a house, a world, a heaven
by danny bernstein

Alice Dodson knows that a house is more than four walls and a roof, and that an architect is more than a technician who can draw.

The Alchemist

“Many of us want to create shelter not only to meet our physical needs, but to further our mental and spiritual fulfillment as well. " she explains. "There is also growing awareness of the interconnectedness between individuals and the planetary society of humans, animals, plants, land, and water. Therefore, while creating a home or a workplace, we need to think about the environmental impact of our plans for generations to come. I am glad I can unite all these elements to offer architecture with a spiritual content.”

Alice Dodson specializes in a wonderful, almost alchemical mix of green building, solar design, sustainable architecture, Feng Shui, and sacred geometry, all elements that she incorporates in various combinations her building design. Her passion is creating a home that supports and enriches the individual, the family, the family within the environment, and conversely the environment within the individual.

When she works with a new client, she interviews the family extensively to understand which type of design is more harmonious for them. She matches a house design to a person. What is the best direction for work, for sleep, for every day living? With her work she emphasizes "healthy and harmonious living" on all levels. The dwellings she creates range from construction with standard building materials to a variety of the best of sustainable materials like Hebel and Durisol (see her website for details) to straw bale houses, to geodesic domes.

The Student

Alice grew up in Hungary where she had her initial training as an architect. She remembers her career decision as almost an accident. “I studied chemistry at university in Budapest. I was going to be a scientist. However, I also liked to make sculptures. And the only way to use the sculpture studio in college was to be part of the architecture school.” In her architecture class, 50 percent of the students were women. “Several years after graduation,” Alice recalls, “I think that over 80 percent of the women left architecture and went into neighboring professions. Architecture is a subject that can consume you. Even in Asheville, most firms are owned by men; approximately one in every ten is owned by women.”

Asked if she considered architecture a design or engineering profession. “I like the design part,” she explains, “but I was good at math so the engineering part didn’t give me any problems.

After college, Alice worked for an architectural firm in Budapest. Then she took a career break to volunteer for an international yoga and meditation center involved in social service projects. Her work involved travel for the organization and that’s how she got to the U.S.

“I was in Los Angeles when I decided to go back to doing architecture. I got a job in Los Angeles with two phone calls. And that’s where I met my husband (now an Asheville firefighter and realtor)—he was in the same yoga group.

When we decided to have children, we felt we needed to move. We traveled around and found that Asheville was the right place to settle down. I got a good job here right away—and this was a real architectural design job, not just drafting. Here I apprenticed for an additional three years and got my license.”

The Wife/Mother

When we decided to have children, we felt we needed to move. We traveled around and found that Asheville was the right place to settle down. I got a good job here right away—and this was a real architectural design job, not just drafting. Here I apprenticed for an additional three years and got my license.”

She emphasized that becoming a licensed architect was not easy. She and a colleague studied every day for a year preparing for the exam. Then she went out on her own.
Alice has a professionally-designed office suitable for two people, one at the computer and one at the drafting table. Janet, her assistant, helps with computer-aided design. But no matter how well-laid out her workspace is, Alice is still working from home. Was that a problem?

“There are pros and cons. The problem is that my business never closes. I seem to work all the time, but I am trying to change this. I have been working like this in Asheville for fifteen years. But of course, the advantages are that I can take care of the children during the summer and on school vacations. I have two boys, 12 and 14. When I first had a child, I hired babysitters. But I didn’t do this for too long. After I got rid of the sitters, I took my children with me all the time, on job sites and when meeting clients. I think that children should grow up with their parents, so they can learn and inherit their skills. When I build models, they built models right along with me.” Alice showed a very professional looking model that one of her boys had done when he was eleven.

The Architect

Her own home in Reems Creek is testament to her skill as an artist and as an engineer. Tucked gently into a hillside above a pond, last home at the end of their cove, the structure is beautiful inside and out. Her kitchen is a modern and spacious country kitchen that looks out on a garden. I could picture the whole family cooking, eating and laughing here.

She used a solar hot water system uses solar panels for heat and hot water—a system that would pay for itself within five years. The water pipes run under the floor to circulate the heat.

Alternatively, she explains a passive solar system for which you orient the main rooms or have a sunroom facing south creating a “green house” effect from the sun to heat the space.

Solar-electric is for those who want to get off the electric grid all together. Such a system may take up to 15 to 20 years to pay off.

She emphasized that becoming a licensed architect was not easy. She and a colleague studied every day for a year preparing for the exam. Then she went out on her own.
“I don’t think I would have had the courage to start my own business, but the firm I was with went through consolidation and I found myself without a job. While I was looking for another position, people asked me to do little things here and there and I found myself in business.”

The Woman

Alice still continues to volunteer for the yoga social service group that first brought her to the U.S. She has just come back from Costa Rica where the organization is building a yoga center and a clinic and she is volunteering her architectural services.

Alice Dodson can be reached at 828.645.9326. You can look at house designs at greendragondesign.net.

Danny Bernstein is a hiker and hike leader. She is researching and writing a book on all the places in the novel, Cold Mountain. She can be reached at danny@hikertohiker.org.