In 2017, Alex Stadtner, a Building Biology colleague invited us to help create a healthy home for his client and friend, Geoff Henderson, who suffered from extreme chemical sensitivities. After a two-year land search, a property was located outside of Petaluma, California, and we proceeded to work on a design for him. Hammond and Associates soon joined the team as the General Contractors and for the next several years we worked together. It took teamwork and continuous collaboration, and it was an honor for us to work with Geoff, Hammond and Associates and Alex along with many others who held the vision of making this home a safe sanctuary for Geoff to regain his health. Geoff moved into his new healthy Faswall home in April of 2023. Below we interviewed Geoff about his experience.

Could you tell the reader a little about your history with MCS. How you got sick, what were your symptoms?

I grew up in Brooklyn, NYC over a freeway from age one and a half, and there was a lot of pollution at that time in NY and leaded gas fumes coming up from the freeway underneath the house and I got exposed very early on to heavy metals due to the vehicle pollution and the lead pipes, lead paint in our historic 1846 home. I started to have health problems in my teens. As a young artist from 13 on, I used oil paints and solvents and other toxic art materials and that also had an impact. But I really didn’t start to have symptoms until my early 20’s, when I noticed sensitivities to art materials and switched to acrylic paint for that reason. When I was 27, I was renting a house in San Anselmo, California, and the landlord used petro-chemical based mold killer on the deck. That was the onset of severe symptoms including MCAS and constant fatigue. I felt like my whole system was affected. That was a wake-up call and that’s when I ended up buying my first house and renovating it with the healthiest materials I could find at that time. 

Wow, what a history! And like so many who become sensitized by an event, begin to remember many smaller exposures that they have had along the way that made them susceptible. You have certainly had your share of exposures!

In 1998, when I bought that first house I did pretty well until I put on a new porch and unfortunately the carpenter used an epoxy to seal the boards during the winter and the epoxy never cured and I got really sick with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). That was over 10 years ago and I have been trying to regain my health ever since.

Why did you decide to build from scratch? This is a huge venture. What made you decide to go for it?

Well, I think the idea of being able to use all materials that were vetted by me and EcoNest and tested in advance was very crucial to me. I had tried so hard to make everything healthy in my renovation. Even though I put in a state-of-the-art HRV and radiant heat and used the healthiest materials I could find, it was just never optimal. Building from scratch and having the opportunity to do everything right from the start was very appealing. I enjoyed the renovation process but finding land and building new was much more exciting and appealing to me.

There was at least a 10-year period between when you moved out of your old house and finally moved into your new house. What was your experience of finding a safe place to live in the interim now that you were so sensitized?

It was very difficult…very difficult. For a while I lived in a safe house in Berkley and that was run by someone who catered to people like me. I tried living with my parents, but they were renovating and that made me sick so really for over 10 years I bounced around from house to house usually getting sick and having to move. I stayed in my car for 2 weeks and that was really painful. It was cold! It was such a struggle moving around like that. I finally settled in a cabana room at my parent’s house-not ideal, there was mold and dust and I was not very well. Eventually I was able to go inside the house once the renovation aired-out and then the wildfires hit. I got very sick from that and don’t look forward to wildfire season again.

Your new home has pretty robust smoke filtration to keep you safer when smoke does hit. I have high hopes that that will save you discomfort.

I have gotten through one wildfire season already and didn’t have any problems.

What was the most difficult part of the construction process?

I would say just waiting for it to be complete! We started building just as the COVID Pandemic was raging and it took a long time to begin the construction. Pandemic aside, I didn’t feel optimal, and it was a real challenge to constantly review materials and questions by the contractors. While the pressure to make decisions was challenging it was also very engaging and enjoyable at the same time.

Geoff you are cut-out for this work! Just to build a conventional home keeping up with the decisions can be challenging. There are so many more decisions to make when you are looking at each material from a health perspective. Of course, we gave you many options in our specifications but in the end, you had to determine which materials were best for your unique and high level of sensitivities. It is impossible to test everything. Sometimes you had to simply trust that our experience of working with other sensitive individuals would also work for you.

I tested out quite a few materials. Hammond and Assoc. the builders brought by many samples for me to test from among the listed products and yes, we made educated guesses based on your experience.

From permit to move-in, how long did it take?

I think it took approx. 2-1/2 years.

Building during the pandemic was one of the most difficult times to build! There were delays, materials shortages, labor shortages, and wildcard price increases. etc. It might have taken only a year in normal times. What was the very most rewarding moment of this whole venture?

It was very rewarding to see the Faswall block walls going up. That was extremely rewarding when the house was enclosed with the block and main beams it was incredibly rewarding… I knew the completion would follow. But really when it was finished and I was finally able to come over and the house was cleaned up and I was able to walk through the house and not have any reactions, that was really extraordinary!

That was the most rewarding for us too, hearing that you were OK and reaction-free in the house. It has been a year since you moved in. How has your health changed or improved in your new Faswall home?

It has been great here. I haven’t had any reactions to materials in the home and the house is dry as a bone. There is no sense of mold which I pick up in almost all other homes I visit. I definitely feel much better, I have more energy and just feel much healthier. I don’t have to wear organic pajamas all the time anymore. I’ve been able to go out more. I can tolerate other interiors that I couldn’t tolerate before, with a much lower level of reactivity.

What, if anything, would you do differently?

Good question, I would say I might have liked to have done other projects on the land itself but zoning would not allow it.

Have you had other friends with MCS or mold sensitivity visit you in the new home?

Yes, I have, and they have done well here, no reactions.

What advice would you give to someone entering the process of planning a healthy home?

I would say take a deep breath, relax because it’s going to be a long process, but it will be a rewarding one. I would recommend asking a lot of questions. I would say, read a book about house building if you can find one you like and really stay active in every aspect of the building process if you can…ask questions. Take notes, find images of buildings you really like. Keep a notebook of images and ideas you like and share that with your architects.

One of the big things we encounter is that folks who have been as deeply affected by the world out there as you have been, your health wiped out, never knowing when something will set off a cascade of reactions that building is a scary prospect; not everyone goes into the process with as much courage as you. A lot of people are understandably fearful and constantly worrying about the outcome. Any advice for them?

I would say that the process really does work. It’s a long one but it is important to have faith that it will work in the end. It is such a rewarding experience. Just do it! One is very lucky to be in a position to be able to do it. I would encourage anyone who is having problems with MCS or MCAS, who is not feeling well in their homes, and has the means and the desire to move forward and build a house from scratch…You can do it! Every aspect will be challenging but rewarding in many ways.