd angles, and a skirt roof on one section was invented to be cheap to build and one hundred percent useable inside. No wasted space, small two-bedroom, two bath - and costs a lot less than the statue on the lawn.

Well, Lucy, I've got some 'splainin to do here. First would be manipulating the California Coastal Commission to even allow its construction! But beyond that, think of the noise of the breakers crashing up against the rocks 24-seven. But artists aren't to be put off by mundane rules and noises. This concept came to me in the same dream that other of my concrete-pylon designs have come. I always liked tree houses. This one, however could serve an important purpose with its "captain's tower" lookout for scanning the ocean.

With a house properly positioned, as in this quick sketch, it can have "day-glow" lighting all day without direct sunlight penetrating the interior of the home. One would almost never have to turn on lights during the day in this home with its three linear skylight systems. I got the idea from the new Facebook building in Palo Alto - which was the old Hewlett Packard factory, which features the same type of skylighting because all the Facebook geeks are bright enough, already.

I've always felt Oakhurst, with its dominating peak, Deadwood Mountain, was the perfect place for outdoor summer concerts by major acts. The lower slopes of Deadwood possess all the proper angles for an amphitheatre. So here's my rendition for a 3,000 seat covered facility that I named "Livewood II" a more positive name than the mountain itself...and a smaller version of its neighbor, shown below

This is the 10,000 seat companion amphitheatre to the above, called Livewood. It features all the amenities that an indoor arena would have, including large LED video screens, and it is open to the grand outdoors with a full view, from the upper levels, of downtown Oakhurst, California.

A Classic "Prairie Estate" with older traditions, but modern-day services. This is a large home, built for entertaining and featuring an extra-large dining area, open kitchen and gathering space. (Second floor plan coming soon) See PLAN

A big courtyard is at the center of this Adobe style home, with plenty of room for guests and two large bedroom suites. Open plan living/dining/kitchen area, too. See PLAN

A new trend in architecture is a "visiting" or chat room adjacent to the kitchen. This is where the ladies hang out while preparing dinner, as many have told us they feel comfortable in a kitchen. The house also features a "man cave" as well! It's large, airy, the kitchen and dining area spans two floors in height and yet the formal living room with 10-foot ceilings is intimate. The construction is simple to keep costs low. See PLAN

A home featuring three internal levels, accessible by "walking-gait" stairs. The 5-inch rise of the stairs allows a nearly-normal walking gait, eliminating the need for an elevator. By breaking the interior into multiple levels, living, dining and even a bedroom suite can take advantage of higher-up views. Other features: office space, a large outdoor kitchen and patio area. Three QUIET lower level bedrooms with transom windows allow natural light and feature en-suite baths.