Monthly Archives

November 2009

Nov 13
Love0

New cob kitchen documentation website: The House That Millet Built

By Resources

A month ago, I mentioned the new building project I am working on: a community kitchen and social space. I have created a new website, The House That Millet Built, to document the construction of the building.

This new kitchen will feature hybrid walls (probably featuring some cob, or balecob?), an urbanite foundation, a roundwood post and beam frame, and hopefully, a hand-split shake roof. It will be electricity-free. This new building project presents a lot of new exciting learning opportunities.

Anyway, if you have enjoyed any of the documentation process here at The Year of Mud, I hope you will follow along on The House That Millet Built as construction continues! Look for more updates soon.

Nov 12
Love0

What to expect from The House That Millet Built

By Uncategorized

Beginning last year and continuing into this year, I maintained The Year of Mud website to document my first cob building experience. I have received lots of great feedback from readers throughout that continuing process. The documentation process has been very rewarding, and I hope that The Year of Mud continues to be a valuable resource on the web for those interested in cob building.

Now that I am building a shared kitchen with four friends and community mates, I have yet another opportunity to share new building experiences, techniques, and stories. The House That Millet Built will be the website for sharing this new building adventure.

It is safe to say that you can expect the same kind of documentation that I have shared on The Year of Mud. If you have any interested in natural building, especially cob, please follow along as we build our new community kitchen! This is going to be an exciting process.

Nov 12
Love0

A Visit to Cob Cottage Company: Impressions and Photos

By Design
Linda's Cob Cottage

Linda Smiley’s beautiful cob home

After the Natural Building Colloquium in Eagle Point, Oregon, I traveled with Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley to their home in Coquille, OR: Cob Cottage Company.

For those unawares, Ianto and Linda are two very influential cob building pioneers in North America, and authors of The Hand-Sculpted House, the number one go-to book for cob construction. They have been a huge inspiration for me during my house design process, and reading their book sealed the deal for building my home out of cob. Ianto and Linda have many years of experience building with mud. It was an honor to be able to meet them and spend several nights at their place. It was a great experience, and I took plenty of photos to share here on my own website.

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Nov 10
Love0

Natural Building Colloquium 2009 thoughts

By Uncategorized

nbco-woods00

The Natural Building Colloquium is an annual gathering for natural builders to share their work and experiences, and to create a stronger network between builders. The 2009 event at the beautiful Camp Latgawa in Oregon was my first one, and I was very happy to have the chance to attend.

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Nov 05
Love0

Cob stories and photos coming… soon…

By Uncategorized

I just got back from a three week stint in Oregon and Berkeley, CA. Along the way I went to the Cob Cottage Company and Aprovehco. Expect some photos and writing… soonish. Here’s a photo of Bedrock, a little cabin at the Cob Cottage Company, for now.

ccc-bedrock