Dave Shelton’s home: Before & After (Photo credit: GoFundMe.com)
From Facebook friend: My good friend Dave Shelton, lost his house in Idaho Springs, to arson yesterday, his roommate set it on fire, I know that most of you don’t know but Dave had a studio where we could all go and play music and hang out. He also always opened his home to anyone who just wanted to get away. He is also a wood carver and had many pieces that were a part of his home, as well as several hand carved guitars, all burnt to the ground. Please pray for my friend, he has nothing left!
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Artist Digs Through Rubble of Home Intentionally Burned To The Ground
IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) – The artist who watched his house burn to the ground after the fire was intentionally set wants to rebuild in a new unique way.
“My daughter wants a tree house,” said Dave Shelton. “We have these solid caissons I can build off of. I can probably put together a decent tree house.”
The caissons are all that is left of the three-story, 24-year project Shelton has been working on. A unique home full of priceless instruments and artwork. 36-year-old Robert Leibold is accused of setting the fire on Friday.
“People like him who have a disease, which is bi-polar, aren’t able to get help. I’m going to assume it’s not that he’s trying to mess with me and take my whole livelihood away, my retirement away. I’m assuming he wasn’t thinking that I think he was thinking more on the lines (of) ‘I’m doing something so intense they have to throw me away and keep me away because I can’t afford to be this way,’” Shelton said.
Shelton is world famous not just for his wood carvings and special wood guitars but also the Shelton Manor itself.
“It was an art and music studio slash home for people to come stay at,” he said. “This house is like a family member.”
Shelton was still working on the home and never had insurance. A Gofundme page has been set up. https://www.gofundme.com/dave-shelton?ssid=803432819&pos=4
“So many people fell in love with this place I’m not concerned there’s not going to be enough money (to rebuild),” Shelton said.
By Jeff Todd
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he’s been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
As you may have seen on the news or Facebook, Dave Shelton (my father-in-law) was recently the victim of arson, resulting in the absolute destruction of his home and every last one of his worldly possessions. He has been hand-building this beautiful home for the past 25 years, just to have everything obliterated by a bitter man that Dave had been trying to help in recent months.
Due to a very unfavorable insurance situation, Dave likely won’t receive anything to help him rebuild the home he’s poured his blood, sweat, and tears into over the years, and every bit of his vast collection of art, irreplaceable family heirlooms, musical instruments/equipment, and hard-earned memories have been taken from him.
Please help to provide at least a building block to start piecing some things back together for him. Funds will go directly to Dave to be used for clean-up of the property, interim housing, and/or materials for rebuilding. Thank you for your support.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/11/13/dave-shelton-arson-idaho-springs/