Mud, Hands, A House ~ El Barro, Las Manos, La Casa

August 13, 2012 at 11:26 am

Wonderful video of earth building sent by Mike W.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Hand-built Earthen House in Washington Woods

August 9, 2012 at 5:04 pm

“…free-form, hand-built earthen home in western Washington’s Independence Valley is featured on a recent episode of Peak Moment TV. Host Janaia Donaldson calls it ‘a magical dwelling inside the woods.’

The funky, individualistic two-story home was built by Gregory Crawford, who works at nearby Rising River Farm — and travels during the farm’s off season (having no mortgage helps, no doubt). He gained permission to build there by asking the landowner.…” https://shltr.net/gregscob

Round House Cordwood Build Time-lapse

August 1, 2012 at 12:17 pm

On 7/23/12 at 9:25 AM +1000, peter robey wrote…:

Hey Lloyd,

Hope you are well. Peter here from Tasmania in Australia. I bought your shelter books over a year ago and have near worn them out. You very politely showed an interest in our small cordwood cabin we live in.

This is a quick note to send you a youtube link, a time lapse of the past 6 weeks of building a 16-sided round house – post and beam frame.

It’s just the missus and I building and we are not builders and wrapping our heads around funky angles and staying married has been a great challenge.!!

That crane is an engine crane with a modified jib and a water tank bolted to the back for ballast. Cost me $12 in castor wheels.

The round posts are around the 750-800 pounds in weight and about 18.5 feet high.

The crane isn’t safe but it works and we got through the 24 posts.

Unfortunately the Aust. code book prevents us from doing anything remotely like the west coast builders in your books; however we have bent the rules where we can.

All the best.

Pete

Straw Bale Workshop NY Catskills in August

July 26, 2012 at 11:56 am

Hey Lloyd,

Thought I’d let you know about my straw bale building workshop coming up August 10-12 in the NY Catskills. We still have room for a few more participants if you want to spread the word on your blog.

Thanks!

Mike McDonough

https://risingearthbuilding.blogspot.com

Perfect Little Marin County Farm Building

July 11, 2012 at 5:35 pm

Shot this photo last night on my way back from radio interview in Santa Rosa. There are farm buildings here and there in the Marin countryside that make me happy. Like this little pump house (on the McIsaac Ranch near Tocoloma), they are perfect in their form/function practicality and grace. A (black and white) photo I shot of this same building over 40 years ago is on page 42 of Shelter (published 1973).

Small Timber Frame Home in British Columbia

July 9, 2012 at 12:16 pm

“Designed, built and finished entirely by M&L, ‘A Wee House’ is a traditionally-scribed frame made from local materials. Fashioned by the hands of Meghan’s many friends and family, this carefully made home is intended to embody the notion of craftsmanship and community spirit.” https://shltr.net/LHcYdH

Timber Framing in British Columbia

July 8, 2012 at 6:16 pm

“Hey Lloyd,

…A couple years ago a friend and mentor of mine introduced me to your books and it totally turned my world upside down. I looked at building, sustainability both in life and in construction in a whole new way. Thank you for your documentation and sharing of ideas and images that I know has inspired many many people all over the world.

Drew Mosley

Below are some images from my time here on Vancouver island working for a local business: https://www.macdonaldandlawrence.ca/, which employs some of the best craftsmen I have ever met. I came to the Island specifically to work with this company and have found it challenging and rewarding. The owners Steve and Gord have build and restored some crazy structures, (Kinsol Trestle).”

Ziggy’s Timber Framing Workshop

July 2, 2012 at 12:46 pm

“Hey Lloyd:

Our recent Timber Framing Workshop went amazingly well and was a huge blast. The students had a fantastic time. We got an incredible amount of work done on our new timber frame home, especially considering we used hand tools exclusively, and most participants had little or no prior experience. Wow!

Here’s a slideshow of the event that I wanted to share with you:

https://small-scale.net/yearofmud/2012/06/27/timber-frame-workshop-2012-photo-slideshow/

We did everything from traditional square rule layout, to lofting with daisy wheel layout (just like illiterate French carpenters of old used), and everything in-between.

Your books were no doubt an inspiration for us to do timber frame construction, especially Builders of the Pacific Coast.

Yahoo!

– ziggy”

See: The Year of Mud: https://www.theyearofmud.com

(Ziggy’s Cob Cottage is featured on pp. 110-113 of Tiny Homes.)