After losing two saunas to high river water, Louie built this one on a one-ton Toyota truck frame. A pickup plus a few people haul it back from the river in the winter, with Donna steering the front wheels from the inside of the sauna. Woodstove built from 50-gallon drum gets fed from the outside…
Dear Lloyd,
I became a carpenter and eco builder because of your books. Shelter and HomeWork got me hooked. Builders of the Pacific Coast got me started.
I used to work in an office. Now I build homes (narrowboats, vans, caravans, yurts, cabins) for the customers that want something different but can’t afford hiring “big people.” The poor also have the right to live in a nice home.
I built this 6.5m-diameter, heptagonal, tapered-walled, reciprocal green-roofed yurt, the “reciproyurt,” last year and got more than 70 volunteers involved.
I love working with people without experience. They give any project a freshness that you never get with professionals. They have no real preconceptions — really open-minded. They want to learn but they also teach you so much! They mainly helped with big jobs like raising the frame.
–Jesus Sierra
We received this letter from the owner of a 1914 home in England that was a prefab shown in our book: The Gardeners’ Poultry Keepers’ Guide. This was a turn-of-the-century catalog from London of prefab greenhouses, farm buildings and — in this case — homes.
Hi,
I have just bought Ballintomb Cottage, a 1914 William Cooper Corrugated Iron house.
After searching for an Old William Cooper’s catalogue, I came across your reprint of it, and to my delight, Lloyd’s forward mentions the cottage sale in 2007.
In the last 10 years the previous owner has done nothing. The sale photographs are identical between 2007 & 2017.
Inside the building is pretty much sound. All but the lounge is still original wood panelling. The lounge was knocked through into the kitchen in the 1970s, and all the timber cladding removed and replaced with gyproc board.
I would like to restore it back to timber.
Keep up the good work — I have and often re-read most of your publications.
Regards,
–Ian Gilbert
Hi friends,
Just thought I would pass along a link to this inspiring 30 min. documentary about Japanese clay plastering. Clay plaster has a long history in Japan and the quality of the work being done is exceptional. This video gives a really nice glimpse into the practice of some current day ‘sakan’ (plasterers) with nice detail.
–Ziggy Liloia
Photo by Lloyd Kahn
Built in Bolinas, circa 1970’s Photo by Lloyd Kahn
Driftwood beach shack from 64-page book I’m just finishing laying out: Driftwood Shacks Photo by Lloyd Kahn
The Spud Queen was a floating home with three legs, or “spuds” built into it. (Spuds are the legs on pile drivers that are used to raise and lower the pile driver.)
“I’d float in at high tide, jack the boat up, and squat like a trojan horse against the ownership of the property. I parked there and I lived there, and I didn’t pay any taxes!”
Lloyd lived on the boat for over 20 years, docking it in four different places on an island in the Strait of Georgia…
For a lot of people with young children, the idea of living in a tiny house would be a complete deal-breaker. Thanks to some clever design though, this family is living the tiny house dream is a comfortable, non-toxic, eco-friendly 30 ft. tiny house on wheels that even has space for a separate kids’ room and private home office.
This family has found a fantastic parking spot which the house can now call home. Settling in for the long haul, the tires have been removed from the house and they are currently getting ready to be stored. The home’s exterior is entirely cedar. Builder, Ben Garratt, of Tiny Healthy Homes has also included a painted bellyband around the home, which allows for all the services to be neatly placed along and which also provides a good attachment point for awnings to be added in the future, as they have been on this home.
Photo sent by an anonymous person. Located in Northern California.
…Walls are cob and straw bales, structurally bonded (“BaleCob”). Almost all of the materials are either from the site — the ground under our feet, or snatched from the commercial waste stream. The foundation is “urbanite” (recycled sidewalks), most wood is unmilled roundwood or is reused…
Photo by Lloyd Kahn
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