Creating the Life They Want: J.D. and Cathy Harris

Story by Deb Peterson | Photographed by Carlos Hernandez. M! Aug/Sep 2011.

Leaving funky, art-filled Eureka Springs on Hwy. 23 North, winding alongside brooks and through pastoral hills, you may think you’ve seen it all.

You haven’t.

Not far from The Art Colony, you’ll find stainless steel cranes dancing near the roadside. Glance past and you may see a copper unicorn, an iron horse, a giant warrior, metal fish swimming through the trees.

If you haven’t gone off the road yet, gleaming waves of silver will catch your eye next and your jaw will likely drop.

Yes, it’s a roof.

And yes, people live under it. While the driveway to J.D. and Cathy Harris’s home is private, their studio is open to the public. Pull in, and one of the fanciful creations can be yours.

“This was actually the prototype for the house,” Cathy says of the studio.

Inside, you’ll find metal sculptures in various stages of development. Some hang from the soaring 40-foot ceiling.

J.D. is the metal sculptor. Cathy adds her own stained-glass art to some of the pieces.

Pinned to the window frame is a pencil drawing of their most-unusual home, just up the hill.

“J.D. had the idea for this home in his head for a long time,” Cathy says. “I asked him to draw me a picture of my home.”

It’s the only blueprint.

Together, they’re making the home a reality. While J.D. is the chief carpenter, Cathy’s role is crucial.

She runs the heavy equipment—the crane, backhoe, and bulldozer.

She has her own nail gun.

“I can sweat pipes and am the queen of extension cords,” Cathy says with a smile. “I once received a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer for Mother’s Day.”

During construction of the home, which is still in progress, the Harrises lived in a camper on the site and spent most of their time outdoors.

“We realized how much we love being outside,” Cathy says. “It was a major influence in our decision to put trees inside.”

She operated the crane, lifting the trees over the walls and setting them in place. She couldn’t see where the trees were going. J.D. wore a headset and directed her via the intercom on their phones.

Cathy set the hot tub in place the same way. It sits atop a cliff wall, reached via a winding stone stairway, in their “back yard.”

“She never knows what I’m going to bring home,” says J.D., “so she’s ready for anything.”

Cathy thrills at what J.D.’s imagination has cooked up so far—a shower pod (shown at left, still under construction), a steel table that will have a blue, watery finish (bottom, left), a library loft accessed by dumbwaiter.

The ceiling will be sprayed with thick foam insulation that J.D. plans to carve and then paint.

Outside, an illuminated creek runs past the sleeping porch in back and under a rock ledge. The sweeping roofline catches the summer breeze and directs it inside.

Cold winter winds are directed away.

J.D. and Cathy measured the sunlight through the seasons and planned the overhangs accordingly, especially in the kitchen, to take the best advantage of winter light and yet shade against the hot summer sun.

How did J.D. become so familiar with the elements of nature?

He lived outside as a child.

Raised in an orphanage he didn’t much care for, he ran away time after time. In exasperation, his housemother asked him what it would take to keep him home.

“I don’t want to live in the dorm,” he told her. “I’d rather live outside.”

The housemother obliged, thinking he would come to his senses in a few days.

“I lived outside for two years in a little shack I built,” J.D. says. “A house is just to keep the elements out. The rest is cosmetic. You can make it whatever you want.”

Clearly.

J.D., 62, and Cathy, 60, believe in flowing with the energy of the universe. They have studied The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, and the work of Abraham-Hicks.

“Whatever we need, we put out there,” Cathy says, “and then we wait. Every decision you make either makes you feel good or feel bad. That’s how we measure.”

The results are generous and peaceful.

“Everyone is mellow here,” Cathy says, “even the chipmunks.”

One chipmunk plays with their cat, Sage, running through the yard together. It once fell asleep on a rock right above the cat.

“We feel very grounded here,” Cathy says. “We have lots of bird feeders and houses, and the elevation creates a feeling like you’re in a treehouse.”

The Harrises moved into their house this summer and will live amid the construction while the house is finished.

The media isn’t waiting for the finished product either. Already, newspapers, architectural magazines, and other media sources are sharing the story of this artistic home.

“I get to live in an art piece,” Cathy says. “It’s all about finding out what makes you happy and healthy.”

M!

See photos of the Harris house: