I ran across Kirsten Dirksen and Nicolás Boullosa (from Barcelona) via Jenine Alexander, one of the builders in our new book. They had done a great video of Jenine talking about the 2 tiny houses she’d built in Healdsburg, California. We ended up using some of the stills from the video on the 4 pages we did on Jenine.

So when Kirsten and Nicolás came to California a few months ago, they came to visit. They’ve made almost 500 videos, many of them on tiny homes, and Kirsten is a journalist after my own heart. Within 2 minutes of arriving, she was asking questions, filming, and getting the essence of our work and lives. Immediate rapport. Here, several months later, is her take on our work, the homestead, the background of west coast publishing a la the ’60s and ’70s, the Whole Earth Catalog, Stewart Brand and the influence that the WEC and Stewart had on Steve Jobs when he was in high school. Yes, it’s all tied together in a wonderful way.

https://faircompanies.com/videos/view/whole-earth-catalog-revisited-steve-jobs-google-60s/#comments

Mary Haggerty sent us these photos of this beautiful little log building for sale (somewhere in Pennsylvania) by JC Woodworking 

I don’t see this one on their website (above), but check out the 2-story log building. Here’s what JC Woodworking wrote to Mary recently:

“…pictured a small, oak log summer kitchen. The building was used as the summer kitchen on a farm (apple orchard) in southern Pennsylvania and dates to the mid 1800’s, possibly earlier. The overall size is 12 by 16′. It’s a 1.5 story…Ceiling height on the first floor is 7′ to bottom of the floor joists. On 2nd floor, height from floor to peak is 6’10” with a 30″ sidewall. Wall height (exterior) is just over 10′ and the height to the peak is 14.5′. 3 top plates need to be replaced….The rafters would also need to be replaced, but is in otherwise very good condition.…

…to reassemble this structure on your property; the cost to set the frame (with new replacement logs for the top 3 plates and new rafter system as well as leveling the sill plates to accommodate your foundation) is $6K plus travel to your site and lodging.…

Price for structure (including floor joists) dismantled and tagged as-is: $8000.”

Author and photographer Andy Couturier will discuss his new book profiling people living simple, sustainable, extraordinary lives in rural Japan, A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance. This book lets readers feel the flavor and texture of the lives of farmers, artists, philosophers, and craftspeople who’ve chosen lives of reduced consumption and increased satisfaction. Andy will read from his book and show slides from these artists’ ways of life.

Thursday, September 8 – 7:00pm, Point Reyes Presbyterian Church, Pt. Reyes Station, Calif.

Read more about Andy Couturier’s book: https://adifferentkindofluxury.blogspot.com/

Email from Richard Jones:

Hi Lloyd hope all is well and tiny homes is shaping up.

Thought you might enjoy this article in the Observer newspaper at the weekend.

I had never heard of this legendary bus trip. The magic bus going overland to India was the only legend to reach my consciousness.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/aug/06/lsd-ken-kesey-pranksters-film

My reality changes this summer. I was supposed to be taking a group of delinquent kids for a canoe expedition in Sweden. But it all fell through a few days before. So we did the annual pilgrimage to Avebury – Stone Henge’s older sister (less police, a pub in the middle and an old drove track to camp in) We do this pilgrimage by bicycle as its far easier to dodge the police road blocks and get around the vast site.

Every year more and more…camping areas get shut down. My faith was restored when we headed up to the Sanctuary – the end of the Ridgeway – the oldest road in Europe. There was the remains of the convoy – the free radicals. the horsedrawn, bus and van dwellers – Hooray they still existed! My heart was warmed there was still life on the roads. still hope and freedom.

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Visitors from France on Tuesday, before I left on trip. There will be 8 pages on their rustic commune in France in the small homes book. Check out the homemade bike. On their way from LA to Oregon. Kindred spirits seem to abound these days.

Whew! Where to start? I left home early Wednesday and drove up to the Sierras with my son Evan to meet with the star of our tiny homes book, a world champion snowboarder who has built a most incredible house in the wilderness. We had been struggling with the layout — a huge number of great photos — and lo and behold, our builder had done stunning layouts, 10 pages in all, of his creation and its spectacular mountain surroundings. Yes!

This book has its own life. It’s like a living organism right now, changing and assembling itself. We’re just there to help. No kidding. It started slowly, and now it’s roaring along like a locomotive. Stuff is pouring in. We’re already beyond our (224) page count, and it’s obvious this is going to be a series (we’ve got tons of material for another book). It won’t be out until February — such is the reality of our slow production process and the logistics of printing and shipping from overseas.

Then back from the Sierras through the heat of the Sacramento Valley. In Auburn we stopped to shoot photos at a place that sold a variety of Teardrop trailers (popular in the 40s-50s, being rediscovered now). In Fairfield I dropped Evan off at his car, and proceeded westward to the coast. By the time I got to the Russian River, there was a cool freshness in the air, and I drove along the river out to its mouth at Jenner, then headed north in the night along the foggy coast.

Yesterday I went into Gualala with Louie for breakfast at Trinks, a triple threat cafe — excellent lattes, breakfast, and speedy wi-fi. I downloaded a ton of email. Hoo-whee,things are popping right now, on all fronts. Sunday I spent 5 hours getting filmed and interviewed about skateboarding for AOL. It’s for a series of 1-1/2 minute videos they run on their website, called: “You’ve got…” There seems to be a lot of interest suddenly in someone of my, um, age, skating.

Click below for rest of post.

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