Meet The Host - Westcliffe CO
This July, we gather near Westcliffe, Colorado, to learn straw bale construction skills together at a lovely slice of Rocky Mountain High Country that Paula and her loyal pup Tuuli call home. Paula has been noodling on her dream home for years and is delighted to welcome all of us to join her as she moves closer to her home construction finish line!
A Little Background...
Part of her home place dream is to provide an example of off-grid, mountain living with a home design that combines the beauty of natural elements, like timber framing and plasters, with high energy efficiency and sustainable construction elements.
She wants to have a cozy, healthy home while practicing high-country gardening and be an example to others of what is possible. Sharing just seems to be her natural way of being, as she’s spent years sharing her time and energy as a search-and-rescue dog trainer and team member.
Her homeplace is the site of a 7-day Straw Bale Construction Workshop July 14 to 20th (2024.)
Hands-on skills take time to master, and these workshops are a great opportunity to get more time to learn and build on your skills with Timbo’s expertise to help you on your way.
From Your Host
Wow! So much going on! Planning, more planning, and you guessed it, more planning! Things are starting to take shape. The timber frame is up! It's gorgeous.
Soon, everyone will be here to help and learn the next steps. The home-building process can be intimidating, but hang in there – it's worth it. This is the time of fruition.
We brought up some bales (the first bales in the house) to do a compression test and we are very happy with the results. Great straw here.
I've been playing with different clays to get a feel of the colors. I believe that we will be getting our hands dirty with the red clay. There is just so much more happy to it.
Details are starting to be thought out more as the bulk is planned. Tile here? or wood? Should we play with a cob cat lounging over the doorframe? Maybe put in a cob gnome door to surprise folks?
Everything I have said is why I started on this venture to begin with. It's a place of warmth. Coziness. Playfulness. Nature is important to me and the timber frame embodies the woods. The natural plasters with the perfect imperfections. This place will have many people’s prints in the space.
I look forward to meeting everyone and playing together. Should be loads of fun!
- Paula
Ready For Hands-on Learning?!?
Ready for hands-on learning and to enjoy the process of building something meaningful in a community of other strawbale folks? Then this might just be your workshop.
See the Current Workshop Schedule for more details.
Curious about becoming a Workshop Host? Learn more here.
Hands-on skills take time to master, and these workshops are a great opportunity to get more time to learn and build on your skills with Timbo’s expertise to help you on your way.
