Man needs a home, and a comfortable home at that. Can it really be done one handful at a time? To find out, and to learn how to build a cozy (and super-super beautiful!) house customised to our needs, my partner and I are at Spirit Pine Sanctuary (Los Olivos, California) doing a natural building apprenticeship with Cob Cottage Company.
To start with, we present photos of the surrounding environment and some of their existing buildings. Hope you’ll enjoy.
![Grandma Jackie's House](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_03.jpg)
![View from the loft at Grandma Jackie's house](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_09.jpg)
![Shaped windows at Grandma Jackie's house](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_10.jpg)
![Outdoor courtyard surrounded by cob wall](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_111.jpg)
![Spirit Pine Sanctuary landscape](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_01.jpg)
!["Playhouse" cob home tucked away in the hills](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_05.jpg)
![View from the top over the Playhouse](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_13.jpg)
![Inside the "Playhouse"](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_14.jpg)
![Tiled bathroom with compost toilet outside the "Playhouse"](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_15.jpg)
![Cob goat shelter](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_16.jpg)
![Happy Goats Live Here](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_17.jpg)
![Wild Sage covers the hills bringing sweet aroma with the wind](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_12.jpg)
![Wild Poppies](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_07.jpg)
![Awee.... wild flowers of the Spring](https://www.permacultured.us/wp-content/uploads/spirit_pine_cob_house_18.jpg)
7 replies on “Spirit Pine Scenery – “Cob Cottage Company” Natural Building Apprenticeship”
I believe they’re working on building a new home and last I heard was in the process of moving. I’m certain a post will be pop up when the timing is right for them. 🙂
Aimee, hope you enjoyed the Open House at Cal-Earth. Did you find it helpful?
You can find more information about Spirit Pine at this post, and I will e-mail you Betty’s contact information (she lives at Spirit Pine Sanctuary), so you can arrange the visit with her.
http://evolutionaryearth.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/spirit-pine-sanctuary/
Thank you for your post, and may your house project grow up to be strong and beautiful!
I’ll be attending Cal Earth Institute’s Open House this weekend.
http://www.calearth.org
Hoping to begin the steps of creating a cob/strawbale home for myself come next year. Would love to visit Spirit Pine Sanctuary. How can I go about doing so? I’m based in Los Angeles.
That’s very cool, hope you’ll get to visit. Look for a round-ish house across from the Cookshed :), that’s the one we are building. I’ll be posting progress photos too.
I know Tautacho from the late ’70s. It’s so good to see Spirit Pine growing. Hopefully w/in the next couple of years I’ll be stopping by for a visit. Thanks very much for sharing!
Thank you 🙂
Beatiful scenary photos!