Hello all you amazing current and future straw bale builders! My name is Carol and I’ll be your host for this workshop along with my daughter Megan, my daughter-in-law Christie and my 4 year old grandson Lincoln. The house we’re building is 1.5 miles north of the little town of Chiloquin which is 30 miles north of Klamath Falls in southwest Oregon. The largest town nearby with an airport is Medford, 80 miles west.
This is a very interesting area with a large tribal population and lot of cultural diversity. Chiloquin is at 4180 ft elevation, is traversed N to S by the Williamson river, which is joined by the Sprague river from the east and is surrounded by mountains and forest.
My property is a 2 acre parcel adjacent to Megan & Christie’s 4+ acres, both with Williamson river frontage. Building this house has been a dream/plan of mine for nearly 20 years and I’m still amazed it’s actually happening.
THE SITE & BUILD
The build site is a flat area that was once cattle pasture, the river forms the western edge of the property, to the north is Megan & Christie’s log home and whichever way you look you can see pine forests and mountains. There is plenty of room for camping.
Weather in early August will probably be in the 80s and 90s during the day, dry and sunny with nighttime temps in the 50s and 60s. Probably zero rain.
Currently on the property are a temporary greenhouse, not in use, a small old barn which will shelter the straw until it’s used and then be torn down with the wood salvaged for other uses, an old chicken coop, also due to be torn down, and 2 smallish buildings that make up my pottery studio.
I hope to eventually build a new straw bale studio but a place to live comes first. I also want to begin developing a food forest using permaculture techniques. …Possibly more plans than time and energy I’m afraid. 🙂
The house is a modification of Chris Keefe’s Sierra Verde (organicformsdesign.com) with a shed roof, passive solar design and a solar array on the south-facing porch roof. It has a 1200 square foot footprint with 990 interior square feet. The original plan had 2 bedrooms but I had Chris open it up so instead of a second bedroom I have a workroom for sewing and whatever other fiber arts I get involved in. I also added some curved walls and log beams in the ceiling.
While you’re here you’ll have access to the river of course, but be forewarned the water temp hovers around 50 degrees F so swimming is about a 5 minute affair. However we’ll have a couple of kayaks and a paddleboard available for your use if you have any energy at the end of the day.
There also is hot tub facing the river on Megan and Christie’s deck you are welcome to use, no leftover energy required.
THE AREA
If you want to spend some extra time in the area there are many things to do in the Klamath basin. Top of the list is Crater Lake, approximately an hour north of here. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US at nearly 2000 ft. The lake was created by the eruption of
the Mt Mazama volcano 7700 years ago and is fed entirely by rain and the 40+ feet of snow that falls there every year. It’s a pretty amazing place.
The Williamson and nearby Wood rivers are renowned for their world-class fly fishing. I don’t fish but I have this information on good authority!
Other activities in the area include Train Mountain railroad museum 4 miles away, Collier state park logging museum 6 miles down the road, 2 Rivers Art Gallery in Chiloquin, kayak rental in Chiloquin, lots of national forest hiking and camping and many more things I haven’t thought of.
We look forward to meeting and hosting you on our very special build!
