This course will teach you everything you need to know to dig up some dirt and magically turn it into a
home. We’re not kidding! Oh yeah, and we will show you how to do it for under $1000 bucks… and one
more thing, we will have a blast doing it!

Come stay and play with us for eight awesome days near Yosemite National Park and learn the skills
necessary to build a cob home.

Camping is available free onsite and those looking for a little more
creature comforts can find lodging in the cool town of Groveland just two miles down the road.

Expect the day to be filled with instruction, practical application, and laughs, good food, and loads of fun!

A typical day will involve a fabulous breakfast prepared by one of our awesome chefs. Afterwards we will have some classroom instruction and then a few hours of actual building. We encourage you to dive right in and
get muddy! After another great meal, expect more instruction and building. We then like to wrap the
evenings up by feasting yet again and then entertaining ourselves by storytelling, hanging out, playing
music, and kicking it by the campfire.

This post was submitted by Guy McBryde.

This is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. In 9 intenstive days, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground out from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a whole house. You will learn construction of walls, doors, windows, roofing, foundations, siting, design and artistic details. And you’ll leave confident enough to build a cob building of your own!
Space is limited to 20 people to allow personalized hands on instruction.

This post was submitted by Tammy Van.

For the seventh straight year, House Alive! is offering an opportunity for people to get beyond the basics and experience an extended Natural Building apprenticeship. This popular, hands-on, intensive course is designed for people who want to use natural building skills in a professional context or who want to take extra time to work on skill development for their personal project. Participants will get first-hand experience with every aspect of building a natural home, from the foundation to the roof. Learning how to build a natural home is one of the best investments you can make: once you know how to design, build and shape your own living space, you can save many thousands of dollars in living costs.

This program will be almost exclusively “hands-on” learning. Learning to build is like learning to play a musical instrument: It is hard to learn without another experienced person guiding you and, the more you do it the better you get. The apprenticeship program for 2011 offers 7 weeks of building, problem solving, designing and discussing all aspects of natural building, allowing you to take the time to develop new skills under the guidance of experienced natural builders.

This year we’re pleased to be collaborating with Lydia Doleman of Flying Hammer Productions (www.theflyinghammer.com). Lydia has been building with mud and bales for more than 12 years, and has a vast portfolio of beautiful natural buildings she’s built in Portland. Lydia and James will each teach approximately half of the apprenticeship.

Throughout the course we’ll be working on the different elements of building a small (about 200 sq. ft.) cob and straw-bale cabin from the ground up. Demonstrations and instruction will be given as needed to explain building techniques and design choices. Participants should expect full and exciting days.

The course will take place at Full Bloom Farm, a developing intentional community and large organic farm in a beautiful, secluded valley in Southern Oregon. It is also the home of Rise Up Bakery, which provides delicious fresh bread from their wood-fired oven to businesses and residents in the area. The farm has 280 acres of meadow and forest, 2 creeks and a swimming pond.

For more information or to apply to the program, please read the full workshop description!

This post was submitted by House Alive.

Cob in Morelos: February 20th – March 20th

Well it’s official; Cobworks is hosting a cob workshop in Morelos, three hours south of Mexico City. We will be building in Miacatlin for Hector and Igor Trejo. These brothers along with 2 friends took our Baja 2007 cob workshop and have since acquired land and are ready to start building. The project is an 800 sq.ft. house for Hector, which will feature earthen floors, full kitchen, bathroom and 2 bedrooms. With this workshop you will gain many of the skills and confidence to begin planning and build your own cob home. Wood is very expensive and prone to termites, so we will focus on using much recycled and local materials. We will also be looking at latex cement on a hyperbolic parabola frame for the roof. This system uses much less materials than conventional roof designs. See LATEX CEMENT HABITAT by George Nez for more info. We have local residents who will also be working alongside us, as we relearn these ancient earth building skills. Also a great chance to practice your Spanish.
During the month long course, participants will learn how to:
-locate and identify materials
-build a stone and urbanite foundation
-design and layout a cob home
-install doors and windows
-mix and build with cob [the owners are excited about bobcat cob]
-build a Rumford fireplace and earthen oven.
-design a roof for the structure
There will also be daily theory classes where we will cover:
-composting toilets and greywater systems
-codes and permits
-plumbing and electrical
-heating, cooling and earthen floors
-roof designs
-earthen plasters and natural finishes
- a general Q&A session

Miacatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos.
The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The population of the town is 27,000. The toponym Miacatlán comes from a Nahuatl name and means “place of abundant reeds for arrows”. This is probably in reference to the two lakes in the municipality, Lake Coatetelco and Lake El Rodeo.

