Last week, we finished our 2 week Japanese Carpentry Real Construction Workshop. From the inception, our goal was always incredibly lofty — to build an ishibatate guesthouse from the ground up with a group of 22 students. Somehow, we surpassed our goal. We finished the frame and even installed the roof decking. I’m still reeling from the experience.
Spring is in full swing, which means I’m running from task to task to ensure that we’ll be ready to kick off our workshop season. We set (another) high bar for ourselves this year. The Japanese Carpentry Real Construction Workshop and guesthouse build is a significant project for us in all the senses of the word — time, resources, labor, and $. Fortunately, we’ve been making steady progress these last two months…
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This blog is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. Since 2012, we’ve been hosting Natural Building Workshops so you can learn essential skills to build your own natural home.
