Yogan and Menthé, carpenters from France, who have been featured in our last two books, stopped by here yesterday on their way home. They have spent the last three months hitchhiking and working on the West Coast, from Northern California up to Orcas Island. Kindred spirits, these two have had a wonderful time, working with a variety of people, trading work for room and board.
We’ll be posting photos of their projects in the near future.
From www.lloydkahn.com/…
Martin Bartlett’s pod home at Pacific High School in the Santa Cruz mountains, Calif., 1968.
This method of construction, developed by Bob McElroy in Big Sur, Calif., consisted of trimming ¼″ sheets of plywood at the top, bending them over, and attaching to each other with batts; shingles on exterior, circular plexiglas skylight at top.
Photos by Lloyd Kahn
Schedule for Kezurou-Kai USA 10/31/2015
- 9:00-9:15: Karl Bareis: Opening Greeting
- Ongoing: S. Oyama: Plastering Demonstration
- 9:15-10:30: Jay Van Arsdale (Part 1): Basic Joinery Cutout Techniques
- Toby Hargreaves and Mark Van Haltern: Hip Rafter Corner Joinery
- David Bassing: Sharpening and Blade “Back” Conditioning
- 10:30-12:00: Jay Van Arsdale (Part 2): High Angle Planing for Difficult Woods
- Matt Connerton: Chisels or “Nomi-nomics”
- Ryosei Kaneko (Part 1): Roof Layout and Use of Japanese Square
- 12:00-1:00: Lunch Break
- 1:00-2:00: Mike Laine: Planes and Planing
- Ryosei Kaneko (Part 2): Layout Table and Irregular Timbers
- Jay Van Arsdale (Part 3): Chisel and Plane Blade Maintenance
- 2:00-2:20: Karl Bareis: Explanation of Kezurou-Kai USA and 2016 Event
- 2:30-3:45: Planing Competition
- 3:45-4:00: Karl Bareis: Closing Remarks
- … [more in full post] …
$40 entrance fee, $20 students
Photo by Uncle Mud (aka Chris McClellan)
www.unclemud.com
Lime over wattle and daub with hand-split cedar shakes.
Student independent study project by Ian Stabler at Aprovecho’s Natural Building School.
Brad Kittel from the Tiny Homes book (pages 44-49 and on the cover) has started a Kickstarter campaign for a book of plans for 30 houses built of 95% salvaged materials free of plastic, vinyl, sheetrock, or latex paints. Check it out.
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/318443601/tiny-texas-houses-building-plans
Nine years ago I began pioneering the 95% Pure Salvage Building techniques that have been perfected over the years in the form of Tiny Texas Houses. They are now built using “Space Magic,” a term I coined for making spaces seem much bigger than they are through illusions of a sort few others in the tiny house industry seem to understand. Read More …
On the Skagg’s Springs Road in Mendocino County, California, last Friday. This is one of those humble farm buildings that stop me in my tracks. Everything looks right. Too bad architects so seldom incorporate the beauty of simplicity, practicality, and economy in their creations.
From www.lloydkahn.com/…
Last week Yogan and I spent an hour exploring the Fort Ross State Historic Park, a masterful re-creation of the Russian fort built on the Northern California coast in 1812. The Russians brought down Native Alaskan hunters who speared sea otters from seal skin kayaks. Most of the hunters came from the Kodiak Islands and their kayaks, spears, and hunting techniques were extraordinary (more on this later).
If you are ever driving up the Northern California coast, I highly recommend going to this site.
Here is the chapel (star of the show), metal shop, and wood shop. Roofing on these buildings consisted of 2 layers of long planks, laid with the cracks in the top layer over the centers of the under layer.
Hey Evan, I thought you and the rest of the Shelter team might get a bang out of a project I’m finishing up.
My inspiration for this tiny shelter was of course J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and his description of the shire the homeland of the Hobbit. I also drew from my fascination with small wooden sailboat cabins. Intended to go in my living room to act as a reading/napping nook next to a fireplace. I believe foolishness is a much neglected feature in modern design. The act of not taking yourself to seriously is an art and I intend on surrounding myself with it.
–Tohner Jackson
For more info and foolishness, check out:
www.instagram.com/onetreewoodwork
Thanks Tohner, looks great!
Yogan is an accomplished timber framer (and treehouse builder) from France. His work has appeared in our last two books. He will be traveling along the West Coast this summer and wants to hook up with builders, homeowners, homesteaders, and/or people of like interests. He’s open to any kind of arrangement, including working for room and/or board.
You can check out his work here: yogan.over-blog.com
From Yogan:
Hi, friend builders, carpenters, inventors…
I’m Yogan, a carpenter of Southwest France,
I’m coming in August, September and October to walk on the West Coast, from California to Seattle. My goal is to meet, visit, help, places and people where there are amazing shelters, cabins — in the woods, if possible.
If I could find a community of carpenters living in cabins in the forest, it would be perfect!
I’d also like to go to any carpenters’ or timber framers’ meetings.
I will be hitchhiking frequently with my backpack and accordion!
You can email me at: Yogan Carpenter <yogancarpenter@gmail.com>
Kirsten Dirksen
Photo by Nicolás Boullosa
Kirsten walked in the first time and within 5 minutes, was shooting. We were comfortable with her. She winged it, seeing what we were doing, following us around. On one of her visits, her two little long-haired girls explored the garden and chickens and Nicolás shot photos.
…[more on full post page]…
One thing I love about this video is that she recognized what Lesley is doing in her life and with her garden, her art, and her attitude towards a home. Often that gets missed in people coming here to see me.
Read More …
Now here’s some carpentry!
If you’re a Northern California builder, I highly recommend you stop in at Heritage Salvage in Petaluma. They have tons of used wood, hardwood slabs, and all manner of recycled and soulful building materials.
Shown here is a walnut slab that is 8′3″ long, and 60″ at one end and 43″ at the other. Think of the walnut tree that this came from.
If you’re a Northern California builder, I highly recommend you stop in at Heritage Salvage in Petaluma. They have tons of used wood, hardwood slabs, and all manner of recycled and soulful building materials.
Over the years I’ve made a bunch of tables out of used Douglas Fir. This was made from 3×10s that I got at Caldwell Wrecking in San Francisco.
One of the most common questions we get asked is “How do I learn how to build a tiny home?” A very superior answer would be the Yestermorrow School in Waitsfield, Vermont offering over 100 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft including a variety of courses concentrating in sustainable design and green building. Yestermorrow is one of the only design/build schools in the country, teaching both design and construction skills. Hands-on courses are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country.
Read More …
Send us material (photos and text) for The Shelter Blog.
