This is the upper of two treehouses, connected to the lower one by a swaying catwalk. I slept up here one night. Check out @fosterhunting on Instagram.
Hidden away deep in the Baton Valley, nestled amongst the imposing mountain ranges of the Kahurangi National Park is a tiny, off-the-grid cabin which looks as though it could have sat there for hundreds of years.
Named the Honeywell hut, a tribute to its builder Jack Honeywell, this historic-looking cabin is the pride and joy of its owners Richard and Fiona, who constructed this unique getaway as an escape for themselves, as well as to help provide additional accomodation for their horse trekking business…
The entire structure is built with salvaged material.
…The theme of our eco-resort has always been Adirondack Style, which translates to “built with time and no money.” Our resort is surrounded 56,000 acres of New York State Forest lands and each year we renew our contract with the state to harvest “dead and down trees.” It’s like building structures in the middle of Mother Nature’s lumberyard.
The newest edition is The Sugar Shack, nestled in the wilderness, but with homey conveniences. The floor plan is 12′ × 16′, and includes a bedroom/
living room, kitchenette, gravity-fed spring shower, composting toilet, and a cozy fireplace…
The VW Westfalia is an iconic vehicle, and to me, Thomas J. Nugget, or Nuggs for short, is my symbol of freedom. Nuggs is a 1989 Volkswagen Westfalia camper van.
He is in incredible condition and is equipped with a 2,200 cc, 2.2L Subaru engine, built-in propane tank, two-burner stove top, thermostat-controlled furnace, a 12-gallon water tank, sink, roof-mounted solar panel, a refrigerator/
freezer, two full-size beds, a swing-out table, and lots of storage…
Old guys at work. 153 years of age total here. Billy and I have worked together off and on for 47 years.
I’ve wanted to build a curved roof for a long time. I finally did it, with help from Billy Cummings. For the 6 rafters, we glued together 4 pieces of redwood bender board — 16′ long, 1″ by 4″, ⅜″ thick, using a jig laid out on the floor, with Titebond wood glue, and clamping every foot or so. It was a pretty tedious process, we could only do one a day.
We got the rafters in place, Billy did the blocking on the plates, and we used 1×8 rough redwood fence boards for the sheathing. Yesterday we put down the flooring — used shiplap pine from Heritage Salvage. It looks (and feels) great.
There’s nothing like a curved roof, especially with a tiny home; it gives you a feeling of spaciousness. This is the roof shape in gypsy wagons — vardos.
This is 10′ by 10′. If I did it over, I would make it rectangular, like 8 by 12 or 8 by 14. I’m going to put a bed inside on wheels, that can be rolled out on the deck to sleep out under the stars. I’m still figuring out where to put windows.
Gary and Marlene Cooper built this lovely cordwood cabin on a small BC island in the 90’s. All the cordwood came off the beach. “I wanted it to be salty,” says Gary.
They used the book Cordwood Building: The State of the Art, by Rob Roy.
One of the new photos that will go in the revised and expanded version of Driftwood Shacks: Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast. I’m working on layout right now. Lots of new photos from my trip to The Lost Coast and environs a few weeks ago.
…It seemed like a light roof was needed to compensate for the heaviness of the forest. Built the roof first; then the floor, and last the walls. To me roofs have become umbrellas that say anything can happen under them. When the roof is finished, you can stand it — feel the space, be in touch with the house — love it…
The Steam Roller is a custom collaboration project with Marc Goodson of Engaging Environments. Marc is a very talented carpenter and welder and he visited me in Olympia to see the Snail Shell Sauna. We decided to collaborate on another sauna that was his main design in his shop in Portland, Oregon. Over the past few months we have met for a few days at a time and chipped away on all the details. After a lot of on and off work we spent Easter weekend jacking up the sauna and getting it on to a trailer and out of Marc’s shop!
What to do with this beautiful sauna? We are not entirely sure. It has been a terrific project and we hope to use it to showcase our work and potentially find a buyer. I think Marc is a bit attached to this sauna, but for the right price he could be convinced to let it go. For now it will live outside of his shop in Tyler Smith’s yard, but if you have any interest in seeing this building or taking a sweat, don’t hesitate to contact either Marc or me.
–Travis Skinner
This beautiful small family home has a very special story to tell. Designed by architect Michael Leung and his wife Tiffany for their young family, the 60m2 (646 sq. ft.) house is actually constructed from hemp. The couple chose to use hempcrete for their home after searching for healthy, non-toxic building materials.
Hemp is an incredibly versatile plant, that unfortunately has been unfairly demonized over recent years. Essentially hemp is a low-THC version of the Cannabis sativa plant, now colloquially referred to as marijuana. This amazingly versatile plant has many uses, including medicine, food, clothing, and much more. One of the many uses of the plant, which is now being explored more in depth, is for building.
My small house is a labor of love. It belonged to my mother’s parents who bought it in 1969, when I was 4 years old. My dad was renovating it when he passed away in 2006. I inherited it in 2012 and my journey began. I spent the first few years cleaning up the yard, mowing grass and dreaming about living in this little old house. It is 864 square feet, was built in the 1930s and sits on five acres of farmland in Castle Hayne, North Carolina…
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