AMHERST -- When he was young, Rody Lipson and his father built a gazebo in the woods near his New Marlborough home -- an experience he described as "the blind leading the blind."
Now, the 22-year-old Hampshire College design student, who says he's always been interested "building stuff," is at work on a house. A tiny house, that is, which he plans to donate to Syrian refugees when it's finished.
The house is Lipson's senior thesis. He expects to complete the project by December, when he will graduate. Right now he's about halfway done, and friends have been helping.
He began framing the house this summer when he took a class at Yestermorrow, a school in New London, Connecticut that offers a program in tiny house design and construction. He recently moved the structure to campus, where he will continue to work away.
"It's exciting," he said of the project. "It's tangible... not (just) conceptual."
He became inspired to design and build the house after learning about Michael Reynold's and the Taos, New Mexico-based Earthship Biotecture.
That company builds homes that are completely self-sustaining, providing all the electricity and water people will need. Lipson said people who have such a house wouldn't have to work because they can take care of all their needs, including the ability to grow food. "It's a utopian concept," he said.
While his home won't do all of that, he said, "tiny houses are more environmentally friendly" than a conventional home.
Still, he needs money to finish and launched a fundraising campaign to help. He raised about $7,000 on one fundraiser, and an additional $3,466 toward a $12,000 goal on another.
So far, he spent $5,000 on the trailer for the house, $2,000 on materials and $2,000 for the class in Connecticut.
And the cost doesn't include his labor -- hundreds of hours by the time he finishes the house.
He used software to help design the house and plans to install a composting toilet, solar panels and a built-in kitchen table. Two lofts will offer space for a sleeping area and storage. At roughly 160 square feet -- 230 including the loft space -- the house is best suited for two people.
The house will have propane for cooking, heat and hot water.
He said he settled on donating the finished home to a Syrian refugee family as a way "to make a statement."
"I believe that this donation will help send the message that America stands in solidarity with immigrants and refugees and that most of us are horrified by the racism and hate that have surged since Trump's election," he wrote on his fundraising website.
He doesn't know yet who will get the house but has been working with the Worcester-based Ascentria Care Alliance, which offers refugee and immigrant services, to find a family.
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