Actually, it's not like it was just the two of us only; we did have help, but we really were the only two to see the thing through on an ongoing basis from begining to end. (correction - not end... we're still working on it...). Both my partner Steve and I are moderately seasoned carpenters (from other "lives"), and it served in good stead here. We got this "great" idea a few years ago, about getting out from under the control of some psychotic landlord always raising the rent by building our own dojo, structure included! I had about an acre of unused land close to my country home, and we figured we could erect a pole building on it, floor it, finish off the interior, and wala! (we'd still have a psychotic landlord, but since he was the head of the dojo...).

We planned to start by ordering a "kit" pole building, and with the help of our students, we could erect the shell, and finish the interior easily! Eagerly, I sketched some interior "views" (I once worked as a graphic artist), which raised the excitement level even more, and thus armed, Steve and I trotted down to one of the local lumber yards, and ordered a "kit", advertised as "complete with plans and step by step building instructions".

When the lumber was delivered, it was spring in Michigan, and if you know anything about this state, you know that Michigan springs are usually a little wet (yeah, and so is the Pacific Ocean...). The delivery truck (large enough to handle 24 foot trusses) buried itself in the clay soil to the axles, and we had to call a 4X4 wrecker to pull it out. This left two foot deep ruts in the ground to fill... The "plans" were a freehand drawn single sheet xerox, with the "complete instructions" being something on the order of "...put it together like the picture...". Of course we weren't handed these until the lumber was unloaded, and after having to be towed out to the road, the driver's attitude was "...take it up with the lumberyard. I just deliver." He had no intention of going back in there to load up the wood...

The lumberyard closed its doors for business the next week.

Warily, I inventoried the wood delivered, and discovered that what was delivered would not build what was on the "plan". I had to sit down and design a building that we could build with what we had (which, by the way, was almost no more money...). These had to be plans that would pass muster by the local building inspector as well. I went out and purchased three books on pole building design and read them cover-to-cover, sat down in front of my computer, and began to design my first pole structure...

We rented a BobCat mini-bulldozer to grade the area where we would erect the building, and a power-auger to punch the holes for the vertical 4X6 "poles". Did you know that in Michigan clay, a 5HP power auger can throw two grown men like toothpicks? Of course, it being spring, the almost constant rains would fill the holes with water, which made getting them inspected a little difficult...

Well, to make a long story short, we spent the next three years at it. Scavenging became a way of life, for wood and/or hardware (..."there is no waste"...). Almost nothing was thrown away - sooner or later we'd need it somewhere. What we did end up with though, was: 

This is the shomen wall of the dojo. The mat floor is sprung wood, based on a design used in medieval Scandanavian sleighs, and is fully adjustable.The trim and shomen are entirely hand-built of cedar, with a wainscoat of T1-11 board.

The dojo is approximately 1300 square feet, including front office, men's and womens's dressing rooms, bathroom, and back office. Our mat space is approximately 24 by 30 feet. Shown below, is a dojo scene from a 1996 hosting of Okabayashi Shogen Sensei of the Daito Ryu.