The Atman Projects

The Atman Projects are an accumulation of various construction adventures in Central Phoenix. For several years, my partner, Brian McCollom and I built custom homes in the prestigious Litchfield Park. Leading up to this, I had just purchased my first non-tract home on 12th St. and Sheridan. I did so because, I was living in Glendale and hated the soulless void that tract subdivisions provided. I had just taken a trip to San Francisco and bought that little house so that I could at least pretend I lived in a major city. I was always told to leave walls white for 'resale'. Something snapped inside me. I decided to live in a space that was all me, to do what I want with out restraint-societal or otherwise. The artist in me was freed. My pendulum has swung so far the other way, it can not ever come back.

After building these custom, expensive, prestigious, HUGE homes on one acre lots, I decided that this, too, is not what I want. Same cabinets, same granite countertops, same Navaho white paint. My partner made all of the design decisions because frankly, I just didn't really care. I needed soul, I needed beauty, and most importantly, I needed non-conformity. So I started with my own loft in Historic Coronado which I built as a blank canvas. Then I purchased property on 16th St. and Palm for a multi-family loft project. I asked my girlfriend, Rachel Prago, a graphic designer, if she had any ideas on what to call the project. I wanted this project to be the essence of Central Phoenix. She came up with Atman602 and the name of my company building this particular project is The Atman Projects, LLC. Now, everything I do is called an Atman Projects. Because everything I do is from my heart, my own hands, and my soul. I build what I love. and I love what I build. I absolutely love and admire artists, eccentrics, and anything unusual, creative, and clever. I have one standard for what I like and that is that it makes me think "now , THAT is cool!" No hidden meanings or extraordinary depths of insight are necessary.

I now have my own construction company, Clute Construction and Development, LLC. I am a licensed, bonded, and insured General Residential Contractor. This construction company and all the Atman Projects are nothing more than personal journeys to see just what I am truly capable of accomplishing. Construction is hard, frustrating, maddening, and lots of other x-rated adjectives, but mostly, its just simply exhilarating. And its true what my excavator, Thayne Excavating, said about bull dozing after he let me rip a metal claw into the side of an old house..."This is so fun, I really can't believe it's legal!!!"

Jo Clute