Natural Building

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We decided to have a little fun and try something different, instead of just visiting museums or national parks we wanted to really experience something that none of us had tried before…and for that matter, generally very few people have ever tried.

It was very likely that if we purchase property in Ecuador it would be an adobe home, both Gina and I really liked these buildings and they were beautiful. All of the adobe bricks were handmade from materials on the property, and the home was built without the use of power tools…pretty incredible.

We had done a little reading about different types of alternative buildings, materials, and were trying to determine for ourselves exactly what “green building” meant for us.

Some readers of our blog told us about a company in Tennessee that taught workshops on Natural Building, and specifically how to build a Cob building. It turns out that they had a workshop around the same time we were planning on passing through the area, and after reading more about it and discussing the idea with Gina we decided to sign up.

Natural building is a building philosophy that encourages the use of natural materials (yes, little in your house is natural), but more than simply using these materials it encompasses an attitude towards places, buildings, the environment, and how we live in these buildings. Natural building observes the way in which nature works and then tries to mimic this approach.

I don’t know what Green Building means! Everyone is using this term to sell some type of product or service that it really means so many different things that inevitably it means nothing. A few years ago I saw T.V. commercial advertising a show about some celebrity building a green home, curious I stuck around to watch the show, here was a celebrity that was building a 10,000 sq ft “green home” by throwing in a few high priced gadgets not many of us could afford (and apparently getting endorsement money or the products for free for filming the home) – all the while tearing down the previous 6,000 sq ft house to make way for the green one!

Our workshop was a little different than this. Set in a remote, rural community in Tennessee, the workshop taught us all aspects of building your own Cob building and in fact was a hands on workshop where we had the opportunity to build a complete building from the ground up!

…Getting very dirty along the way!

For those unfamiliar with the term; Cob is a structural composite of earth, water, straw, clay, and sand. It is hand sculpted to form the walls of the building…very similar to making a mud house when you were a kid…only now your closer to 50 than 40 and at the end of the day most all of your body is sore.

One of the really cool aspects was the fact that the kids were welcome and we were even encouraged to attend as a family. I am hard pressed to identify many workshops where kids are allowed and I seriously doubt many mainstream construction/building workshops would allow/provide the opportunity for kids to work side by side with the adults.

The workshop was held in Woodbury, Tennessee by Barefoot Builders and included a couple of dozen people that were interested in learning how to build their own home using clay and sand. Everyone was from very different backgrounds and came from as far away as New York, Texas, and Canada which resulted in some interesting and fun conversations.

Both of the kids had a good time. There was another 8 year old girl from Ohio that came with her dad to the workshop so Gigi quickly made a lifelong friend. They all jumped right in (literally) and started making cob.

No…we do not have any plans to build a Cob house anytime soon, but can certainly foresee the possibility of building Gina a small art studio some day. Not only would a space made from earthen materials feel wonderful to the artists soul…but knowing that you built it with your own hands would make it especially rewarding.

Want to read more from Sean?  He also writes for AffordableCallingCards.net where he blogs about his life as an expat.   Come by both blogs and share a comment!

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