Cob Workshops

Introduction to Cob Workshop
2023-10-09 - 2023-10-13 | This Cob House, Greeneville, TN, 37743, United States
Dates: October 9 – October 13, 2023 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Greeneville, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our next Introduction to Cob Workshop! We will be constructing a cob house. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! You will get the knowledge to build cob projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in cob building fundamentals. We will be constructing the walls on a new cob building, mixing and applying lime plaster, building with cob, and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own simple cob constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with the tarp method and with a mortar mixer!)
– How to build cob walls using traditional hand-sculpting and using innovative slipforms (learn all the great advantages of building cob walls with forms)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Lime Plaster and Earth Plaster (learn how to mix and apply lime plaster and earth plaster)
– Creating window and door frames (learn how to install frames into cob walls)
– Rammed Earth Demonstration (building rammed earth forms and compaction process)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Building Solid Foundations (Learn all about constructing proper building foundations)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes, and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob, straw, and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnBs. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Greeneville, Newport, Parrottsville, and Hot Springs.
Nearby are the Meadow Creek Moundation Lodge in Parrottsville, TN, and the Hot Springs Resort in Hot Springs, North Caolina.
Campers will have access to a private compost toilet and a private outdoor shower.
The workshop location has running water available, but no electricity yet. Please bring your own solar generator if needed.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food and drinks. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site. We even have an amazing corner-store within a walkable distance from the workshop site!
Each student is responsible for their own meal preparation. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for food, a quick nap, or trip into town. There is no official kitchen on site yet. Coolers are welcome and encouraged!
Recreation & Surroundings
Greeneville is located near the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful area, and there are many scenic places to visit nearby. You can also travel to places like Gatlinburg, TN or Asheville, NC within a one hour driving time from the workshop site.
Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop, but it is generally child-safe.
Prices
Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Please email me to register with the group/family discount. For normal registration, please click the “Sign Up Now” button above.

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Strawbale Building Workshop hosted by Oso Steen the Canelo Project
2023-10-10 08:00 - 2023-10-16 12:00 (America/Denver) | Sierra County, Kingston, New Mexcio, 88042
Oso Steen will be running a strawbale building workshop on our land in Sierra County, NM. We are building a 320 sq ft tiny home with locally sourced clay plaster. Partipants of the workshop will get hands on experience and instruction on putting up strawbale walls, raising a roof, and making and applying base coat clay plaster.

Cob Workshop – Exterior Plaster, Earthen Floor, Mass Sturucture
2023-10-27 09:00 - 2023-10-29 15:00 (America/Denver) | University California Riverside Palm Desert, 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Parking Lot B, Palm Desert, CA, 92211, United States
This is an ongoing natural building project that is preparing us to establish a permaculture demonstration site on the campus. During our next workshop in October 2023, we will add a second coat of plaster to the interior and exterior of the shed, add an earthen floor and build benches on the exterior east and west walls. If we have time and enough students, we will start building the north wall, adding to our materials yard enclosure. Former students are invited back as volunteers.

Intro to Earthen Building Workshop
2023-10-30 - 2023-11-03 | Keystone Heights, Florida, Keystone Heights, FL, United States
Dates: October 30 – November 3, 2023 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Keystone Heights, Florida
Come and join us in Florida for our next Introduction to Earthen Building Workshop! We will be constructing a 6 foot tall rammed earth column, building a cob wall, and applying lime plaster to the cob cottage. A perfect class for beginners and experts alike! What makes this workshop unique is the opportunity to get hands-on experience with cob, rammed earth, and lime plaster! You will get the knowledge to build earthen building projects scaling from smaller things, such as cob ovens and benches, up to large projects like homes and buildings. You will also get the opportunity to experience a completed cob building, which was built on-site from previous workshop students.
This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with rammed earth and cob, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in earthen building fundamentals. We will be constructing an outdoor rammed earth courtyard, and we will be studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic know-how and confidence to design and build your own earthen constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (with the traditional tarp method and with a mortar mixer!)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob and rammed earth (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Building with rammed earth (we will be building a rammed earth 6 foot tall column)
– How to build foundations (learn hands-on how to build concrete foundations for earthen walls)
– Earthen and Lime Plaster (learn to mix and apply earthen plaster and lime plaster)
– Basic carpentry skills (learn how to build rammed earth forms)
Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Foundation Design (how to build strong foundations for heavy, earthen walls)
– Drainage principles (Important: water can be cob’s worst enemy)
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of Natural Building materials
This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building earthen homes and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most earthen construction workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and earthen building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!
The workshop will be held at a private property in Keystone Heights, Florida.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:30 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has a background in business and advertising, and has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennesse

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnB. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Stark and Waldo, per Google maps, and possibly in Keystone Heights.
Camping is FREE and is available throughout the property. There are plenty of great locations to set up a tent here. Multiple camp areas are available with oak trees shading the majority of the property. Trees can be used appropriately for hammocks & camp gear. Campers will have access to a clean bathroom and private outdoor shower.
A modernized, yet simple, building contains a flushable toilet with a private outdoor shower that’s tucked away. It is spacious with room to keep things up and dry.
Our location has electricity & water. Electric outlets are minimal, with the ability to charge phones & power tools, in a single location. The water is well water and is drinkable, yet you may wish to bring your own.
Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site.
Each is responsible for their own meal preparation, unless decisions are made to share or combine. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for a quick nap, a trip into town, fast food, cooking over the fire, or utilizing the grill. There is no official kitchen on site, but there is a small operational microwave, and a few pieces of kitchen camp gear available for use. Coolers are welcome and encouraged.
Local Places to Eat: McHenry’s (food & pub), Keystone Inn (country buffet, known for chicken) Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Subway, Johnny’s BBQ
Recreation & Surroundings
Bring a camp chair for some quality R&R. Build a community camp fire, while reflecting on the day. Enjoy the grassy area to throw a ball, walking trails through the woods, blackberry bushes, slightly traveled road that’s great for a leisurely walk, and the open field in the distance to spot deer, crane, & rabbits in the early mornings.
Family & Groups
Ask about discounts. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop. Previous workshop parents have brought playpens, pop up tents, outside toys, and so forth. Children are welcome to explore through “hands-on” learning. It’s okay if they play in the dirt.
Prices
Price: $499

Click here to register: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/introduction-cob-workshop-keystone-heights-florida/
Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Email me to register with the group or family discount. For regular registrations, please follow the “Sign Up Now” button above.
If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Complete Cob Bungalow in Utuado, Puerto Rico
2024-01-21 16:00 - 2024-02-25 16:00 (America/Puerto_Rico) | Finca Remedio, Utuado, Utuado, Puerto Rico
INTRODUCTION & LOCATION

The mountains of Utuado surrounding the farm.

CruzinCobGlobal presents its first Carribbean workshop ever at Finca Remedio (visit website and Instagram page for more info), a 40-acre permaculture farm in the mountains of Puerto Rico, in January & February of 2024!. We are so excited to bring Cob to Puerto Rico and especially to the more indigenous traditional zone of Utuado, in the center of the island, where most people already live sustainably and from and in harmony with the land. The mountains of Utuado harbor a highly-fertile and mostly innocuous and

The Cañon Blanco River swimming hole nearby!

tranquil jungle environment with a more humid climate, clean rivers & waterfalls, fresh drinking water, breathtaking hikes and amazing views of the island. While the Finca is neighborless and a bit isolated, it is only a 10-minute car drive to the main town of Utuado, where everything can be found to support the workshop and students.

North Carolina Cob Workshop students built this beautiful version of what we build in our workshops…in May/June 2023, led by Josh Burg and Paula Carneiro!

Being a hurricane-prone location, we proudly bring our Cob Building as a first test site in the face of the 100+mph winds that can show up in summer and fall! Our monolithic Cob Cottage wall alone weighs about 30 tons and is an average of 10″ thick (larger at the base and narrower at the top). The reciprocal roof we build is also very heavy as it is framed with young tree trunks and has an extremely stable spiral configuration, in which each roundwood rafter supports and is supported by neighboring rafters in an interdependent structure. Any movement in the roof translates to a circular interlocking motion which strengthens it. Reciprocal roofs have no weak points as do rectangular post & beam roofs and buildings, in their corners. We will plaster with added protection for strong horizontal rains (in the rainy season) and always using only natural ingredients of course!

Proud Tennessee Cob students (September 2023) taking a much-deserved rest in week 5!

Our international workshops are always a beautiful life-changing and transformational experience as both the local and non-local students come together to build a small “house” in 5 weeks. Often the language and cultural differences at the start create the initial curiosities and desire to connect in other ways, and by week 2 the salsa dancing, singing, movement, and other personal activities at morning circle deepen the new bond and unite yet another Cob family at the heart level, sustained by and sustaining the physical work of building and creating for a common goal.
While the workshop will be taught primarily in English, if we have students that don’t speak English, we will be prepared to offer the teaching materials in both languages and support the Spanish-speaking students with simultaneous translation.

OUR HOSTS
We are your Hosts, Naldo and Alexa, and the caretakers of this precious land. We have been creating this homestead from the jungle for 7 years. “Finca Remedio is off-grid and off-road; we use solar power, gravity-fed fresh spring water and compost toilets. We have planted over 500 fruit trees in our dense forest, with the emphasis on cacao.

Naldo was born and raised in Puerto Rico near San Juan and is 38 years old. He went to California for college and met Alexa in Humboldt, Northern California. Naldo is very passionate about all things musical, he specializes in latin percussion, playing congas, bongos, timbales, clave etc. and has more

Naldo and a friend Alexandra jammin’ Boricua-style!

recently learned how to read music, play piano, bass, harmonium, DJ and is experimenting making electronic music. He is also interested in the healing arts with plant medicines and massage. He hosts men’s gatherings on our farm a few times a year.

Alexa was born in Southern California and is 35 years old. After college she travelled the world for 5 years as a backpacker, volunteer, artisan, rainbow triber, etc. until she met Naldo and they embarked on their journey together 9 years ago. Now Alexa is a dedicated homesteader learning all kinds of sustainability practices and DIY skills with farm harvests. She is also very

Yoga Retreat!

interested in the healing arts, medicine making and healing modalities, especially Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is happiest when singing. Alexa will be the main cook for the workshop. Naldo and Alexa are both devotees of Amma, the hugging mother and living Saint from Kerala. Amma is the guiding inspiration of Finca Remedio as we strive to provide a healing space for those seeking to elevate consciousness. The name Finca Remedio or Remedy farm symbolizes this intention of being medicine, the medicine of nature, community and spirit. Remedio – returning to a balanced medium.

Four-dome newly-painted neon pink superadobe home seen from the garden!

After Hurricane María we built a 4- dome Superadobe home with the guidance of our teacher Ayal Bryant and the support of volunteers. We also have 4 dogs (not good if you are afraid of dogs) 2 cats, 40 laying hens, and a humble vegetable garden. To sustain ourselves financially we offer community workshops most Sundays on a variety of healing arts, sustainability practices and artistic expressions. We also sell value-added products made from farm harvests like medicines, jams, hot sauces etc. and rent out a glamping deck on Airbnb. We are just two souls trying to grow and serve as much as we can in this human experience. You can see our project at fincaremedio.com as well as on FB and IG at Finca Remedio.

We live in an epically beautiful area with endless river spots, including our magical river, Cañon Blanco and los Morrones. Utuado is also home to one of the highest peaks on the island for adventurous hikers and the Caguana ceremonial park for those interested in prehispanic history.
Our farm is a deep nature experience in the steep mountains of the central mountain range. It is a very humid tropical rainforest and rains most days of the year. In January & February the weather is perfect, with cool nights and comfortable days ranging from 65-85 F. Usually it rains less this time of year but it will still rain. We recommend being rain-ready with rubber farm boots, rain jacket, tarp for hanging over your tent, rain jacket, umbrella, hat, long pants and long sleeves with quick-drying fabric. Also you should bring a swimsuit, quick-dry towels, head lamp, sleeping bag etc. We can do a quick trip to the local hardware store for students who want to buy boots, tarps, ropes etc.
Students will be camping on our land, where we have flat spots for tents not far from the communal kitchen deck and build site, the compost toilets and cold showers. We are blessed to have lots of clean water. Our farm is bordered by two creeks and a crystalline river, Rio Pellejas, which has epic swimming holes and waterfalls for the adventurous hikers (300 steps down a steep slope). Fortunately our forest is a balanced ecosystem and mosquitoes are not a big problem,

Our home-grown cacao beans for making chocolate!

and you won/t even notice them if you wear pants. This is a very friendly jungle and there are no dangerous spiders or snakes. Our farm is relatively isolated, we have no close by neighbors and the town of Utuado is a 10-minute drive away. We are 40 mins from the town and beaches of Arecibo, 50 minutes from the town of Ponce, and 1h20mins from San Juan. You can see Finca Remedio on Google Maps. If you want to travel the island on the weekends we recommend renting a car or hitchhiking. There is very limited public transportation in Puerto Rico and now Uber is beginning to serve more areas, including ours. We do have WIFI and most cell phone carriers have good service in our zone.

Ecstatic Dance celebration with DJ Naldo!

The glamourous glamping deck

Alexa and Naldo with Shanti, Rama, Oxun and Laksmi!

Superadobe living room!

Communal kitchen nook for guests

Superadobe living room

home-grown chocloates!

Communal kitchen deck

Sauerkraut fermentation workshop

Altar to Amma, the hugging Saint

At Sardinera beach 45 minutes away

THE PROJECT
We will be building a 14m2/150ft2 round cob bungalow/cottage for Alexa and Naldo’s Finca that will serve as an additional dry structure on our very wet land. It might be used for receiving friends, family, volunteers, giving massages, as a music studio and probably will be rented out during the high tourist season to generate income for our project. This will be their 2nd natural building and first Cob building. Their existing home is a Superadobe structure with 4 domed areas that was built over 3 months with many volunteers. Students in this Advanced Cobber Certification training will, as always, learn all the steps to building a complete cob building from scratch: digging the trench and building a stone foundation and pouring the floor in week 1, building the monolithic cob wall with all its detailed insertions in weeks 2 & 3, sculpting the wall in week 3, plastering in week 4, building the completed roof in weeks 4 & 5 and finally finishing and oiling the wall on the last day of week 5.

DETAILED WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Tennessee Beauty built by 12 newly-certified Cobbers and led by Josh Burg and Sara Crippen in September 2023

The 35-day Advanced Cob Building Workshop consists of 25 days (Monday through Friday) of learning & construction for 4 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon with theoretical instruction (lectures with graphics) on most Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons to complement the hands-on experience.
Students arrive on Sunday between noon and 2pm and settle in. The workshop begins at 4pm with the Opening Circle followed by a Host Site Orientation and Introduction to the Project. Dinner is served at 6pm, and will be followed by an Introduction to the 5-week Workshop by Instructors Claudine Désirée and Josh Burg. Monday morning we begin digging the trench for our Cob Building!!!!
Following Breakfast from 7:30-8:15am, the morning learning/building session begins at 8:30 am and lasts until 1pm with a 20-minute snack pause at 11am. Lunch break is from 1pm to 2:30pm, which includes a rest time before the 3-hour afternoon session begins. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays there is a 60-minute lecture, followed by construction time. Tuesdays and Thursdays students begin

Adding stones to the wall for filler and more thermal mass!

building again right after the rest time. After class in the afternoon there is a 90-minute break before dinner (served from 7pm to 8pm), in which students are encouraged to stretch, do some type of relaxation/movement practice, go swimming, walking and just relax.

The final wall beautification before plastering!

There is sometimes a work trade student officially or informally leading yoga and movement practice in the mornings or afternoons (depending on student preference). There will also be 3-4 evenings (once a week) after dinner for showing slides,videos and having Course-related discussions. Other evenings are mostly free and sometimes students offer informal courses in their specialties and passions. Mondays are reserved for our weekly Council Circle, where we do a deeper sharing and listening to attend to the inner worlds of our students and staff during this intense experience.

Outrageously-decorated kitchen counter window! Who would wanna leave the sink???

On weekends students are free to explore the area, rest onsite, and even continue building, with Instructor approval. Weekend meals are provided by students who can use the kitchen. Hosts will take students to Utuado to buy food for the weekend.
The 35-day Course will offer practical learning by building a complete 10m2-15m2 (depending on number of students) curvilinear building from foundation to roof, as described in the “Project” section. Those who complete the 35-day Workshop will receive an Advanced Cobber Certificate of Completion for Foundation, Cob Walls (which includes Door, Windows, Shelves, Art, Electrical Housing & Plumbing preparation), Floor, Plaster & Roof.

DAILY SCHEDULE
The Advanced Cob Building Workshop begins on a Sunday at 4pm and ends on a Sunday, 5 weeks later, after the morning Closing Circle & Brunch. Students can arrive a day or two before to acclimate and settle in (please let us know) but will need to cover their own food  needs unless a work trade is approved by Host.
The daily schedule (subject to slight modifications due to climate/time of year) will be:
7:30-8:15 Breakfast
8:30-1:00 Class
1:00-2:30 Lunch
2:30-5:30 Class (Lecture on MWF’s)
5:30-7:00 Rest/Yoga
7:00-8:00 Dinner
8:00-9:00 Slides/Videos/Discussion (once a week)
Students are expected to be on time and participate in all sessions and required activities as the goal of building a full construction depends on the whole group working together!

COURSE CONTENTS
Students will learn every phase of building a cob building from foundation through the reciprocal roof in hands-on building and lectures/theory. In addition to the lectures, slideshows and videos will be shown to support and enhance their understanding of cob materials, cob building, design, geography, budgeting, business options and legal issues.
Our hands-on practice will include:
digging foundation trench
pouring gravel and inserting drainage pipe (if applicable)
building foundation stemwall
analyzing soils and materials
making test bricks
deciding on correct mixture
deciding on best location
making cob w/ partner and solo
building with cob
preparing and inserting the door
preparing and inserting fixed and opening windows
preparing and inserting shelves
inserting bottle windows, glass and other objects
inserting electrical housing and outlet/switch boxes (when applicable)*
insert PVC pipe for plumbing in walls (when applicable)*
sculpting
preparing and applying earthen plasters (1 coat)
pouring an earthen floor (1 layer)
preparing walls for roof connection
building reciprocal roof frame
putting on sheathing and other elements (if applicable)
installing metal roof covering
making small-scale cob designs of future projects, time permitting
In addition to Cob Building practices, the Course material
also includes:
legal cob construction practices & the international cob code (Appendix AU in the IRC)
cost analysis
creating a cob business (building/teaching)
assisting, interning and teaching with CruzinCobGlobal
*While the insertion of electrical housing and one or more outlet/switch boxes and PVC pipes to hold plumbing are always included in the workshops, the simplicity or complexity depends on the host’s design and preferences. There will be no electrical wiring or plumbing pipes installed during workshop. That is beyond the focus of this course and requires professional experience and certification/licensing.

REQUIREMENTS & IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Students will need to come prepared for demanding physical work from Day 1.
This includes bringing:
Work clothes appropriate for the country and climate we are in
Work boots or other closed-toe shoes (for foundation and roof)
Flip-flops (for cobbing/plaster days)
Rubber dishwashing gloves (for lime mortar)
Work Gloves (for stone work)
Tape Measure
Box Cutter
Wood Hand Saw (cheap)
Level (2ft)
Hammer (if possible)
Japanese plastering trowels (email:goldhillclayplaster@gmail.com)
Ear Plugs (roof week)
Wood Chisel
4”-6” Diameter Round Plastic Container Lids (for plastering)
Good Moisturizer
Hat
Sunglasses
Water Bottle
Notebook/Pen/Camera
Safety Glasses
Carpenter Pencil & Sharpener
Sample of your Soil (optional)

***VERY IMPORTANT***

Weeks 2 & 3….COOOOOB every day till you can do a mix in under 10 minutes!

These workshops are designed for people that want to learn how to build a complete structure from start to finish in a professional manner and amount of time. They are very intensive and, while we make time for yoga, stretching, dancing, music, relaxing….all students are expected to be present and participating in all building/learning hours unless ill or have some other significant reason. This is because we design the size of the building and organize the structure of the workshop in accordance with the number of students and when people are absent it impacts the whole group and the other students have to work harder. In addition Instructors try to set up building work according to students’ preferences and learning needs.

Brady the cob sculptor in recovery from a previous life of computer programming!

That being said, the workshop intensity also changes from week 1 to week 5. The first foundation week breaks people in with the work of moving, lifting, rolling and placing rocks and is a new and demanding physical experience for most students. It also includes the first layers and coat of cob floor. The second week and part of the third week of cob making and building are similar to the rock foundation week in physical demand but are more flowing and active in movement and cardiovascular exercise. On Thursday & Friday of week 3, the workshop takes a turn and slows down and the body can rest as students tap into their creative source now and design and sculpt the walls and around niches, shelves, windows, etc. This is a very special rewarding experience and time of the workshop, decorating the walls with visual beauty and meaning as expressed by each unique student. Usually there is an overarching theme decided on by Host(s).

Sandy’s first Cob Sculpture after Color and Finishing Plaster Work! Now is that satisfying or what???

Plastering follows sculpting and is also an enjoyable more lightweight physical experience that lends itself to talking and sharing at the wall in a meditative rhythm as the students have bonded and shared deeply through a variety of experiences for a month. On day 5 of week 4, the roof begins. This part is the beginning of a change of pace from the earthen building work to carpentry skills, power tools, drilling, hammering, screwing, trimming, etc. But now the workshop is in its final stretch and there is a boost of energy to wrap up the roof, close the top of the wall, and tend to finishing touches….the grand finale.
For students wanting a more mellow slow-paced cob experience along with time for personal exploration and experimentation, these workshops are not for you. However you can find a more suitable workshop online with other organizations that are usually for a shorter period building a garden wall, a bench, a compost toilet or some other smaller scale project.

Cooper Green filmed our whole North Carolina workshop to create this YouTube series on building with Cob! Check it out!

Students are required to read “The Hand-Sculpted House” before the workshop begins and any other books they find or listed on our Resources page, ideally on plastering and reciprocal roof building, as well as watching our “International Cob Workshop” videos on Claudine’s YouTube channel, the new educational YouTube series “Building a Mud Home” by Cooper Green, posted by Natural Buildings and created from our North Carolina workshop footage, and the ones posted on CruzinCobGlobal’s website under Gallery, to get an idea of what is expected. Also it is a great idea to watch as many other videos on cob and reciprocal roofs as you can to come mentally prepared. Please bring your book(s).

Chris in the cob zone…

Students must tend to their own personal needs, drink alot of water, rest when needed and exert themselves at a steady pace. Students who cannot do the strenuous physical work should let us know when registering so we can make sure the workshop is a good fit. If approved before the workshop begins, we can adjust appropriately. It is totally OK to come for the lecture/theory part, and sometimes help the building part in less physically demanding ways if you have physical limitations, ie cutting straw, sifting for plaster, hammering nails into frames or shelves, sculpting, plastering, cutting bottles. There is alot to do to support making and building with cob!!!!

Chillin’ after a hard days’ COB!

Finally, please bring a watch or use your phone to be prompt and ready for each part of the Course including meals. Please make sure you share your dietary restrictions/allergies with CCG in your registration form. Note that very demanding dietary needs will not be able to be met (vegan & non-gluten ok) and those students may be recommended not to participate unless they are willing to meet their special needs on their own, which will not include kitchen access on weekdays. Please discuss with Claudine at time of desire to register. Also please bring your essential snacks and foods, pillow and whatever you NEED to be comfortable and happy. Feel free to also bring playlists, speaker, slides, videos, movies and books to share, as well as a sample of your soil to test.
We look forward to opening you to a whole new world of experience, skill, growth and transformation as you bond with your new COB family for life!

INSTRUCTORS
Claudine Désirée

Claudine and her best most dependable trustworthy first tool given to her by a carpenter in Santa Cruz, blessing her journey!

Well here I am back in the Instructor’s seat for a Puerto Rico workshop, el Caribe, my Soul. I grew up in NYC on the 22nd floor of the Mayfair Towers building, next door to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and who would ever have thought I would end up being the “International Cob Queen”, biking around 4 continents for 5 years leading cob workshops where my Heart called me. And the Carribbean is where my parents took us for every vacation and the culture has been a part of my life since I was little. So…. I was determined to teach in Cuba or Puerto Rico this winter, and make it happen with great hosts. Again I will be landing with bike and bike bags and riding up the steep climbs to the Finca Remedio to meet Alexa, Naldo and their animal family and discover Utuado and the mountains of Puerto Rico as well as their healing land. Adding another workshop to the more than 100 I have taught since 2004 and never getting tired of COB and sharing the passion and joy and love for the act of building with these most natural materials with newbies. This year has been a significant marker for me in transitioning from Instructor to Trainer of Instructors and what a team we have already! Josh

Welcome to my Quinta in São Miguel, Azores Islands, Portugal!

Burg will be co-teaching with me and I am so proud of Josh’s determined and swift decision to follow his Heart into the Natural Building world several years ago! We are so blessed to have him in the Instructor seat! Josh is one of the kindest, most humble, talented, intelligent and dedicated beings I know who can teach a full workshop with patience, love, laughter and joy emanating from his Being every day. His passion for Cob oozes out of each of his cells. He is taking these workshops to the next level, along with our other Instructor Nicolas Pimentel from Chile.
Of course I will use my skill and love of languages to add the Spanish element to this workshop and so look forward to having another intercultural mutilingual workshop where we will actually be dancing salsa with live music daily for our Morning Circle! In all my years of leading workshps, it’s the finest way to start the day! So you better start warmin’ those hips up! Maybe we will even put together a Salsa de Cob and invent some new moves! Of course focusing on the build the rest of the time:) Nos vemos en Puerto Rico en 2024!

Josh Burg

And another Reciprocal Roof standing proud with The Builder Burg at the helm!

Josh is a natural builder and carpenter, originally from New Mexico and now living in Portland, OR, with a background in conventional construction and DJing large events before he followed his heart’s call into Earthen Building. Growing up in an adobe home in central New Mexico, earthen architecture has always held a special place in Josh’s soul. A landscaper since the age of 15, Josh studied Environmental Science at the University of New Mexico, and was always drawn back to working with his hands as a builder. Years of conventional building convinced him that the way forward is really to look backwards…to our collective heritage as humans creating homes from the natural materials that surround us. As a teaching assistant in 2022, Josh brought his carpentry experience to help build a community space at CruzinCobGlobal headquarters in the Azores.

A moment of chill with the Cob in Tennessee (September 2023)

In May of 2023, Josh joined fellow Brazilian Cobber and Instructor Paula Carneiro to co-teach a 5-week full build in North Carolina, where the 12 students completed a beautiful 175 sq ft Cob Home for hosts Molly and Daniel. This was Josh’s first Instructor position and it opened him to an even greater passion for teaching and leading these workshops. He learned alot in this first workshop about teaching and managing within a tight schedule and was able to take this experience to lead the next workshop just three months later with an even greater level of confidence and success. Assisted by Sara Crippen in Tennessee, their group of students completed one of the most beautiful and extensive cob bungalows ever finished in a 5-week workshop! You can see these builds on the Insta pages for “cruzincobglobal” and “theburglr” Merging the worlds of carpentry, earthen materials, music, and clay-therapy, Josh is excited to reunite with his Cob Sensei for another amazing project in the Puerto Rican jungle. Vamos!

Josh and Sara admiring this Cob masterpiece created by their 11 students in just 5 weeks of intensive learning and building!

MEALS & ACCOMMODATIONS

We will serve three meals a day from Monday through Friday and lighter breakfast supplies for students to prepare will be available on Saturday morning for those that will be onsite. Meals will be vegetarian and locally-based as much as possible, including farm produce and eggs!
We will attend to vegan and gluten-free diets if needed but any other restrictions & allergies that require extensive preparation needs will not be able to be honored. And kitchen will only be accessible on weekends for students.
Camping is the only accommodations offered at the workshop. Other possible indoor housing may be available and may require a rental car. Please inquire with Claudine. Please bring a good tent and lightweight sleeping bag and mat and pillow or camping hammock.

TRANSPORTATION

Students from outside the island should fly into SJU (San Juan airport). Hosts can organize group transport to and from the Finca for a fee (1.5 hour drive). Students should arrive on Sunday morning ideally but may arrive on Saturday as well remembering that workshop meals begin on Sunday evening and kitchen will be busy for workshop. Hosts will organize a ride into town for pre-workshop food supplies for students arriving on Saturday, who are free to use the communal kitchen.
As stated above in “Our Hosts” section, students wanting to move around freely can share a rental car for the duration of the workshop or just on the weekends. Otherwise there is hitchhiking and Uber and hosts will also offer rides when they go into Utuado or Arecibo.

REGISTRATION & PAYMENT

Very Early Bird Rate: USD$2500, paid in full by November 21, 2023
Early Bird Rate: USD$2600, paid in full by December 21, 2023
Standard Rate: USD$2700, paid in full by January 7, 2023
We are offering 4 work trade positions which give you a $250 discount on either food or tuition for working one hour each weekday supporting the site before breakfast or preparing & putting away breakfast. Two persons for each service. These are the first options to go. Depending on when you pay in full, the discount is taken off the appropriate amount.
Payment can be made using Zelle, Paypal and Venmo to claudinedesiree@gmail.com. Europeans and other international students can pay in USD using the Wise app/website using same email.
If you are a low-income local Puerto Rican resident, we are offering 5 discounted spots that will require some type of work exchange helpful to the Instructors or Hosts. Please contact claudinedesiree@gmail.com or Whatsapp +1(831) 212-7225 for information.
To hold your spot (there are 12 for new students and 3 for returning students), you can make a 50% deposit. The balance owed depends on the date of payment in full. Deadline is Jauary 7th, 2023.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Students who have paid and cancel by December 1, 2023 can get a full refund minus a 5% administrative/inconvenience fee on the amount they have paid.
Students who have paid and cancel by January 1, 2023 will receive a credit for a future workshop within two years minus a 10% administrative/inconvenience fee.
Students who have paid and cancel after January 1, 2023 will not receive a refund or credit unless they have proof of an emergency situation or other reason out of their control. They will receive a credit for two years minus the 10% admin fee.

SEE YOU IN THE MUUUUUUD!

Claudine and Josh in the Azores in front of Claudine’s first 2-story cob house and the first legal permitted cob building in the Azores Islands of Portugal!!!

Complete Cottage Build with Cobitat Natural Building
2024-03-02 08:00 - 2024-04-06 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Maui Majesty, Kula, HI, United States
Complete Cabin Build in Hawaii

Offered by Cobitat. Go here to see this workshop on our website
Five weeks from Foundation to Roof

The Farm at Maui Majesty
Maui, Hawaii
Saturday, March 2, 2024 – Saturday, April 6, 2024 (5 Weeks)

Number of Students: up to 13 (Just 3 spots left!)
Cost: $2700
This workshop was planned before the devastating fires on Maui. While our host’s farm has not been impacted by the fires themselves, the community has been. We are moving forward with this educational workshop because we feel strongly that earthen construction is one of the strategies to employ for an uncertain future with the potential for more frequest and destructive wildfires.
The Building Project
During this five week workshop we will build a beautiful 200 square foot cabin and an earthen bread/pizza oven. Starting with a rubble trench foundation and earth bag stem wall we will build a complete cabin with windows, doors, shelves, basic electric and plumbing, arches, niches, artwork, finish plasters and roof. It will be a combination of cob, straw bale, adobe, bale-cob, wood-cob, and more!
Participants will leave with the knowledge and hands-on experience to build their own small cabin and oven and even teach a basic cob course.
About the Site
From their website:
The Farm at Maui Majesty is a 24+ acre farm in the heart of Maui, on the slopes of the Haleakalā volcano, in lower Kula on the island of Maui in Hawaii, USA. Our location is incredibly beautiful with bi-coastal ocean views as well as views to the top of Haleakela. While we are in the middle of farm country here, we are only 12 minutes to the major town of Kahului which hosts the main harbor/port, airport, and the main industry of the island. We are just up the road from several other of Maui’s famous farms including Surfing Goat Dairy and Ocean Vodka.
Maui Majesty promotes education around living WITH the land, more than living off the land. As a professor at several universities and as a licensed therapist, Dr. Holstein, owner/founder of Maui Majesty, is supremely passionate about this work and works hard to live in harmony with nature. We have facilitated work-groups in medicine making, growing food and medicine, and regenerative sustainability. Our courses address topics such as earth batteries, atmospheric water generation, composting toilets, biogas, cob building, passive solar, and other regenerative systems that allow humans to enjoy modern conveniences in a way that is “off-grid”. Most importantly we are working on systems that do not use up natural resources faster than the earth can regenerate them, systems that do not cause harm to other living creatures or the environment and hopefully even enhance them.
Overview
This is one of the most comprehensive natural building workshops you can find. Together, VersaTerra instructors have decades of experience on four different continents. This has helped us design rich learning experiences giving students the tools they need to become confident earthen builders.
Earth is the mother of all building materials. For millennia, and all over the world, people have used earth to build beautiful, simple, efficient and inexpensive homes. It’s plentiful, ecological, and non-toxic. Plus, it can’t burn, won’t rot and is much simpler to build with than conventional construction.
We will teach you how to use clay-soil to build just about everything: from strong structural walls (cob and adobe) to beautiful floors, plasters and light-straw-clay walls. Because the materials are fireproof, they are ideally suited to sculpt ovens, fireplaces and cook stoves.
The essence of your learning experience will revolve around developing a deep understanding of how to process and combine a few simple materials: clay-soil, sand, and straw. How you apply that in your building adventures is then up to you, but you will find the possibilities endless and exciting.
What you will learn
After this workshop, you will feel confident that you can

Design and build yourself a cottage using earth (cob) and other natural materials

Remodel or renovate an existing home, using natural materials

Build and use an earthen oven

Use natural materials to create garden walls and hot tubs

Teach a one-day natural building event yourself!

