Russian Dacha
Posted by Wayne
The other day at work as my colleagues and I gathered for a meeting I was describing the documentary “Alone in the Wilderness” that I had seen the previous night on PBS. I was amazed that the guy had built his house, by himself, in the middle of nowhere with no power tools.
Mike G., the Quality Assurance director at my company, who happens to be from Russia, wasn’t as amazed with the story as I was. He was impressed that the guy lived in the Alaskan wilderness for 30 odd years, but not that he had built a house by himself with no power tools. Mike tells me that growing up in Russia his father had built two houses by himself with no power tools, one for himself and one for a neighbor, and he was not a professional builder. He says in Russia it isn’t that uncommon for people to build their own houses.
Mike also says that Brock Lesnar can’t compete for the title in the UFC, so I’m used to hearing him badmouth my boys around the office (Brock Lesnar and I were both amateur wrestlers). I stand by my assessment that “Alone in the wilderness” was an amazing documentary, particularly due to the guy’s craftsmanship using only an axe and saw. But anyone who can build a house with no power tools is an impressive DIY’er in my book, so I will give Mike’s dad his due credit.
Mike sent me a couple pictures of the house that his dad built. He says that technically this is called a Dacha, according to wikipedia: “Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes located in the exurbs of Soviet and Russian cities. It is usually occupied part of the year by its owner or rented out to urban residents as a summer retreat. Dachas are very common in Russia, and are also widespread in some former republics of the Soviet Union.”
Although my interior designer wife might have a heart attack if she saw the wallpaper, I have to say this is pretty darned impressive for a guy who just decides to build a house one day, sans powertools.
One Response to “Russian Dacha”
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May 18th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Yes, this what my father built. When he purchased it, it only had a foundation and couple of brick layers. He finished laying the bricks and built a second floor on top of it. It took him about 6 years to finish it all, but he was working on it only during summer. I was helping him a little, mostly with the things that he could not handle physically, like raising the walls or lifting the metal for the roof.
Brock “I cannot defend a submission” Lesnar will need a few more years of training to compete for the UFC title. He spent total of 2 minutes and 39 seconds fighting by MMA rules, with one win over a total nobody and one loss, so it is a little early to say what he can do.
As far as wallpaper… I do not like it either. But back then, it was pretty much the only choice, because there were no other materials to cover the walls.
Mike G