Dear Lloyd,

My name is Vera, from San Francisco. Last night I attended your presentation at Mollusk surf shop. I want to thank you for a wonderful evening. On my way home I thought about a very special home that I think you may be interested in.

About a month ago I was biking home and I passed an incredible structure on wheels on the side of the street. I saw a man on the sidewalk doing some woodwork next to it. I was so curious about this beautifully made structure, so I decided to return and talk to the man. His name is Steven, he’s been homeless on and off his whole life. Although, I’m not quite sure you could call him homeless anymore because now he has his box (that’s what he likes to call it). Steven’s box is set on wheels. It is made entirely from materials he has sourced around the city.

I ended up talking with Steven for three hours. Well, I mostly just listened to him. I have a few photos of his box that I’m attaching here, but they really don’t do it justice. He is incredibly innovative, he built his own heater/stovetop and has figured out a way to get clean running water (although the fire chief made him get rid of the stove after complementing his ingenuity). He stained the wood on the exterior a beautiful color using a mixture of steel wool and vinegar. He even has a number and planter box at his front door. Maybe someday you’d like to meet him yourself. He’s helping build boxes for some of his friends now too.

Have a wonderful day, thanks again for your inspiring work.

p.s. Unfortunately I did not take a photo from the other side of the box which has the stained boards of wood that look similar to the sliding front door.

Best,

Vera

Bernie Harberts and his mule Polly were featured in the “On the Road” section of our book Tiny Homes.

“I’ve sailed alone around the world, traveled across America by mule (twice), pedaled a ten dollar bike around Tasmania and walked across Newfoundland with a mule. Most recently, I sailed a wood ketch from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island, off Antarctica. From there, we sailed 3 weeks across the iceberg laced Southern Ocean to South Africa.…

For the Lost Sea Expedition series, I traveled 14 months across America in a wagon. Just as I did in North Carolina, I explored things that are particular to an area. This time around, it was horse breakers, Lakota elders, sod hut dwellers, ghost towns and a vanished sea that caught my eye.

I filmed the whole voyage myself – a first ever for a cross-country wagon voyage.…”

lostseaexpedition.com/

I’ve been contacted 3-4 times by TV producers regarding tiny homes. Each time I’ve felt that they weren’t searching for the reality of the subject, but trying to shoehorn something into a phony story line. Reality shows are bad enough, but pre-determined phony reality is worse. Here’s a good article on the subject: http://rockymountaintinyhouses.com/the-truth-about-tiny-house-tv-shows/ 

“…The crew shows up to tiny house build in progress. The customers are in over their heads. They need the house finished in two weeks. They need these super cool expensive features in order to meet their needs. Their budget is a completely unattainable, $30,000. Trucks get stuck, storms roll in, vendors miss deliveries, old wood bridges threaten to fall into the river, the house tries to roll off a cliff…Somehow in the end it all comes together and the people are left with their dream tiny house. Folks, this just isn’t how it works.…”

-Greg Parham, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

“Focusing on the West Coast and South West

Quail Springs is an educational and land stewardship nonprofit organization dedicated to demonstrating and teaching holistic ways of designing human environments, restoring and revitalizing the land and community, and facilitating deeper understandings of ourselves and one another through immersive experiences in nature. The 2016 Colloquium organizing team consists of the whole Quail Springs team, Sasha Rabin*, Tammy Van, and Rebekah Hacker.”

“The gathering will give focus and priority to the building and builders of the west coast and south west, US.
​ We ask that all people attending the colloquium have some experience with natural building. This is not the event for the novice builder. That being said, we value the fresh eyes and perspectives, and enthusiasm that comes with a newness to the field. We will strive for a balance of experienced attendees, while also encouraging the next generation of builders.…”

https://www.earthenshelter.com/colloquium.html

*Sasha’s beautiful cob house will be in Small Homes.

Small Homes – the book

I’ve got pretty much all the pages laid out. Rick will be back from Hawaii next week and build the rest of the pages in InDesign. The book is looking better each week. Here’s a little hidden waterfront cottage (under construction) on Vancouver Island, BC (the shakes for the eaves were steamed and bent).

Material continues to come in for the book (400-1200 sq. ft. homes), and we’ll continue the book after its publication on theshelterblog, with a section titled “Small Homes.” Ongoing small homes.

My Next Book (?)

Adventures in Building – a 70-Year Odyssey

No kidding. I started at 12 years old, helping my dad build a house on his rice farm near Colusa, California. At 18 I got into the carpenters’ union in San Francisco and worked for a shipwright on the docks (SF was a port in those days!). At age 25 I started building and remodeling on a piece of land with 3 cottages in Mill Valley, California.

I never got the chance to work with a master carpenter or formally learn architecture, so I had a layman’s approach. Everything was new.

Right off, I liked the smell of lumber, and was fascinated with how things went together (still am). In about 12 buildings over the course of years, I personally went through post and beam, then polyhedral (domes), and finally stud frame construction techniques.

And all along, I shot pictures of buildings, collected books, and interviewed builders about all types of buildings and materials, and so far, have produced 6 highly graphic books on building.

Having this layman’s view means I can talk to inexperienced builders in understandable terms. Plus, all the travel and studying and interviews have given me a wealth of material of interest to experienced builders. We’re all interested in how things are put together. That’s what building is all about.

Música del día:

Etta James “Come Back Baby”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdFcg7zkhqM

Enough! I’m heading for the beach…