[ November 5, 2011; ] Create durable, beautiful, inexpensive earthen paints to enhance your home. Earthen paints are non-toxic, easy to apply, easy to maintain, and are planet friendly. This hands-on class includes global examples of earthen building methods.
[ April 29, 2012 to June 8, 2012. ] For the 8th year, House Alive is offering people the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the art of Natural Building. With this 6-week apprenticeship, students will develop the skills and confidence to build for themselves or others, and teach others what they have learned. This program is also ideal for the owner-builder who is [...]
[ June 17, 2012 to July 17, 2012. ] Start Date / End Date:: June 17th- July 7th, 2012Join House Alive for our most popular workshop. Over the course of 3 weeks, students will build a complete natural cottage from start to finish. This intensive program will give participants the confidence and knowledge to build their own earthen building.
The structure will be mostly cob [...]
[ August 12, 2012 to August 18, 2012. ] About one third of the world’s population still uses some form of earthen construction for their houses, and for good reason: earthen materials are inexpensive, locally available, inflammable, comfortable in all but extreme cold climates, non-toxic, not susceptible to bugs and mold, and can provide solid, beautifully sculpted structures.
Cob is a method of earthen construction [...]
[ September 22, 2012 to September 30, 2012. ] Let’s face it, not everyone is going to buy land and build their dream house. But now you don’t need to! This workshop will give you the skills and confidence to transform your existing house into a natural building, all on a shoestring budget!
We will start by looking at 12 ancient natural design principals [...]
[ November 21, 2011 to November 25, 2011. ] Explore the art of natural building through this practical, hands-on workshop! We learn how to create structures with all natural materials from locally available, renewable resources. Gain experience in natural building techniques, including: cob, wattle and cob, home made paints, earthen plasters, along with wood and bamboo carpentry. See and learn from working demonstrations of [...]
[ October 27, 2011 to October 30, 2011. ] In this four day workshop, we will explore the basics of earthen building techniques. This hands-on/feet-on experience will focus on hand-sculpting walls, doors and windows for a Cob (earthen) playhouse. We’ll cover cob building including foot and tractor mixing, trimming, window and door installation, sculpting niches and shelves, and talk about how to incorporate different [...]
[ October 22, 2011 to October 23, 2011. ]
Taught by Scott Howard. Learn the ins and outs of mixing your own
clay-based plasters, how to apply them over earthbags, and the various
finishes that are possible. We will be finishing an Earthbag House with
pigmented gypsum plasters over an earthen plaster. We will be mixing up
the plaster with hot water and applying it by hand, it’s [...]
[ October 10, 2011 to October 20, 2011. ] Crete Straw House
Natural Building Intensive Workshop, October 10-20, 2011
In this 10 day intensive workshop we will learn how natural, unprocessed materials such as wood, straw, clay and sand can be transformed into a beautiful, fully functional, healthy, safe, affordable and durable house, designed to offer an exceptional living environment.
While giving special emphasis on building [...]
[ October 3, 2011 to October 7, 2011. ]
Building Cob Walls
Sculptural Cob & Furniture
Natural Plaster / Lime Plaster
A Simple Poured Earthen Floor
$379 – 30 day advance price.
$599 – Couples 30 day advance,
Or Later…
$479 includes registration for five
days, camping, breakfast & lunch
BUILDING COB WALLS
During this part of the workshop we will learn how to build cob walls, and ‘learn by [...]
[ June 20, 2011 to October 30, 2011. ] I am sending out an open invitation for anyone who is interested in learning how to build with cob. We would love to set up a work trade program. We feed you for a couple hours of work a day 6 days a week. We have a solar shower, compost toilet, as well as plenty [...]
[ August 1, 2011 to October 7, 2011. ] Natural Building and Green Design for the Owner/Builder/Contractor
The Sustainable Shelter Workshop Series is a 10 week course designed to empower participants with the ability to design/build/renovate their own home using simple techniques and natural, vernacular materials. During this course we will start from the ground and move up teaching not only the art/science of [...]
