I asked an LLM to help me figure out the stair design for my round house. I’ve got a 24-foot diameter, 10'8" wall height, center ring at 15 feet, and I need code-compliant stairs to a loft. California says max 7¾" riser, min 10" tread, 36" wide. The LLM gave me a clean L-shaped layout with storage under each run. Dimensions worked. Riser count was right. It even suggested lift-up treads for blanket storage.

A few weeks ago I was walking my property taking pictures for a conference talk. I’ve owned this place for about a year and a half. Twenty acres on a former gold mine in the Sierra foothills. The previous owner’s documents showed one mine. I’d explored it, mapped the air shafts, found a box labeled DYNAMITE that turned out to be road flares. I thought I knew what was here.