Specifically, you will get hands-on experience and skill development in the following areas:

Foundation systems, rubble trench, stem walls, earthbag construction (as a stem wall)

Identifying the right materials, screening, processing, testing, costs, amount calculations

Mixing cob efficiently

Making adobe bricks and using straw bales (“balecob”) and cordwood cob

Building with cob: strong sculptural walls, arches, windows and doors, niches, and sculptural artwork

Electricity and plumbing, how to install wires and pipes in the walls

Roof attachment and roof design

Light-straw-clay: this is an infill technique perfect for code-approved buildings and natural renovations of existing homes

Natural plasters, tools, making your own plasters and paints, colors, applications, how to apply it on earthen and bale walls, drywall, wood, concrete

Tamped floors, finished earthen floors in natural buildings, earthen floors in existing homes on plywood, oriented strand board, and concrete

Earthen ovens: from start to finish and how to use them (we’ll finish with a pizza party!)

Different design strategies, natural design essentials, passive solar, using cob to make models

Building codes, how they work, how to work with and around them

During every workshop we make time for specific issues related to individual situations. This usually includes a careful look at different climates and regions, living with families or in communities, dealing with the building code, physical and financial challenges, appropriate technologies and more.
Kyle’s book, “Build it with Earth: the Cob Pizza Oven” and Conrad’s, “House of Earth” are both included with the workshop and will be mailed before we begin. They will serve as guidebooks for the workshop.
Lodging
There are tent spaces (bring your own tent), parking areas for RVs and camper vans, and a couple rustic cabins for anyone seeking such comforts (at extra cost). Composting toilets, outdoor covered sinks and showers are also provided.
Local Attractions
When in Hawaii one might as well take some time to enjoy the natural beauty. Our workshop schedule has half days on Saturdays with Sundays off.
Nearby is Haleakala volcano, the Road to Hana, whale watching, beaches for snorkeling & surfing, waterfalls, hikes, farms, resorts, and so much more. There are tons of websites that go into more detail with lots of info on tourist attractions. We’ll likely plan some optional group outings once we’re together.
Pickup and Dropoff
Airport pickup and drop off is available from the Kahului Airport the Friday evening and Saturday morning before the workshop starts (12:00 start time on Saturday the 2nd) and on Saturday afternoon after the workshop ends.
Registration, Payment, & Refunds
This workshop requires a $700 deposit to hold your space. When a deposit is made, Kyle will reach out to you, welcome you to the course, and get you in the email loop with all the details.
Go here to make a Venmo deposit or send a check for $700 made out to Cobitat and mailed to 2055 McCloud Avenue, Reno, NV 89512. Full payments are also gladly accepted.
Deposit is refundable (minus $50 for books and mailing cost if they’ve already been shipped to you) until 6 weeks before the start of the class. If you cancel with less than six weeks before the start of the class and your spot can be filled, we will issue a refund minus book costs. If it can’t be filled, your deposit will not be refunded.
Full payment is requested by two weeks before the start of the class.
The Daily Schedule
We are aware that students make a big investment in a workshop like this. We honor your time and do the best we can to share our knowledge and experience. Expect long days with lots of building and learning. On some evenings we will show slides and films featuring our previous projects and that of other people and cultures. Believe it or not, we also still like to make time for a campfire and some music. We always strive to make the workshop itself a comfortable, memorable and fun experience.
7:30 breakfast
8:30 building session one
1:00 lunch
3:00-6:00 building session two: other techniques, lectures, and oven building
7:00 Dinner
8:00 lectures/slideshows/campfire/free time
Delicious home-cooked meals are provided and will be vegetarian.
START and FINISH: We begin on Saturday, March 2nd with lunch at 12:00 and end with lunch on Saturday, April 6th, after lunch.
Instructors
Kyle Isacksen has been building with earth since 2010 and teaching natural building since 2011 with House Alive and the Be the Change Project. Kyle has a background in construction, teaching, and simple living. He’s worked as a framer, carpenter, and commercial roofer and recently finished building a “green” conventional house in his neighborhood in Reno. He was a science teacher for 7 years, is a frequent speaker on sustainable living, and is a contributing writer for Mother Earth News magazine and blog. Kyle enjoys basketball, hiking, reading, and martial arts.
Kathleen O’Brien started natural building with two VersaTerra workshops several years ago and has gone on to teach with us in India, Mexico, Oregon and Reno. She has extensive carpentry experience, is a certified permaculture designer and talented grower, and has over 20 years of public school teaching experience. She is an avid reader and writer and is currently building her own off-grid home at Long Ranch in Surprise Valley, Nevada.
Jonathan Vocke started natural building with a VersaTerra course years ago and has since built and taught with us in India, Mexico, and Nevada and on his own in his hometown of Baltimore. When not slinging mud he’s a professional musician and music teacher and an avid traveler and adventurer. Every workshop he’s a part of benefits from his musical talents, his energy, and his skill as a teacher.
Katy Chandler is the co-founder of the Be the Change Project and has lived in and played with natural building materials for many years. She is a prolific gardener, certified permaculture designer, urban garlic farmer, and former math teacher and school designer. She loves to dance, laugh, and pore over seed catalogs while cozied up to the wood stove on long winter nights. Kyle and Katy also have two teenage sons.
VersaTerra* Certification
After full participation, every student will receive a VersaTerra certificate. We believe that after taking this workshop, participants are qualified to teach a weekend or cob oven event in their community. By providing a certificate, we want to empower our students to become facilitators of community revitalization through building with earth!
*VersaTerra is a holistic design, building, and living philosophy, celebrating clay-soil as its primary building material. Clay-soil is:

Plentiful, inexpensive or free, durable, easy to maintain and modify, and endlessly reusable

Non-toxic, breathable, soft, beautiful, and displays superior performance in a wide variety of climates

Sculptural by nature, inviting to work with needing only simple tools and methods, and easily combinable with other natural and human made materials.

By focusing on these specific qualities of clay-soil, we can make the design, building, and living process a conduit for community revitalization and personal transformation, while creating housing with dignity for the people of this world.

1-Day Intro to Cob
2024-04-20 | Mud Dauber School Campus, Snow Camp, NC, 27349, United States
INSTRUCTORS: Greg + Danielle

STUDENT #: 15 students [maximum]

COST:
– $150 Early Bird Rate (30 days in advance)
– $175 Regular Rate
– 5% discount for family + friends participating together
– 10% discount for BIPOC participants
DESCRIPTION:
In this workshop you will learn what cob is, how to mix it, and how to use it to create a natural wall. We’ll also tour our campus to see and discuss our demonstration cottages, cob oven, and cob/strawbale garden walls. This is a great course for anyone who is interested in cob, but unsure of whether you want to take a more intensive course.
We’ll be mixing with our feet, and applying with our hands – dress to get muddy!

TOPICS COVERED:

* mixing cob by foot
* building with cob
* campus tour!

Rammed Earth, Cob, and Straw Workshop
2024-04-22 - 2024-04-26 | This Cob House, Greeneville, TN, 37743, United States
Dates: April 22 – April 26, 2024 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Greeneville, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our Rammed Earth, Cob and Straw Workshop! We will be constructing a rammed earth wall, and working hands-on with both cob building and straw-clay building. This workshop is very unique because you will get hands-on experience with three different building techniques in one class. This workshop is perfect for beginners and experts alike! You will get the expert knowledge to build with rammed earth, cob and straw! Either for small-scale structures or large-scale projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with rammed earth, cob and straw, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in natural building fundamentals. You will learn the advantages of high thermal mass rammed earth and cob versus high insulation straw materials. We will be constructing the wall on a new rammed earth bathroom accent piece, and a cob and straw-clay building. We will also be mixing and applying lime plaster on an existing cob building, and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own rammed earth, cob and straw constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to build and set up rammed earth forms for walls and structures.
– How to properly mix and compact rammed earth material into forms.
– How to choose the right materials for rammed earth, and how to add color to your layers.
– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with the tarp method and with machinery)
– How to build cob walls using traditional hand-sculpting and using innovative slipforms (learn all the great advantages of building cob walls with forms)
– How to make straw-clay (also known as light-straw-clay)
– How to build highly insulating straw-clay walls (learn how to frame and pack the walls)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob and straw-clay (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Lime Plaster Finishing (learn how to mix and apply lime plaster finishes to your walls)
– Creating window and door frames in cob walls (learn how to install frames into cob walls)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Building Solid Foundations (learn all about constructing proper building foundations)
– Building codes and how to successfully get building permits for rammed earth homes, cob homes and straw homes.
– Best practices for building a healthy, non-toxic home.
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for rammed earth homes, cob homes and straw homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams. Proper roof ventilation practices!
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of all Natural Building materials, and how to hybridize them!

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building rammed earth homes, cob homes and light-straw-clay homes, and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most rammed earth workshops, cob workshops and strawbale workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob, straw, and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Alpaca Farm and Fiber Mill Tour!
As another added bonus to the workshop, we also offer a free alpaca farm and fiber mill tour at our neighbor’s Two Roots Farm. They have over 50 friendly alpacas, a fiber mill, and a gift shop! We usually go on this tour Wednesday after class.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnBs. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Greeneville, Newport, Parrottsville, and Hot Springs.
Nearby are the Meadow Creek Moundation Lodge in Parrottsville, TN, and the Hot Springs Resort in Hot Springs, North Caolina.
Campers will have access to a private portable toilet and a private outdoor shower.
The workshop location has running water available, but no electricity yet. Please bring your own solar generator if needed.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food and drinks. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site. We even have an amazing corner-store within a walkable distance from the workshop site!
Each student is responsible for their own meal preparation. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for food, a quick nap, or trip into town. There is no official kitchen on site yet. Coolers are welcome and encouraged!
Recreation & Surroundings
Greeneville is located near the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful area, and there are many scenic places to visit nearby. You can also travel to places like Gatlinburg, TN or Asheville, NC within a one hour driving time from the workshop site.
Family & Group 10% Discounts
Ask about the 10% discount. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop, but it is generally child-safe.
Prices
Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Please email me to register with the group/family discount. For normal registration, please click the “Sign Up Now” button above.

