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Palo Alto Online

House of folly

by Anna Galan

Mat Henshall stands among paint cans, plywood boards, sawdust piles and woodworking tools as he lights another American Spirit cigarette, takes a sip of tea and continues working at his table saw. Gold-topped roofing covers the front lawn of his Palo Alto home, stained-glass windows are laid out in the courtyard and poster-size blueprints are pasted to the back windows.

The reason for the temporary mess in the backyard: a 23-foot tall, 20-foot wide pagoda-like structure Henshall calls the "House of Folly."

"It's extreme, it's crazy, I love it," Henshall said of the project.

The building will be used for decorative and housing purposes at Burning Man, a six-day festival already underway in the Black Rock desert of northern Nevada. Despite its three-story height, the structure is fully modular, and will be re-assembled by a team of four to five individuals, including Henshall.

Built to California code, the details are painstakingly crafted, such as handmade molding and traditional jointing. Both the interior and exterior are painted a rich red color, with gold and black posts. All the windows are made by hand, and the design is modeled after Indian and Islamic-style archways. The look is eclectic, trimmed in colorful motifs taken from symbolic Tibetan art. While it looks amazing in the daylight, much of it is designed to stand out at night, thanks to the gold-topped roof and lighted windows.

The stated function of Henshall's project is a house in which 10 people will sleep and live during the festival. But he described it as the "House of Folly." According to Henshall, a folly was very popular in the 19th century, when the Victorians would build something that purported to have a function, but really demanded much more time, effort and money than necessary.

"Anything above survival, really, is a folly," Henshall said. "But for whatever, reason, people do it. It drives humanity. I see so much of what we do in life is a folly. Spending $50,000 on a BMW is a folly."

Another folly is the fact that the house will be situated among other tents and RVs. Henshall will be part of a 60-member camp, the "I'm OK, You're OK Corral," a group of mostly Bay Area people. While he can technically call the project a "tent" -- it will reside in the residential part of the festival, and not with art exhibits -- it is an art piece, Henshall said.

The project has come a long way since May, when Henshall first designed the structure on the back of an envelope. With the help of friend Andy Menzerhaus, a "quite brilliant" contractor, the two were able to realize Henshall's vision. The result: a solid structure built to withstand desert winds, which can get up to 70 miles per hour.

"Andy worked out the details so that the house won't fall down, can be taken apart and then put back together," Henshall said.

The project has been funded entirely from contributions from friends, anywhere from "$10 to thousands." Valeria Saldanha and Angela Matthews have been key people from the beginning. Others, such as friend Richard Leherpeur, a first-time "burner," joined the project recently.

"We get people together for a common goal," Henshall said. "The nice thing, is that no matter your level of skill, there is always something you can contribute. It creates a community."

The community spirit felt by Henshall seems to have also rubbed off on his neighbors, though he said he tried to keep construction limited to "reasonable" hours.

"It's a little curious, I was surprised of how supportive my neighbors have been," Henshall said. "Most have shown a lot of support."

Henshall attended Burning Man for the first time last year, and despite having a wonderful experience, warned that "it's not for everybody."

The festival first began at Baker Beach in San Francisco in 1986. It moved to the Nevada desert in 1990, when authorities worried the culmination of the event -- the burning of a then 20-feet-high wooden sculpture of a man -- would be dangerous. Now 40-feet tall and attracting more than 25,000 visitors from around the world, the burning man has turned into something quite its own.

"Some people go and it's just one big party," Henshall said. "The media says it's all sex drugs and rock and roll. But really, it's bloody hot and dusty. You have to be safe, because you can get dehydrated really quickly."

Henshall said that nothing lives in the Black Rock desert; there are no trees, grass or hills, and it can be dangerous, due to extreme variations in temperature. Festival participants must bring everything they will need for the time they're there (Aug. 25-Sept. 1), since they are not allowed to go in and out for supplies. This includes clothing, food and water. About 75 percent of ticket sales goes toward sanitation and maintenance of portable toilets.

"It's 30,000 people going out into the desert to create a temple city in which no money is used at all, everything is based on bartering," Henshall said. "It's a real pioneer spirit, because you go out and it's so dangerous that everyone needs to look out for their neighbors. It's hard to describe.

"Everybody has their own experience. For me, it's very social. I meet people from all walks of life. I think it expresses America perfectly."

A native of England, Henshall has been building, creating and inventing since the age of 4. He inherited his inventor spirit from watching his father pursue many off-the-wall projects, such as converting his old Mini to run on propane gas during the gas shortage of the 1970s.

Henshall has lived in the United States for the past 10 years. He moved to the Silicon Valley three years ago with his daughter, who is now 18. A veteran in the field of management and technology, he now works as a freelance consultant and mentor, helping large companies improve processes for projects and assisting employees with their team skills.

He said that people often must deal with abrupt life-changes, such as a death, divorce or job change, all things he has coped with. However, he said he knew there would always be a point when that would change.

"As my daughter got older, I got to think about me more," Henshall said. "Now, I'm doing things that aren't driven by someone else's goals."

And Henshall's plans post-Burning Man? He said the house will probably go into storage somewhere. Another possibility: sell it.

"If I did sell it, it would probably be somewhere between $80,000 to $100,000, which would be a bargain, since it's designed to last 20 years."

Henshall said it would probably cost someone $300,000 to $400,000 to build something like it. However, he wasn't overly eager to get rid of the project yet.

"The only reason to sell it would be to give us the funds to do something more outrageous next year."

Henshall is already working on ideas for another project. He's thinking of doing something with kinetics and robotics, but said "it's top secret."