About

Howdy folks, and welcome to the Home At Last website!

What we’re doing here stems from our collective frustration as to the way in which most homes are built these days. Raise your hand if you find yourself spending way too much time fixing some part of your house that’s failing in some way, whether it be doors that stick or roofs that leak or peeling paint. Or if you have to be revived with smelling salts after you see your repair invoices or utility bills.... That’s a lot of hands out there.

Even worse, it seem today that, by the time they get their mortgage paid off, Average Joe and/or Jane Homeowner has to take out another mortgage in order to make extensive renovations or flat-out buy a new home.. Thus the cycle repeats itself and we all remain in a constant state of debt and domestic disarray.

We here at Home At Last believe this predicament is the result of building methods and materials that are simply outdated. The current standard in homebuilding leaves a lot to be desired in terms of durability, energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, comfort, and aesthetic beauty. Meanwhile, today’s standard building materials are harvested, manufactured, and distributed in ways that deplete precious natural resources, and pollute our land, air, and water. If you want to see just the tip of that iceberg, drive by the construction site of one of these conventionally-built homes and check out the dumpster full of leftover two-by-four ends and fiberglass insulation. It’s a wasteful process that yields an inefficient, unstable structure.

With the Home At Last project, we aim to find better ways to build, and create homes that will last, not only beyond the terms of your mortgage, but for generations. We’ll do this by leaving the current standards in the dumpster and combining the best of ancient and modern technologies. Our goal is to build a comfortable, efficient, and beautiful home that will withstand storms, fire, termites, and other ravages of time. And we won’t break the bank in the process. We’ll take you along with us on this journey, show you eco-friendly and re-purposed or recycled materials, and where to get them. You’ll also learn methods of conservation that will lead to a more self-sufficient way of living.

Our crew on this journey will be a panel of experts including architects, engineers, craftsmen, artists, artisans, and geeks chock-full of facts, ideas, and know-how. And on the way we’ll provide healthy doses of laughter and music, because what good is a journey if it ain’t any fun? So fear not, harried homeowners. Climb aboard and have a seat as we take you Home At Last.

Grainger Esch

Your Host

Sean Robinson

Project Manager

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Mr. Grainger Esch is a professional entertainer and long-suffering homeowner, who brings a wealth of experience not so much in home building or home décor, but in home decay. (Seriously, you should see his house sometime.) He was approached by Home At Last project manager Sean Robinson to serve as a writer and video tour guide for the Home At Last adventure. Having performed for his entire 25-year career on television

and movie sets as a comic actor, on theatrical stages and festive events as a variety artiste, and in streets and circuses as a knockabout clown, Grainger brings on board a deeply ingrained sense of humor, as well as an unquenchable curiosity as to how things work, and an unflappable willingness to ask even the stupideest of questions and to place himself in the most absurd of situations.

Although Mr. Esch has never built a house, he does have considerable construction experience. As a professional circus clown and as impresario of Salado Texas’ Silver Spur Theater, he is well-versed in the building of comedy props, rigging of special effects apparati, and construction of stage sets. Since the theater closed in 2012 after nine glorious years of family entertainment, Grainger has taken up the practice of repurposing– that is, creating something new out of something old – and devotes much of his time to building musical instruments out of found objects and discarded materials. He is also very passionate about his current day-job, as a therapeutic clown at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mr. M. Sean Robinson began his career in real estate in the 1990's as a TREC professional inspector. Throughout this time he also bought, rented, built and sold land and homes in the greater Dallas, Texas region and beyond. As he spent so much of his time inspecting properties, he came to the realization that there had to be a more energy efficient, cost-effective way to build.

Through a series of events, Mr. Robinson became close friends with Texas musical, literary, and political legend Kinky Friedman, which led to a friendship with another legendary Texan, Willie Nelson. Mr. Nelson greatly

influenced Mr. Robinson in becoming a green citizen – that is, to leave the

littlest carbon footprint on this earth as possible. As a result of his many

discussions with Mr. Nelson, Mr. Robinson came up with an idea to build

generational homes out of materials that would stand the test of time; and

to take full advantage of solar and wind power technologies and water reclamation methods. Building a home using no structural wood, with 2

foot thick limestone blocks available in the area, he found not only that he

could reduce the rampant global deforestation currently taking place, but

could build a home which better retains its interior temperature, making it

more energy efficient, not to mention comfortable, durable, and beautiful.

From his early beginnings as a home inspector to discussions with many

of today’s green luminaries, Mr. Robinson has become a pro-active player

in the green movement.

Melodee Lenz

Professional Entertainer

Melodee Lenz is a professional entertainer from Dallas, Texas. Ms. Lenz was raised by a family of machinist, engineers, electricians, and mechanics. Melodee was taught from a young age how to repair everything from toater ovens to a 1968 Firebird. Melodee began her career in entertainment at five years of age. She has been a voice actress in many of the shows featured on Cartoon Network.

Melodee also toured as a clown with Ringling Bros. & Barnum

and Bailey Circus. The door of entertainment opened for

Melodee through her natural talent as a tap dancer, as well as being a puppeteer for several PBS Children's Network Programs. However, being a well-rounded performer, she also

has a great deal of experience in theatrical prop building and set construction. Melodee's mad scientist side was realized several years ago when she took 4 broken vaccum cleaners and made one supercharged machine she named, "Frankenvacuum." She was approached by the producer of,

"Home At Last," with an opportunity to combine her comedic

talent with her real-life obsession with ridiculous mechanical inventions. How could she refuse?