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Annual Artisan Clay Event 4/24/24 – 4/28/24
2024-04-24 15:00 - 2024-04-28 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Cob hill natural building school, hughes springs, TX, 75656, United States
Join us for the first event of its kind where we have three powerhouse natural building artisans teaching together – Athena Steen, Betty Seaman and Cat Taylor.
You can’t get a better ABC of teachers in one place at one time! Together they have countless years of hands-on experience as artists, artisans and natural builders.
This event will take place in Texas at Cob Hill Natural Building School and will incorporate elements of cob, plasters and wood to build beautiful whimsical sculptures. No experience of natural building is required and this workshop is open to anybody interested in experiencing the broad spectrum of possibilities using natural materials, for not only building but artistic sculpting.
Expect lots of fun, laughter, bonding, music by the fire and a general relaxed good time while being amazed at what you can create! All women are educators, designers and builders of natural structures. These ladies all know how to have a good time while doing what they love!
Athena Steen is a world renowned natural plasterer and straw bale home designer and builder who has written many books and traveled extensively throughout the world teaching plastering techniques with artistic vision. She has done projects in many locations including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC and museums in Japan. Athena is a founder of the Canelo Project, a NonProfit with a vision to connect people, culture and nature.
Betty Seaman has taught workshops all over the US for decades. She is a very experienced artist of many modalities including natural building, leatherworker, and beadwork. Betty was one of the first instructors at Cob Cottage Company. She describes herself as an accidental natural builder and has created her own unintentional community at Spirit Pine Sanctuary in Northern California.
Cat Taylor is a recognized and award winning artistic sculptor with great enthusiasm for natural building. Cat was featured on Discovery Channel while building her 2200 sq ft bale/cob home in NorthEast Texas. She founded Cob Hill Natural Building School as part of NaturalBuildingOrg, a NonProfit, benefiting Veterans and Youth in 2018. Cat is passionate about teaching natural building.
This is going to be a popular event, sign up early to guarantee your spot! This event does not qualify for NaturalBuildingOrgs LOL (Lifetime of Learning) Program or any other discounts.

Complete Cob Guest Cottage at the RoundHouse Retreat in North Carolina (Murphy)
2024-05-05 14:00 - 2024-06-09 14:00 (America/New_York) | Roundhouse Retreat, 1397 Dinkins Creek Road, Murphy, NC, United States
THE PROJECT
We will be building a 14m2/150ft2 round cob bungalow/cottage for our Host Amy that will be rented out to guests who want to experience off-grid living and learn solar, micro-hydro and other independent living technologies. This will be Amy’s first 100% Natural Building on the site. The main house is made out of handcrafted kiln-dried cedar cordwood with a super high R-value and concrete between the logs. Students in this Advanced Cobber Certification training will, as always, learn all the steps to building a complete cob building from scratch: digging the trench and building a stone foundation and pouring the floor in week 1, building the monolithic cob wall with all its detailed insertions in weeks 2 & 3, sculpting the wall in week 3, plastering in week 4, building the completed roof in weeks 4 & 5 and finishing the wall and the second floor coat at the end of week 5.
Please visit our website event page for all the details and to register:
https://cruzincobglobal.org/events/complete-guest-cottage-at-the-roundhouse-retreat-in-north-carolina-murphy/

Focusing on Natural Building Finishing…the Fast Cob Way!
2024-05-16 15:30 - 2024-05-20 11:00 (America/Vancouver) | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
We are continuing our 18 year tradition of hosting Fast Cob Natural Building Workshops…and it begins with this Finishing Workshop.
Together, we’ll learn…

“first layer” of plastering (which nobody else has done and helps make our building technique even easier and faster…at least 30X faster than any other offered!),
the gorgeous finish layer with two different aggregates (sand and lime),
how to make and use natural pigment paints (a DIY recipe), and
make and use lime-wash
plus, we’ll pour a small cob floor!

We’ve made finishing not only gorgeous, but very easy. Just like our Fast Cob building technique.
Our lime plaster is perfect for areas subjected to water spray (like showers and around sinks). The sand plaster is limit-less in its applications and dirt cheap.
Our natural paints are completely non-toxic at every stage and as vibrant as any other paint, ranging from bright white, to yellows, oranges, reds, greens, blue, purple and black. All from our Mother Earth.
Our Workshops begin on a Thursday evening with a welcoming dinner and end with a Farewell breakfast on Monday before you depart on the 11 am ferry.
Food, Food, and more Food!
Every workshop day, we start with a hot, hearty breakfast (with a Q&A), after which we start learning. In the morning, two hands-on sessions sandwich a hearty snack break. A hot, hearty lunch (with another Q&A session), to make sure we have the strength and stamina to absorb all the learning we can, precede a longer afternoon session. After an hour break to clean-up, a hot gourmet dinner accompanies a daily recap on lessons learned and sets the stage for an evening discussion among ourselves or with an invited guest from the Community.
Please visit our workshop page for all the details and to fill in our online application. This course will prepare you to excel in our All-the-Basics Fast Cob Workshop in July. We also offer discounts to those who register in pairs or who take multiple workshops with us.

Intro to Cob and Straw Workshop
2024-05-20 - 2024-05-24 | This Cob House, Greeneville, TN, 37743, United States
Dates: May 20 – May 24, 2024 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Greeneville, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our next Introduction to Cob and Straw Workshop! We will be constructing both a cob building and a straw-clay building. This workshop is perfect for beginners and experts alike! You will get the expert knowledge to build with cob and straw! Either for small-scale structures or large-scale projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and straw, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in natural building fundamentals. You will learn the advantages of high thermal mass cob versus high insulation straw materials. We will be constructing the walls on a new cob building and a straw-clay building, mixing and applying lime plaster, and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own cob and straw constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with the tarp method and with machinery)
– How to build cob walls using traditional hand-sculpting and using innovative slipforms (learn all the great advantages of building cob walls with forms)
– How to make straw-clay (also known as light-straw-clay)
– How to build highly insulating straw-clay walls (learn how to frame and pack the walls)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob and straw-clay (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Lime Plaster Finishing (learn how to mix and apply lime plaster finishes to your walls)
– Creating window and door frames in cob walls (learn how to install frames into cob walls)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Building Solid Foundations (learn all about constructing proper building foundations)
– Building codes and how to successfully get building permits for cob homes and straw homes.
– Best practices for building a healthy, non-toxic home.
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes and straw homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams. Proper roof ventilation practices!
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of all Natural Building materials, and how to hybridize them!

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and light-straw-clay homes, and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops and strawbale workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob, straw, and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Alpaca Farm and Fiber Mill Tour!
As another added bonus to the workshop, we also offer a free alpaca farm and fiber mill tour at our neighbor’s Two Roots Farm. They have over 50 friendly alpacas, a fiber mill, and a gift shop! We usually go on this tour Wednesday after class.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnBs. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Greeneville, Newport, Parrottsville, and Hot Springs.
Nearby are the Meadow Creek Moundation Lodge in Parrottsville, TN, and the Hot Springs Resort in Hot Springs, North Caolina.
Campers will have access to a private portable toilet and a private outdoor shower.
The workshop location has running water available, but no electricity yet. Please bring your own solar generator if needed.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food and drinks. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site. We even have an amazing corner-store within a walkable distance from the workshop site!
Each student is responsible for their own meal preparation. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for food, a quick nap, or trip into town. There is no official kitchen on site yet. Coolers are welcome and encouraged!
Recreation & Surroundings
Greeneville is located near the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful area, and there are many scenic places to visit nearby. You can also travel to places like Gatlinburg, TN or Asheville, NC within a one hour driving time from the workshop site.
Family & Group 10% Discounts
Ask about the 10% discount. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop, but it is generally child-safe.
Prices
Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Please email me to register with the group/family discount. For normal registration, please click the “Sign Up Now” button above.

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Earthen Floor Workparty
2024-05-23 11:00 - 2024-05-26 15:00 (America/Denver) | Muddy Hands, CA, United States
A 4-day workparty teaching all things earthen floor related! We will cover the essentials of earthen floors, preparation, base and finish pours. During the workshop, we will conduct tests to determine the right materials and recipes for earthen floors. A base earthen floor will be poured and participants will help create samples for the finish floor recipe. This work is being completed on a fire rebuild home in Paradise, CA. We are utilizing grant funding to complete this house for a lovely woman who has been living in a trailer for the past years. There is no cost to attend these workparties, our hope is to have many hands make light work and get us closer to a finished home years after these devastating fires. We appreciate you coming to learn with us and using your hands to help finish this home.
This workparty will cover:

How to source the raw materials that make up earthen floors

How to test your site soil to be used as a building material

Aggregates and what is appropriate for use in floor systems

Using carbon sequestering building materials and what that means for our planet

How to test and ensure a good floor mix

Mixing techniques and efficiency

How to create a level, consistent floor and what tools to use

Sub-floor and design details specific to earthen floors

How to properly finish the floor

Artistic techniques and embedding stone or tile

This course is suitable for both beginners and experts. You will learn everything from the basics, such as finding soil, how to compose a mix, and pour that mix. You will leave with a confidence and understanding of how to install an earthen floor in your own home.

