Demise of the Ark

History of the Ark

The history of the Ark and information related to building with shipping containers can be found here.

The Beginning of the End

Monday, February 4, 2008: It's around 11 AM and I am working on the front of the steeple putting up cement board. Off near the highway at the entry road to the Ark, I see two pickups and people talking to each other. One is the truck that belongs to my neighbor. Fifteen minutes later one of the trucks slowly approaches the house. I get down from the scaffold to see who it is and what they want. It's a county truck. The occupant gets out, looks around and asks me if I have a building permit. Of course, I don't and he knows full well I don't. Thereupon he hands me a "Stop Construction" notice. Thus, ended the Ark building process. The above image shows the how things stood when I cease the building of the Ark.

About Building Permits.

No, I never bothered to get a building permit for the construction of the Ark. In a way, the Ark just sort of happened. While I indeed had planned to build something on my desert property I did not start with a full design. Rather I had a floor plan and the Ark evolved over time around shipping containers.

I had always known that someday the county would catch up with me. I had assumed that when that happened I'd end up paying a fine and jumping through some hoops to prove I'd built the place to code - which I did, except for one minor issue: buried in the California Building Codes is the statement that a shipping container cannot be lived in. They can only be used for storage. That was the kiss of death for the Ark as the bureaucratic mind can make no allowance for the use of shipping containers as a construction component and living in them.

The Situation Deteriorates

The "Stop Construction" order was only the beginning of the County's pursuit of me. In time registered letters arrived ordering me to "remove the addition and obtain permits for the shipping containers." That sort of demand is basically contradictory as the shipping containers are the addition. The letters contained dire threats of legal action against me so I saw no recourse but to begin to de-construct the Ark. I use the term 'de-construct' vs. 'demolish' because as much as possible I am salvaging materials to either sell or - more likely - use in building again.

The images below show the status of the deconstruction as of the time I left the desert in early June to spend the summer in a cooler climate while planning for Ark Phoenix - the re-birth of the Ark, albeit in a new design and new place. For more information on Ark Phoenix, go here.

May 23rd and de-construction of steeple in-process.

View of May 5th status.

June 12th just before my departure for the summer.

Early June and showing the de-construction of the living room wing interior. I hired workers for 2-3 weeks to assist in the de-construction.