Mike built this room out of salvaged auto windshields, glued together with silicone caulk and decorated with stained glass. He got the idea for the silicone joinery and the inspiration for free-form building from our 1973 book Shelter.
Mike was one year younger than me and we looked a lot alike — our dads were brothers.
We played together a lot as kids and when I went to Stanford, he went to UC Santa Barbara, where he threw the javelin on the track team. We lived in adjacent cottages in Mill Valley in the '60s, and I went to hang out with him when he moved to Provincetown, Mass., in 1965 — just before I quit my job as an insurance broker to start working as a carpenter.
Mike was a gentle soul. He never did anything but his art, all his life. Painting, sculpting, building. He called his place Eliphante, and in recent years people from all over the world have come to visit, in spite of its hidden location. To get there you have to cross a river in a canoe.
On January 31, the NY Times did a large article on Mike titled: A Handmade Home
If you're interested in Gaudí/Watts Towers-type architecture, see Mike's website at:
http://www.eliphante.org/
5 comments:
I've read home work so many times it's starting to wear out. Your cousins house is my favorite part of a great book. Can't wait till the next one. My condolences and best wishes.
Leo from New Jersey
A great man, amazing artist. I'm sorry for your loss.
May his soul fly free!
I just drove through Cornville today, wondering how things were going at Elephante. You first sent me there years ago after I visited Bolinas with my mother. I haven't been back since that first wonderful visit, but your cousin and his wife have often been in my prayers. Here at Arcosanti, just to the south, Eliphante has always been a source of delight. Mike will be well remembered and remain a great source of inspiration.
He really was a great artist, I actually own a painting of him, a friend gave it to me as a gift.
It was a nice story, I really liked what you did! I'm an artist too and I think this blog is one of the best in this category because all this information has been increasing my knowledge about it, in this case, I will find everything related to Michael Kahn. 23jj
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