Artistry with Clay & Lime taught by Athena Steen
2024-06-01 - 2024-06-06 | Rosewater Ranch, 30 minutes north of Reno, Nevada, Reno, CA, United States
Number of Students: up to 15
Cost: $900
The Project
During this six day workshop we will cover the essentials of natural and earthen plasters and dive deeper into the more specific finishes for your home. Each participant will have their own practice panel to learn these methods with ease and repetition.
This workshop will cover a large range of natural wall finishes including:

Simple clay & lime basecoats

Smoothed and polished clay finishes

Clay paint

Lime finishes & fresco

Stabilized exterior plasters

This course is suitable for both beginners and experts. You will learn everything from the basics, such as finding soil, how to compose a mix, and applying that mix. You will leave with a confidence and understanding of how to coat walls in your own home with beautiful, creative earth finishes.
During every workshop we make time for specific issues related to individual situations. This usually includes a careful look at different climates and regions, living with families or in communities, dealing with the building code, physical and financial challenges, appropriate technologies and more.
Kyle’s book, “Build it with Earth: the Cob Pizza Oven” and Conrad’s, “House of Earth” are both included with the workshop and will be mailed before we begin.
About Athena
Athena Steen grew up building with clay and adobe. She loves creating sculpted spaces that connect form with function, and walls rich with pattern, texture and color. Through the Canelo Project, a small non-profit organization, Athena and Bill, her husband, have been teaching workshops for over thirty years, in strawbale construction and earthen building. Focused on simple, low-skill, low-cost methods that build community between people, culture and nature. Co-authors of “The Straw Bale House,” “Small Strawbale,” and “Built by Hand,” Their influence in the natural building world has been widespread. When Athena does not have her hands in the mud, she also enjoys publishing and designing books.
Oso, her son and co-teacher for this workshop, has been immersed in natural building, including working with clay. He has built several clay-plastered strawbale, adobe, and timber frame structures from start to finish. He is an excellent hands-on teacher.
About the Site
Rosewater Ranch is a 130-acre property and community 30 minutes northwest of Reno with gardens, orchards, goats and chickens, a mushroom growing business, developed permaculture aspects, an earthen cabin and pizza oven. It is set on a verdant north slope against public lands offering a gateway to mountains, forest and trails.
The area is in the high desert on the western edge of the Great Basin. The weather in June is usually warm, clear, and sunny during the days with much cooler nights. It can get hot and rain is unlikely.
Lodging
Options include tent sites and parking for camper vans, trucks, or trailers.
Registration, Payment, & Refunds
This workshop requires a $400 deposit to hold your space. When a deposit is made, Kyle will reach out to you, welcome you to the course, and get you in the email loop with all the details.
Go here to make a Venmo deposit or send a check for $400 made out to Cobitat and mailed to 2055 McCloud Avenue, Reno, NV 89512. Full payments are also gladly accepted.
Deposit is refundable (minus $50 for books and mailing cost if they’ve already been shipped to you) until 6 weeks before the start of the class. If you cancel with less than six weeks before the start of the class and your spot can be filled, we will issue a refund minus book costs. If it can’t be filled, your deposit will not be refunded.
Full payment is requested by two weeks before the start of the class.
The Daily Schedule
We are aware that students make a big investment in a workshop such as this. We honor your time and do the best we can to share our knowledge and experience. Expect long days with lots of building and learning. On some evenings we will show slides and films featuring our previous projects and that of other people and cultures. Believe it or not, we also still like to make time for a campfire and some music. We always strive to make the workshop itself a comfortable, memorable and fun experience.
NOTE: This workshop starts with lunch at 12:00 on Saturday, June 1st and ends after lunch on Thursday, June 6th.
7:30am-Breakfast
8:30am-Talk/discussion
9am – Hands-on
10:30 or 11am- Snack break
1pm – Lunch
2pm – Hands-on
4:30pm – Clean -up
5pm -Class ends
7pm – Dinner
8pm -Optional slideshow
Delicious home-cooked meals are provided and will be vegetarian with occasional meat options.
Pickup and Dropoff
Airport pickup and drop off is available from the Reno Airport on Friday or Saturday morning before the start of the workshop and the Thursday at the end of the workshop.
Support Staff
Kyle Isacksen has been building with earth since 2010 and teaching natural building since 2011 with House Alive, Be the Change Project, and now Cobitat. Kyle has a background in construction, teaching, and simple living. He’s worked as a framer, carpenter, and commercial roofer and recently finished building a “green” conventional house in his neighborhood in Reno. He was a science teacher for 7 years, is a frequent speaker on sustainable living, and is a contributing writer for Mother Earth News magazine and blog. Kyle enjoys basketball, hiking, reading, and martial arts.
Katy Chandler is the co-founder of the Be the Change Project and has lived in and played with natural building materials for many years. She is a prolific gardener, certified permaculture designer, urban garlic farmer, and former math teacher and school designer. She loves to dance, laugh, and pore over seed catalogs while cozied up to the wood stove on long winter nights. Kyle and Katy have two teenage sons.

Cob Hill 21-Day Natural Building Cert
2024-06-01 16:00 - 2024-06-22 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Cob hill natural building school, hughes springs, TX, 75656, United States
This action-packed, hands-on/feet-on workshop is for adults who wish to begin their learning journey toward helping others realize their natural building dreams as part of a build crew or to supervise their own home build! Natural building is tough. Are you tougher? Find out during 21 days at Cob Hill Natural Building School, as Cat Taylor teaches the techniques and skills you will need to get from the foundation to the roofing system.
Hands on experience covering
site selection
home designing
passive solar
soil testing
foundations – dig a rubble trench pier and beam
stack a stone stem wall (dry stacking)
cob building
bale cob s
traw bale
palletable cob
timber framing
windows and doors
LSC – light straw clay insulation
roof designs
living roofs
roof sheathing
tree felling
log peeling
log milling (saw mill)
earthen plasters
Shou Sugi Ban(Japanese art of waterproofing wood)
Leading a team
Real time home build experience
Class time on basic electrical, basic plumbing, facts and myths in natural building, common mistakes in natural building, choosing build style, project planning, budgeting, acquiring materials, purchasing property and permits, correct placement of building, water catchment, composting toilets.
Primitive tent camping sites are available near the build including access to hot showers, plus 3 plant-based meals a day are included in your tuition! You will need to bring your own camping gear, contact us if this is an issue. (See FAQ section of naturalbuildingorg.com) Prospective attendees, please be advised that we are unable to accommodate guests, children or pets on site for the duration of the workshop; however, there are nearby lodging options available for them including Daingerfield State Park, as well as two boarding options within 30 minutes of Cob Hill.
The $1890 tuition includes a $200 deposit to secure your spot that is is non-refundable unless NaturalBuildingOrg has to cancel the workshop for some unforeseen reason. If registration includes two or more people there is a $50 discount per person. Active duty military personnel and honorably discharged veterans with valid ID or DD214 may select the appropriate tuition tier to receive 20% off, and eligible Cob Hill Lifetime of Learning (L.o.L.) Contact us for an appropriate discount code.

Exterior Scratch Coat Plaster over Strawbales Workparty
2024-06-06 11:00 - 2024-06-09 15:00 (America/Denver) | NV
A 4-day workparty teaching about exterior plasters over a strawbale wall system! We will cover the essentials of the exterior plaster prep and application process specific to using natural insulations. During the workparty, we will discuss testing to determine the right materials and recipes for exterior plasters. A scratch coat exterior plaster will be applied. We will go over plaster finish options. This work is being completed on a fire rebuild home in Paradise, CA. We are utilizing grant funding to complete this house for a lovely women who has been living in a trailer for the past years. There is no cost to attend these workparties, our hope is to have many hands make light work and get us closer to a finished home years after these devastating fires. We appreciate you coming to learn with us and using your hands to help finish this home.
This workparty will cover:

How to source the raw materials that make up natural plasters

How to source clay and lime plasters and climate appropriate options

Aggregates and what is appropriate for use in plasters

Using carbon sequestering building materials and what that means for our planet

How to test and ensure a good plaster mix

Mixing techniques and efficiency

Application techniques and what tools to use

Natural wall systems and appropriate substrates specific to natural plasters

How to properly prepare wall systems to receive natural plasters

This course is suitable for both beginners and experts. You will learn everything from the basics, how to test recipes, and apply that mix. You will leave with a confidence and understanding of how to apply exterior plaster to your own home.

Permitted Cob
2024-06-08 | Mud Dauber School Campus, Snow Camp, NC, 27349, United States
INSTRUCTORS: Greg + Stephen

STUDENT #: 18 students [maximum]

COST:
– $175 Early Bird Rate (30 days in advance)
– $195 Regular Rate
– 5% discount for family + friends participating together
– 10% discount for BIPOC participants
DESCRIPTION:
Join us for a new course offering that will introduce students to the experience of taking on a permitted cob project. Since cob is considered an alternative building material (even though it’s been used for thousands of years!), there are more steps to go through in obtaining a permit, as compared to a conventionally-framed home.
We have planned a schedule that allows for a good balance of hands-on work, versus presentations and discussions. We will mix cob by foot and by machine, explore a variety of cob recipes and their compression test results, and build a part of a cob wall using a forming system.
The co-instructor for this course, Stephen Hren, has completed two permitted cob projects in North Carolina – in two different counties – and will share his experience with his most recent project, which was finished in 2023. Stephen will give a slideshow presentation after lunch to discuss his process and answer questions. We’ll also enjoy a partial tour of our Mud Dauber Campus, to discuss some of our demonstration buildings here.

TOPICS COVERED:

*mixing cob by foot
*mixing cob by machine
*installing cob in a form system
*discussion of cob codes and permitting process
*Q&A session

One Day Intro to Natural Building
2024-06-15 08:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Be the Change Project, 2055 McCloud Avenue, Reno, NV, 89512, United States
Overview of the Day
We’ll start early with a tour of our permaculture homestead nestled in the heart of Reno. We have several cabins, a couple ovens, garden walls, and appropriate technologies a plenty to show off.
We’ll spend the rest of morning getting familiar with clay soil, sand, and straw and how we process and mix them to make cob and adobe as we build a section of wall. We’ll demonstrate the use of earth bags and how we incorporate straw bales and cordwood into a wall.
In the afternoon we’ll focus on different types of plasters from base coats through finish coats using finer materials and pigments. We’ll also take time to do some sculpting and carving.
At the end of the day we’ll fire up our cob oven, turn on some music, and make and cook our own pizzas.
About the Site
The Be the Change Project is a Reno-based nonprofit, centered on our half-acre urban homestead where we have offered classes, tours, and workshops since 2011. That year we were able to buy what was a run down and neglected house on a half-acre through fundraising and crowdfunding. Since then we have enjoyed living an alternative and off-the-grid lifestyle while transforming the property into a verdant oasis. It has become a center for neighborhood uplift as well as a model for simpler living in the urban/suburban context. We were a Mother Earth News Magazine Homestead of the Year in 2013.
Reno is in the high desert on the western edge of the Great Basin. The weather in June is usually warm, clear, and sunny during the days with cooler nights. It can get hot, and rain is unlikely.
Along with earthen cabins, landscape walls, ovens, and different plaster types on site, we’ve developed and use many systems for living more sustainably in town about which we’ll share during the day.

Solar cooking and wall heaters

Small scale solar PV

Wood stove and solar thermosiphon water heating

Composting – vermicomposting and conventional aerobic piles

Alternative septic system – the Watson Wick

Basic principles and practices of Permaculture

Organic small plot intensive gardening including season extenders like hoop houses, root cellaring and solar dehydrating

ScAvenging! – upcycling and salvaging materials from the urban waste stream

Living with little electricity or fossil fuels

Wood-fired hot tub

Lodging
There is no lodging available for this one day event.
The Schedule
8:30 Introductions and tour
9:30 Investigating Materials
10:00 Making cob and adobe
10:30 Building with cob and adobe
11:30 Earth bags, straw bales, and cordwood cob
1:00 Lunch
2:00 Plasters – base coats through finish
4:00 Sculpting, carving, and niches
6:00 Pizza Dinner (included)
Instructors
Kyle Isacksen has been building with earth since 2010 and teaching natural building since 2011 with House Alive and the Be the Change Project. Kyle has a background in construction, teaching, and simple living. He’s worked as a framer, carpenter, and commercial roofer and recently finished building a “green” conventional house in his neighborhood in Reno. He was a science teacher for 7 years, is a frequent speaker on sustainable living, and is a contributing writer for Mother Earth News magazine and blog. Kyle enjoys basketball, hiking, reading, and martial arts.
Katy Chandler is the co-founder of the Be the Change Project and has lived in and worked with natural building materials for many years. She is a prolific gardener, certified permaculture designer, urban garlic farmer, and former math teacher and school designer. She loves to dance, laugh, and pore over seed catalogs while cozied up to the wood stove on long winter nights. Kyle and Katy also have two teenage sons.
Payment & Refunds
This workshop requires a $100 payment to reserve your spot. Once a payment is made, Kyle will reach out to you, welcome you to the course, and get you in the email loop with all the details.
Go here to make a Venmo deposit or send a check for $100 made out to Cobitat and mailed to 2055 McCloud Avenue, Reno, NV 89512.
Payment is refundable until 6 weeks before the start of the class. If you cancel with less than six weeks before the start of the class and your spot can be filled, we will issue a full refund. If it can’t be filled, we’ll refund $50.

