I’m going back through my photos from Kauai this January. This guy was in Kapa’a.
Chris McClellan,AKA Uncle Mud, is a prolific builder, designer, teacher, dad, photographer, and computer wonk who seems to get a superhuman amount of things accomplished every year. Here’s an e-mail from him on April 11, 2015:
Hey Lloyd, On my way to get kids muddy at the Asheville Mother Earth News Fair I stopped by these guys to discuss the rocket heater we’re building as a workshop in their new strawbale octagon in September. I went from Cleveland where we had snow last week to 80 degrees sleeping on the porch of their old cabin. The stream roaring by a few feet away kept me away pleasantly through the night. A couple weeks ago I made it down to Greenville, AL to teach a cob oven building class. My friends James and Gert are living in a military tent in one of the poorest counties in the US surrounded by an amazing array of free and almost free building supplies–cob, pecan slabs, small diameter cedar and pine posts, $1 pallets. This summer they are collecting materials for a building workshop in the fall. Great fun. My daughter Sarah and I hop on a plane the day after she graduates in June to head for the Mother Earth News Fair in Oregon then visit Breitenbush and Ianto and SunRay before we take the train back. Will we see you there? Building another strawclay cottage in Cleveland in July. Great fun.
Chris
These were in the window of a shop in Hanapepe on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. They were very thin, and exquisite.They were apparently turned on a lathe, but I can’t imagine how.
I’ve done 2 posts on him in previous years, and was reminded of him again by an article in the New York Times recently listing his book Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes.
https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/adventures/
Lucas’ bus was featured on pp. 70-71 of Tiny Homes on the Move. Here’s the latest:
April 3, 2015
Hey Hey there Lloyd, I wanted to give you an update on the bus. Also, I really appreciated you working with me for the timeline and putting my bus in your book.… So, for the update: I’ll attach a few pictures of the bus. Naturally it’s not finished. It most likely will never be, but as we know that is the joy of a custom mobile life.
Since the past pictures I’ve rebuilt most of the interior using wood I’ve cut, milled, stacked and dried (all done a few years back), or wood that I’ve salvaged. There’s a 400 watt solar system, 12v lighting, converted freezer to fridge (not in the pics), deck on top, pull behind trailer/porch, and concrete shower. The floors are plumbed with radiant heat pex tubing. I have a thermal solar panel although it’s not installed yet. The grey water tank is in, and finally some curtains are being hung.
In just a few weeks I’ll be taking her on the true maiden voyage. Granted I’ll be driving back to where it was about 6 months ago but, I’ll be living in it this time for the foreseeable future. It will be a short stay in Kentucky before heading to Maine, which is my final destination. In Maine I’ll be attending a metalwork school for the rest of the year followed by a fine furniture making school. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy.
Lucas Sweeten
Read More …
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From my Facebook Author page: (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lloyd-Kahn/110048295717073?v=wall) Note, I don’t do Facebook actively; I just have my blog posts put up automatically. There’s just not enough time in my day to be a full Facebook participant.
Hey Lloyd Kahn, Thanks again for all your hard work, you inspire us! I have noticed a lot of articles in the tiny home archives over the years mentioning such statements as “Man builds tiny home for $500…” what about his total labor time, and those often overlooked overhead costs… do you find such a statement at all misleading? I am a licensed builder myself, running a company in Portland, OR and feel as tho I often have to re-educate clients as to what the “actual costs” of construction really are (mostly the cost of my Time.) This conversation inevitably arises when during design phase we discuss the option of reclaimed materials… which almost always ends up costing more $ (sourcing, milling, install.) Hooray for folks who are living their dreams building a place of their own with their “free time”, but let’s also paint a realistic picture by including the price of time, and thus value the craft appropriately. As a builder yourself, any of your thoughts would be appreciated.
-Kiel Kellow
Kiel, You’re absolutely right, the costs (as here) are way more than $500 if you consider labor. Time is precious.
-Lloyd
“There was once a place that drew crowds of Parisians away from their grand boulevards and sidewalk cafés to rediscover their inner child, wine & dine in chestnut tree houses and celebrate summer like Robinson Crusoe.
Perhaps you’ve heard of a “guingette”, a sort of French equivalent to a summer hoedown, traditionally located next to the river and particularly popular in the the 19th and early 20th century, serving food and ample drinks, accompanied by lively music and dancing. Monet and Renoir immortalised such vibrant scenes in their paintings but it seems the most enchanting of these summer establishments has been long forgotten by Parisians…”
From David Wills
