Cheyenne, Wyoming: Mel Gould's Buryville

Mel Gould, a self-taught engineer, scientist, inventor and general tinkerer, has a wild collection of metal art. The "Welcome Visitors" sign was a good indication that I wouldn't be run off with a shotgun so I pulled up to the house with the odd assortment of metal sculptures and strange vehicles. Glenn Gould, Mel's son, was coming out of a back shed and greeted me along with an assortment of barking dogs.

The Goulds are no stranger to strangers, as Glenn proceeded to give me the full tour of his father's place. Inside one shed was the Purple People Eater, a crazy eight-wheeled vehicle featured in Mechanix Illustrated 1961 (Got an extra copy? They sure would appreciate an original!). We proceeded to tour the rest of the property with oddball sculptures scattered around the yard such as Mr. Cranky and "The Wind Thing" that generates electricity for the home.

Mel created some other fantastic vehicles and sculptures and Glenn gave me the rundown on all of them. There was a truck that was used to install anchors, that Mel had invented and were used for the artists Cristo and Jean-Claude's Running Fence in California and the Lily Pads (He also was involved with the Umbrellas project in Japan) with a seat that was sideways to the dashboard and had foot pedals in front of the door!

Glenn invited me into the house and offered me the elevator ride in a re-purposed school locker. Down in the basement was a school bus, camper, an old grain silo on it's side and a 55,000 gallon concrete gasoline tank that made up Mel's workshop "Buryville." He even had a couple guitars rigged up for a one man band! They didn't charge anything and were the nicest people.