Intro to Cob and Straw Workshop
2024-06-17 - 2024-06-21 | This Cob House, Greeneville, TN, 37743, United States
Dates: June 17 – June 21, 2024 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Greeneville, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our next Introduction to Cob and Straw Workshop! We will be constructing both a cob building and a straw-clay building. This workshop is perfect for beginners and experts alike! You will get the expert knowledge to build with cob and straw! Either for small-scale structures or large-scale projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and straw, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in natural building fundamentals. You will learn the advantages of high thermal mass cob versus high insulation straw materials. We will be constructing the walls on a new cob building and a straw-clay building, mixing and applying lime plaster, and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own cob and straw constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with the tarp method and with machinery)
– How to build cob walls using traditional hand-sculpting and using innovative slipforms (learn all the great advantages of building cob walls with forms)
– How to make straw-clay (also known as light-straw-clay)
– How to build highly insulating straw-clay walls (learn how to frame and pack the walls)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob and straw-clay (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Lime Plaster Finishing (learn how to mix and apply lime plaster finishes to your walls)
– Creating window and door frames in cob walls (learn how to install frames into cob walls)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Building Solid Foundations (learn all about constructing proper building foundations)
– Building codes and how to successfully get building permits for cob homes and straw homes.
– Best practices for building a healthy, non-toxic home.
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes and straw homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams. Proper roof ventilation practices!
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of all Natural Building materials, and how to hybridize them!

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and light-straw-clay homes, and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops and strawbale workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob, straw, and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Alpaca Farm and Fiber Mill Tour!
As another added bonus to the workshop, we also offer a free alpaca farm and fiber mill tour at our neighbor’s Two Roots Farm. They have over 50 friendly alpacas, a fiber mill, and a gift shop! We usually go on this tour Wednesday after class.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnBs. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Greeneville, Newport, Parrottsville, and Hot Springs.
Nearby are the Meadow Creek Moundation Lodge in Parrottsville, TN, and the Hot Springs Resort in Hot Springs, North Caolina.
Campers will have access to a private portable toilet and a private outdoor shower.
The workshop location has running water available, but no electricity yet. Please bring your own solar generator if needed.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food and drinks. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site. We even have an amazing corner-store within a walkable distance from the workshop site!
Each student is responsible for their own meal preparation. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for food, a quick nap, or trip into town. There is no official kitchen on site yet. Coolers are welcome and encouraged!
Recreation & Surroundings
Greeneville is located near the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful area, and there are many scenic places to visit nearby. You can also travel to places like Gatlinburg, TN or Asheville, NC within a one hour driving time from the workshop site.
Family & Group 10% Discounts
Ask about the 10% discount. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop, but it is generally child-safe.
Prices
Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Please email me to register with the group/family discount. For normal registration, please click the “Sign Up Now” button above.

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

All the Basics of Building…the Fast Cob Way!
2024-06-20 15:30 - 2024-06-24 11:00 (America/Vancouver) | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
We are continuing our 18 year tradition of hosting Fast Cob Natural Building Workshops…with our All-the-Basics-of-Building Fast Cob Workshop.
Every All-the-Basics-of-Building Fast Cob Workshop includes:
Natural Building Design: working with nature to make long lasting, beautiful structures;
Fast Cob: how to mix it and build with it, including windows and doors…it is now at least 30x faster than “traditional” cob;
Foundations: how we stack rocks to keep our buildings solid and safe;
Roofs: we’ll show you various options and simple, elegant designs (we are also offering a Roofing Workshop for Fast Cobbers!);
Plumbing and Electrical: you’ll see just how easy it is with Fast Cob!

Our Workshops begin on a Thursday evening with a welcoming dinner and end with a Farewell breakfast on Monday before you depart on the 11 am ferry.
Food, Food, and more Homemade Organic Food!
Every workshop day, we start with a hot, hearty breakfast (with a Q&A), after which we start learning. In the morning, two hands-on sessions sandwich a hearty snack break. A hot, hearty lunch (with another Q&A session), to make sure we have the strength and stamina to absorb all the learning we can, precede a longer afternoon session. After an hour break to clean-up, a hot gourmet dinner accompanies a daily recap on lessons learned and sets the stage for an evening discussion among ourselves or with an invited guest from the Community.
Please visit our workshop page for all the details and to fill in our online application. Although not required, this course is best taken after completing the Focus-on-Finishing workshop in May.
We also offer discounts to those who register in pairs or who take multiple workshops with us.
There is only 1 spot remaining in this workshop. However, we are now offering this workshop from July 11-15 here.

1-Day Intro to Plaster
2024-06-22 | Mud Dauber School Campus, Snow Camp, NC, 27349, United States
INSTRUCTORS: Greg + Danielle

STUDENT #: 15 students [maximum]

COST:
– $150 Early Bird Rate (30 days in advance)
– $175 Regular Rate
– 5% discount for family + friends participating together
– 10% discount for BIPOC participants
DESCRIPTION:
Clay plaster is the best introduction to the vast world of natural paints + plasters, because it is forgiving in its application, has a simple recipe, and is safe and fun to apply by trowel or by hand. Join us to get hands-on experience with the mixing and application. Together, we’ll be adding a fresh layer on one of our natural walls, which is a really satisfying transformation to be a part of!
This is a perfect course for those who are interested in natural plastering, but are not ready to commit to the more intensive 3-Day Plasters + Paints course. We’ll also tour our campus to see and discuss our demonstration cottages, cob oven, and cob/strawbale garden walls.

TOPICS COVERED:

* mixing and applying earthen plaster
* artistic and sculptural opportunities with plaster
* campus tour!

Intro to earthen floor workshop
2024-07-05 09:00 - 2024-07-07 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | NV
Intro to earthen floors! learn how to build an earthen floor from the ground up, on our beautiful property, nestled in the Oregon woods, with other participants

All the Basics of Building…the Fast Cob Way!
2024-07-11 15:30 - 2024-07-15 11:00 (America/Vancouver) | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
We are continuing our 18 year tradition of hosting Fast Cob Natural Building Workshops…with our All-the-Basics-of-Building Fast Cob Workshop.
Every All-the-Basics-of-Building Fast Cob Workshop includes:
Natural Building Design: working with nature to make long lasting, beautiful structures;
Fast Cob: how to mix it and build with it, including windows and doors…it is now at least 30x faster than “traditional” cob;
Foundations: how we stack rocks to keep our buildings solid and safe;
Roofs: we’ll show you various options and simple, elegant designs (we are also offering a Roofing Workshop for Fast Cobbers!);
Plumbing and Electrical: you’ll see just how easy it is with Fast Cob!

Our Workshops begin on a Thursday evening with a welcoming dinner and end with a Farewell breakfast on Monday before you depart on the 11 am ferry.
Food, Food, and more Homemade Organic Food!
Every workshop day, we start with a hot, hearty breakfast (with a Q&A), after which we start learning. In the morning, two hands-on sessions sandwich a hearty snack break. A hot, hearty lunch (with another Q&A session), to make sure we have the strength and stamina to absorb all the learning we can, precede a longer afternoon session. After an hour break to clean-up, a hot gourmet dinner accompanies a daily recap on lessons learned and sets the stage for an evening discussion among ourselves or with an invited guest from the Community.
Please visit our workshop page for all the details and to fill in our online application. Although not required, this course is best taken after completing the Focus-on-Finishing workshop in May.
We also offer discounts to those who register in pairs or who take multiple workshops with us.

Natural Plasters and Floors
2024-07-13 - 2024-07-21 | Wanosh Forest Gardens, Willits, CA, United States
Are you ready for a deep dive into natural finishes? This workshop includes seven full days of skill-building in many aspects of natural plasters and earthen floors, taught by a team of experts with decades of international experience. For more information, see website: https://wanosh.org/arts-of-natural-plasters

“Create Sacred Space” 15 day Cob Workshop
2024-07-14 15:00 - 2024-07-28 17:00 (America/Denver) | Nevada City, CA
In this comprehensive 15 day workshop, you will learn all the basics of building a small cob cottage, by creating a 15′ diameter round Cob sauna temple space , with a timber framed earthen roof.
Cob saunas are a fantastic teaching project, as they are big enough to learn and practice your cob building skills, but small enough that we’ll have plenty of time to explore the other crucial aspects of the cob building process, which often get overlooked in workshops with larger cob projects.
We will take you on a journey through the most important aspects of cob construction so that you’ll feel confident in building your own cob cottage. You’ll get to experience firsthand the joys and challenges of building a cob house, and in the process, learn how to install doors, windows, a cedar floor and stone hearth, a wood-stove and chimney, carve niches, altars and practice bas-relief sculpture, make and apply earthen plaster from scratch and top it off with installing the beams and rafters for the timber framed earthen roof. You’ll specifically be creating a cob sauna, which is a great starter project for when you return home.
We’ll also go into detail about various ways to mix cob, including with a tractor and a cement or mortar mixer, and will have at least one full demo of tractor cob, as that has been one of my specialties for over 20 years. We’ll also teach a moveable cob form system, which greatly speeds up the wall building process, and talk in detail about the latest in the cob permitting process, and how to prepare building plans to get a permit.
In addition to all this great cob fun, we’ll also be incorporating a morning yoga/movement/ meditation practice together, as we co-create this temple space together. We’ll also have a local natural building tour, visiting some local cob homes, saunas, temples and garden walls. And well have time to take a special river trip to our local South Yuba River for some excellent swimming and play.
Three gourmet meals a day, camping in an oak grove overlooking the South Yuba River canyon, and hot showers included.
Rob Pollacek is a master cob builder, having been a professional cob and natural builder since 1999. He trained and apprenticed with the Cob Cottage CO. in 2000 and 2001, and specializes in tractor cob, moveable form systems, temples, sauna spaces, cob cabins, earth roofs, poured adobe floors, earth plasters, garden walls and teaching his “Create Sacred Space” cob workshops. He built a 3000 square foot permitted cob house from 2004-2007, and recently built a permitted cob building at Big Bend Hotsprings, and is currently building a permitted cob building near his home in Nevada City, CA, of which he did the architectural drawings for and organized the permitting process through his local building department.
He still loves his cob sauna projects and hopes to share his love of these wonderful spaces with you at this workshop.
Please check out his website, Californiacob.com for more information about this workshop and to see photos of many of his past projects.

