Between teaching graphic design and business and coaching multiple sports, Powell High School’s Mike Heny builds. And builds and builds.

At last count, Heny and his partners, also PHS teachers, have built 20 houses and several other projects, including free-standing garages and workshops. But his side jobs, putting it lightly, aren’t a chance to fuel his retirement. Instead he builds out of his love for family and friends.

“Our goal was never to make money. It started out as I built one for myself, then my sister,” he said.

From there it just snowballed. His first house came in a moment of need. He didn’t have enough money in his pocket for a downpayment on an existing home, so he bought some tools and went to work at what was essentially his third job — not including his continuing education. Heny managed to earn two master’s degrees at the same time he was already spreading his daylight hours pretty thin.

“We didn’t have money out of college to put a downpayment on anything, so I had some experience in some different jobs I had as a kid with some basic construction, and I hired a family friend and was basically his apprentice, and we built that first house,” Heny said. “It sort of just took off from there.”

Of course, that family friend, Arthur Coughenour, was also a teacher. He finished his career as professor emeritus of business at Northwest College before passing at the age of 70 in 2007 — about a decade after training Heny in building a construction company with that first small home.

If you’re keeping track of Heny’s job count, you might want to add his family “moving company” to his list. After building that first home, Heny took advantage of regulations that allowed him to sell his home without paying taxes on capital gains. So he would build a house, sell a house, move and start all over again. Again and again, and again and again.

“There were nights when I’d get home... from practice and eat quick and then go work on the house till 10, 11, 12, in the night,” he said. “There’s been some long nights, but it’s all been worth it in the end.”

Tired of constantly moving, he and his wife Tina finally landed in their dream home on the fourth build. It was perfect for the couple and their two kids, Zach and Ashtyn. But his kids are grown now.

“Our first one was pretty small. The one we’re in now is too big because our kids are gone, but we really like it,” he said. “Now we’ve just kind of decided to stick it out with the interest rates where they’re at now.”

The projects were never far from home. Each of the 20 homes he has built alone or with partner Troy Hildebrand are in the Cedarwood subdivision in northwest Powell by the old Air Force base. Each night as he heads home he turns the corner into the subdivision and is reminded of all the work that went into populating the neighborhood with handcrafted homes. He beams with pride seeing the work he has done with his hands.

“We were actually the very first house out there. Before the streets were finished, we were building it,” he said.

It’s all about the enjoyment of working outdoors, he said.

“I enjoy teaching and coaching a lot, but I also have always enjoyed working with my hands and that part of it, so I get the best of both worlds being off in the summertime,” he said.

He also does landscaping, a job he learned at the Powell Parks Department while working his way through his undergrad degree at the University of Wyoming.

“We do a lot of landscaping,” he said. “I picked up a lot of skills [at the parks department], and just try to use those skills that I’ve picked up along the way as an opportunity to just stay busy and help people out that needed help at the time with the project.”

However, he doesn’t limit his building to the summers. Last year, while defending the Panther basketball team’s state title, he spent all of his free time tiling a bathroom.

“I got done right before Christmas. It was just a way to stay busy,” he said.

He simply can’t seem to take a moment to just relax and breathe. The fact is, staying busy relaxes him — like an adventure movie and a brisk beverage relaxes most folks.

“It’s been a long journey, but rewarding one,” he said. “At the end of the day, you get to stand back and see what you did.”

At 55, he hasn’t slowed during his summer breaks. This summer he’ll help build another house, this time for friend and coworker Greg Stenlund, a math teacher at the high school.

“Just sitting around, I get bored pretty fast,” he said, flashing that brief but honest “Heny” smile.