The camping on site will be secure, have showers, washrooms and an outdoor kitchen. Local, organic [when available] and wholesome meals will be provided on all workshop days. Depending on the group, side meat dishes may be provided. Please let us know of any dietary restrictions so we can accommodate you. Stores, internet access, shopping, ATM and laundry facilities are all close by. Days off will be free to explore many of the local archaeological sites and abundant natural beauty of the area. Aside from learning about cob, this will be a wonderful opportunity to live in another culture, study a second language and meet like minded people who can help you on your own cob project. Oh yea………..it also takes a goodly slice out the cold winter blues.

If you have any questions please contact me at pat@cobworks.com or phone 250 539 5253. The price of the month long workshop is $1500 US or $2500 for couples. This includes camping, workshop meals and instruction. From the airport at Mexico City, you will have a 1 hour bus ride to Cuernavaca, where we will meet you.You can register by sending a certified cheque or money order for $750 US per participant, payable to:
- Patrick Hennebery
S-10 C-103
Mayne Island,B.C.
V0N 2J0 Canada
The remainder of the fee can be paid on arrival. Looking forward to meeting a new crew and cobbling with all of you. I am planning on arriving early and enrolling for 2 weeks at one of the many Spanish Language Schools in Cuernavaca. Hasta luego.
Patrick

P.S. Recommended reading- THE HAND SCULPTED HOUSE by Ianto Evans, LITTLE HOMES ON A SMALL PLANET by Shay Soloman and A PATTERN LANGUAGE by Christopher Alexander.

This post was submitted by Patrick Hennebery.

This is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. In 9 intensive days, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground out from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a whole house. You will learn construction of walls, doors, windows, roofing, foundations, siting, design and artistic details. And you’ll leave confident enough to build a cob building of your own!
Space is limited to 20 people to allow personalized hands on instruction.

Call 541-396-1825 to reserve your space or for more information.

This post was submitted by Tammy Van.

This is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. In 9 intenstive days, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground out from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a whole house. You will learn construction of walls, doors, windows, roofing, foundations, siting, design and artistic details. And you’ll leave confident enough to build a cob building of your own!
Space is limited to 20 people to allow personalized hands on instruction.

Call 541-396-1825 to reserve your space or for more information.

This post was submitted by Tammy Van.

This is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. This year we are happy to announce a special intensive offered just outside of beautiful Port Townsend Washington at the Temple’s House our alumni and co-Cob instructors. In 9 intensive days, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground out from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a whole house. You will learn construction of walls, doors, windows, roofing, foundations, siting, design and artistic details. And you’ll leave confident enough to build a cob building of your own! Space is limited to 20 people to allow personalized hands on instruction.

This post was submitted by Tammy Van.

WANT TO BUILD A $1,000 HOUSE? We have done just that and can show you how. Back by popular demand, this is the most comprehensive cob course available in North America. In the past 15 years, we’ve taught almost 200 major cob courses. In this 17 day intensive, we’ll cover in depth all aspects of cob and the many techniques of building with cob including arches, details, shelving, furniture and earthen floors. In this expanded version of our most popular program ever, we’ll take the ground out from under your feet and turn it into a versatile medium to sculpt a whole house. You will learn Siting, Design and Foundations – the core essentials to any successful building. You will also master all aspects of building a cob structure. And finally you will learn about living roofs and the finishing techniques of plasters and earth floors. This is a workshop for those that want to be totally immersed in the project, with the physical stamina to endure 17 days of intense hands on education. You will leave confident enough to build a $1,000 house of your own! The schedule for hands on learning days will be August 6-11th, with two days of rest on the 12th&13th. Learning again on the 14th-18th with a second much needed rest on the 19th&20th, to wrap it all up the 21st-26th. Space is limited to 20 people to allow personalized hands on instruction.

This one fills up fast so reserve early!

This post was submitted by Tammy Van.

(to be held at the Hollies complex in Co.Cork, Ireland – visit their website at www.theholliesonline.com)
After the great success in previous years the Hollies are looking forward to run this very comprehensive building course again this year. At the end of the 9 days you will know all you need to be able to go off and build a cob cottage. This intensive course will be hands-on, and you will learn every aspect of the construction of a cob building. From locating and testing the right kinds of soils for cob, to different ways of mixing it, wall building techniques and all the sculptural details. Get practical experience with windows, doors, arches and niches. Lectures cover siting, passive solar design, drainage, heating, plumbing and electric, natural roofing, and flooring.Through the length and intensity of these courses they tend to create a real sense of community between the participants and team, so if you are interested in building a house, and want a life-changing inspirational immersion into the world of natural building this really is a course no to be missed. We expect this course to fill up very fast, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Please pay in full with your booking. If you cancel your booking 2 month before the beginning of the course we refund you except an administration charge of €100. Later cancellations can only be refunded if we can fill that vacant place. Save 10 % if you book at least 2months in advance. Concessions for group bookings are possible.
Ulrike and Thomas have built their family home and several other buildings with Cob and have been teaching Natural Building with The Cob Cottage Company for many years.
Camping and meals included.

This post was submitted by Cob Cottage Company.