Intro to Cob and Straw Workshop
2024-07-15 - 2024-07-19 | This Cob House, Greeneville, TN, 37743, United States
Dates: July 15 – July 19, 2024 (YES. We are still having the workshop as scheduled.)

Location: Greeneville, Tennessee

Come and join us in beautiful eastern Tennessee for our next Introduction to Cob and Straw Workshop! We will be constructing both a cob building and a straw-clay building. This workshop is perfect for beginners and experts alike! You will get the expert knowledge to build with cob and straw! Either for small-scale structures or large-scale projects like homes and buildings.

This workshop is a great experience to learn how to build with cob and straw, and to get a broad learning overview of natural building techniques. You will get a solid foundation in natural building fundamentals. You will learn the advantages of high thermal mass cob versus high insulation straw materials. We will be constructing the walls on a new cob building and a straw-clay building, mixing and applying lime plaster, and studying Natural Building together each day. After this workshop, you will have the basic experience and confidence to design and build your own cob and straw constructions or buildings.

Hands-On Work Topics:
– How to make cob (learn how to make cob with the tarp method and with machinery)
– How to build cob walls using traditional hand-sculpting and using innovative slipforms (learn all the great advantages of building cob walls with forms)
– How to make straw-clay (also known as light-straw-clay)
– How to build highly insulating straw-clay walls (learn how to frame and pack the walls)
– Selecting and testing soils for cob and straw-clay (learn several ways to test your soil composition)
– Lime Plaster Finishing (learn how to mix and apply lime plaster finishes to your walls)
– Creating window and door frames in cob walls (learn how to install frames into cob walls)

Classroom and Discussion Topics:
– Site selection and design (includes Passive Solar design principles)
– Materials and tools (covers traditional and modern cob building toolset and materials)
– Building Solid Foundations (learn all about constructing proper building foundations)
– Building codes and how to successfully get building permits for cob homes and straw homes.
– Best practices for building a healthy, non-toxic home.
– Basic Electrical and Plumbing integration for cob homes and straw homes
– Installing windows and doors
– Roofing and Bond Beams. Proper roof ventilation practices!
– Natural plasters and finishes (Vapor Permeable / “Breathable” finishes)
– Overview of all Natural Building materials, and how to hybridize them!

This workshop is a unique experience for people to learn about building cob homes and light-straw-clay homes, and to get an overview of Natural Building. Not only are there plenty of hands-on lessons to learn from, but we will also have ample discussion and informal classroom time. Most cob workshops and strawbale workshops don’t cover this many topics. But here, you will learn all the core lessons needed to start building from this one workshop!
Plus – there will be many hours of discussions about building cob homes and natural building throughout the workshop. Its a great way to get your questions answered and brainstorm your building ideas!

The workshop will be held at a private property in Greeneville, Tennessee.
Each day will begin at 9:00 AM, and the days will include hands-on building, classroom sessions, discussions, and learning activities related to cob, straw, and natural building topics. We will break for lunch between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and we will complete each day at around 4:00 PM. They will be full-packed days! Worth your every penny!

The workshop will be taught by Alex Sumerall, an east coast Earth Building Mason who has a focus on creating earthen structures that are healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and functional for modern life. He is the owner of This Cob House, LLC, which is dedicated to teaching people about cob and earthen building techniques. Alex has been practicing earthen building since 2011. He graduated from the Aprovecho School of Natural Building in 2013 in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and continues to teach, present, consult, and construct.
Free Bonus!
Everyone who signs up for the workshop will receive a printed copy of Alex’s book, “Build a Cob House: A Step-By-Step Guide”, and the downloadable PDF version, FREE! We only make printed copies for workshop students, so this is your chance to get one. We will be using the book as a lesson guide throughout the workshop too so you can follow along with your book in hand.

Alpaca Farm and Fiber Mill Tour!
As another added bonus to the workshop, we also offer a free alpaca farm and fiber mill tour at our neighbor’s Two Roots Farm. They have over 50 friendly alpacas, a fiber mill, and a gift shop! We usually go on this tour Wednesday after class.

Listen to the great things that our workshop participants are saying!

“The cob workshop was a life-changing experience. I learned a lot about natural building, not only from Alex’s instruction, experience and demonstrations, but from interacting with people from different backgrounds who were a great source of collective knowledge. The hands-on experience was priceless!”

Tony Romo, Texas

“The Cob Building Workshop was a great investment of my time! It was well organized, extremely inspiring, and FUN! Alex was able to explain construction basics to neophytes like me, yet he could also answer the complex questions asked by the more experienced workshop attendees. I can’t wait until the next workshop!”

Marybeth Babos, Tennessee

Lodging
There are two options for lodging: free camping on site, or making reservations at one of the local hotels or AirBnBs. Hotels are available in the neighboring towns of Greeneville, Newport, Parrottsville, and Hot Springs.
Nearby are the Meadow Creek Moundation Lodge in Parrottsville, TN, and the Hot Springs Resort in Hot Springs, North Caolina.
Campers will have access to a private portable toilet and a private outdoor shower.
The workshop location has running water available, but no electricity yet. Please bring your own solar generator if needed.

Food
Meals will not be included in this workshop so participants will need to provide their own food and drinks. There are several local restaurants and grocery stores nearby the workshop site. We even have an amazing corner-store within a walkable distance from the workshop site!
Each student is responsible for their own meal preparation. An hour for lunch is provided, allowing adequate time for food, a quick nap, or trip into town. There is no official kitchen on site yet. Coolers are welcome and encouraged!
Recreation & Surroundings
Greeneville is located near the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Tennessee. It is a beautiful area, and there are many scenic places to visit nearby. You can also travel to places like Gatlinburg, TN or Asheville, NC within a one hour driving time from the workshop site.
Family & Group 10% Discounts
Ask about the 10% discount. We encourage group & family activities because it enhances learning among your support group. Email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com for custom group/family invoice.
Children/young people of any age are welcome to join in and learn. Please be aware that some areas are under construction, as is the purpose of this workshop, but it is generally child-safe.
Prices
Price: $499

Additional Discounts: 10% for family and friends participating together.
Teens accompanying a parent/guardian are half price. Children under 13 accompanying a parent/guardian are free.

Please email me to register with the group/family discount. For normal registration, please click the “Sign Up Now” button above.

If you have any other questions about the workshop, please feel free to email me at alex@thiscobhouse.com
If you have a large party of people registering, they can all register separately, or contact me for a custom invoice.

Interior Plaster & Paints Workparty
2024-07-18 11:00 - 2024-07-21 15:00 (America/Denver) | NV
A 4-day workparty teaching about interior plasters and paints over a strawbale wall system! We will cover the essentials of the interior plaster prep and application process specific to using natural insulations and clay plaster base coats. The interior currently has clay plasters that are in need of repair, the plaster was applied during a previous learning experience before the client called our company to help fix and finish the home. This is a unique opportunity to see how to repair errors and learn what not to do! We will go over plaster finish options and showcase the art of natural plasters by also using ready mixes from our favorite natural material suppliers. This work is being completed on a fire rebuild home in Paradise, CA. We are utilizing grant funding to complete this house for a lovely women who has been living in a trailer for the past years. There is no cost to attend these workparties, our hope is to have many hands make light work and get us closer to a finished home years after these devastating fires. We appreciate you coming to learn with us and using your hands to help finish this home.
This workshop will cover:

How to source the raw materials that make up natural plasters

How to source clay and lime plasters and climate appropriate options

Aggregates and what is appropriate for use in plasters

Using carbon sequestering building materials and what that means for our planet

How to test and ensure good plaster and paint mixes

Mixing techniques and efficiency

Application techniques and what tools to use

Natural wall systems and appropriate substrates specific to natural plasters & paints

How to properly prepare wall systems to receive natural plasters & paints

This course is suitable for both beginners and experts. You will learn everything from the basics, how to test recipes, and apply that mix. You will leave with a confidence and understanding of how to apply exterior plaster to your own home.

Cob Oven Workshop in Scotland
2024-08-06 16:00 - 2024-08-10 12:00 (America/Denver) | Old Deer, Scotland, Mavis Bank, Old Deer, Grampian, AB42 5JT, United Kingdom
Join us in the beautiful North East Scotland where we will build a cob oven.
Expect to get dirty, have lots of fun, see some castles, whisky distilleries, and beautiful countryside.
The cob oven will be a Highland Cow sculpture with a cob oven in the belly. Cat is an artist and enjoys sculpting. This will be a unique opportunity to see an artist at work.

Roofing for Fast Cobbers!
2024-08-08 15:30 - 2024-08-12 11:00 (America/Vancouver) | Lasqueti Island, 1 Beautiful Bicycle Lane, Lasqueti Island, BC, V0R 2J0, Canada
The Roofing for Cobbers 3 day intensive workshop is new for 2024! After building almost 20 roofs of 5 different materials, including Lasqueti’s Arts Centre, it’s time to share these skills with you. I’ve delayed this offering because being off the ground is inherently dangerous, but this year we’ll have a roof design that uses two different “shed” styles that will be easily accessible from low, stable scaffolding. Of course, safety will be foremost in our minds at all times.
The roof itself will be made of metal, the longest-lasting (other than slate) and lowest cost (over its lifespan) material currently available. We’ll see and examine liquid membrane roofs, hand-split cedar shake roofs, and many other metal roof examples in between our workshop sessions.
Every roof has multiple layers, and we’ll experience installing all the standard ones: the main decking, tar paper, and then the metal itself. We’ll also install a glass skylight that is far from standard but has proven to work like a charm without the exorbitant cost of building in and buying commercial skylights.
Our Workshops begin on a Thursday evening with a welcoming dinner and end with a Farewell breakfast on Monday before you depart on the 11 am ferry.
Food, Food, and more Food!
Every workshop day, we start with a hot, hearty breakfast (with a Q&A), after which we start learning. In the morning, two hands-on sessions sandwich a hearty snack break. A hot, hearty lunch (with another Q&A session), to make sure we have the strength and stamina to absorb all the learning we can, precede a longer afternoon session. After an hour break to clean-up, a hot gourmet dinner accompanies a daily recap on lessons learned and sets the stage for an evening discussion among ourselves or with an invited guest from the Community.
Please visit our workshop page for all the details and to fill in our online application. This course will complete your learning journey and allow you to complete your own natural buildings!
We also offer discounts to those who register in pairs or who take multiple workshops with us.

Natural building extravaganza
2024-08-16 15:00 - 2024-08-25 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Allie and Chloe’s land, 25563 Hall Rd, Junction City, OR, 97448, United States
The full 9 day workshop! Learn how to build your own COB house from foundation to roof. Camp on our beautiful property, nestled in the Oregon woods, with other participants. Enjoy three home cooked organic meals a day. Use the outdoor showers and composting toilets. Cost $1200**Discounts available. Just ask!

Contact us to get started! 541-285-3369 or AllieMaggio74@gmail.com
