It started with a bang and now what once was solid rock is now a nearly 6,000 square foot dream home. Grant Johnson is the man behind the blast.
“I always thought it was a good idea, but I didn't think I could get the dynamite,” Grant said. “It's kind of symbolic of my life, really.”
Grant blasted a massive home out of solid stone—creating space where there wasn't any before.
“Our motto is positive living in negative space,” Grant said. “I never say we live in a cave, I always say live in a rock.”
The rock sits in the middle of Grant's 40 acres of land near the Escalante staircase. He and his wife, Sue bought the property in the 80's when it was cheap.
“It was 600 bucks an acre,” Sue said.
After trying to find the perfect spot for their dream home, a light went on-- actually; it was more like an explosion.
“I can bulldoze and blast and drill but I can't put two boards together, so this was the perfect answer,” Grant said.
He decided to blast a hole in the rock and took a trip to “The Hole in the Rock,” a popular tourist attraction near Moab, for inspiration.
“I fell in love with it,” Grant said. “All the space and the walls, and the natural rock.”
After buying dynamite and renting equipment, Grant and Sue started blasting in 1995. Grant had worked as a blaster and miner for Uranium back in the 80’s. They blasted for close to 10 years, using dynamite similar to mining---30 holes filled with 7 feet of explosives. Then they used primer cord to create the rounded, semi-smooth walls and ceilings--- leaving behind lines etched in the rock. Grant says it's more like creating art than building a house.
“It's a sculpture,” Grant said. “It's a light sculpture-- a space sculpture. Living here, we're really in nature.”
When finished, it will be 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a kitchen and a living room-- complete with electricity from a hydro turbine, clean, running water from a well and water rights, plumbing connected to a septic tank, and even a spot for a future hot tub.
“Well, it's definitely evolved from where it started,” Sue said.
Glass windows and doors fit seamlessly into the arched openings.
“People I think think it's darker than it is, the light really travels through here,” Grant said.
It's been a long and carefully executed process.
“Yeah, I think the target date is 2006,” Sue joked. “Oh my gosh, it's almost 2009!”
So far, they have one room completed—a home office with adjacent bathroom where they run their booming outdoor excursion and tour business. Grant and Sue, along with their 12-year-old daughter, live in the trailer out front. And because Grant is busy giving horse-guided tours 18 weeks out of the year, he can only work on the "rock house" during the winter.
“Whenever we can get some money and time, both are hard to come by, we do more,” Grant said.
They've been carving their dream home for nearly 15 years-- but Sue says they're having a blast.
“The initial idea was to build a house and somewhere a long the way it evolved into, it became the path instead of the destination,” Sue said.
It's a dream they're making a reality by working together.
“Ideas can pop into your head and you can make them come true,” Sue said.
“A family that blasts together lasts together,” Grant added.
Grant and Sue say they don’t want to go into debt to finish the house, so they are taking their time.
