Ryan Ross of Woodland Park, Colorado (Pike’s Peak) was kind enough to share these photos. Ryan wrote, “We have our own portable sawmill and cut all the timber-frame material right here on the ranch…The walls are 8″ thick because we use this as an art studio/educational space. We got a little carried away with ideas and tried to incorporate as many interesting things in the walls as we could.”Aspen Valley Ranch runs an educational program for philanthropy and conservation of the environment which includes natural building. They have erected a couple of cordwood cabins on the property for use by the students. This is the link for accessing their website. https://www.ppcf.org/our-projects/aspen-valley-ranch/The tree branch in the tree with glass is simply wonderful.
Note how the roof gable is filled with branches. The view is spectacular.Students need tables and chair and an inspirational view.Beautiful bottle end/bottle brick work complete with recycled door!The round bubble window provides a porthole-like-view of the mountains.Teaching the students how to build using cordwood construction was a meaningful and rewarding experience.
Should you wish to learn how to build a cordwood cottage, cabin or home, please visit www.cordwoodconstruction.org While you are there, click on the pictures, read the brief articles, check out the latest workshops and newsletter and if you are interested click on the Online Bookstore to see all the cordwood literature available in print and ebook format.If you have questions that aren’t answered on the website you can email me at richardflatau@gmail.com
Readers have requested a brief bio, so here goes:
Richard & Becky Flatau built their mortgage-free cordwood home in 1979 in Merrill, Wisconsin. Since then, they have written books, conducted workshops, facilitated the 2005, 2011 and 2015 Cordwood Conferences and provided consultation for thousands of cordwood builders. Cordwood Construction: Best Practices DVD, Cordwood Construction Best Practices (print) and Cordwood Conference Papers 2015 are the newest publications available from their online cordwood bookstore. www.cordwoodconstruction.org
Here is a picture of the Cordwood Workshop Video cover, featuring the Cordwood Education Center.
For more information on Cordwood Construction, click on the picture or visit www.cordwoodconstruction.org Below is the 30 item Video menu.