There is something deeply satisfying about shaping a wall with your own hands.
Mixing clay beneath your feet. Raising a frame from locally harvested poles. Watching a pile of earth, stone, and wood become a beautiful, resilient structure. Natural building reminds us that shelter isn’t just something we buy. It’s something we can create together.
At the Northern Mendocino Ecosystem Recovery Alliance (NMERA) Home Base, Tan Oak Park, our annual Natural Building Workshop has become one of our most anticipated gatherings. Every summer, craftspeople, students, homesteaders, builders, and the simply curious come together at Tan Oak Park to learn traditional building methods while helping create something lasting.
Whether you’re exploring sustainable construction, dreaming of building your own cabin, or just eager to learn practical skills alongside great people, you’ll find a welcoming community here.
Building With the Forest, Not Against It
Each year at Tan Oak Park in Leggett, participants discover how healthy forests and healthy homes can support one another.
Rather than relying on energy-intensive materials shipped from across the world, we explore building methods that use resources found close to home.
During the workshop you’ll gain hands-on experience with:
- Cob construction
- Natural clay plasters
- Earthen floors
- Round pole framing
- Stone foundations
- Fire-resilient building techniques
Many of the poles used during previous workshops came directly from forest thinning projects, transforming hazardous fuel loads into beautiful building materials. It’s another example of ecological restoration creating local solutions while strengthening community resilience.
Learn Natural Building by Doing
Natural building isn’t something you master from a book.
You learn by mixing, sculpting, lifting, experimenting, asking questions, and working side by side with experienced builders.
Past workshops have featured respected instructors including Michael G. Smith and Colin Gillespie, who bring decades of experience in cob construction, regenerative forestry, passive solar design, and natural architecture. Participants have learned everything from identifying good clay soils to applying earthen plasters while contributing to lasting improvements throughout Tan Oak Park.
Every project becomes part classroom and part community workday.
More Than a Workshop
What makes NMERA’s Natural Building Workshop unique isn’t only what gets built.
It’s sharing meals together after a productive day.
It’s cooling off in the nearby swimming hole after hours of mixing cob.
It’s gathering around the evening campfire, exchanging stories, ideas, and laughter beneath the redwoods.
Past participants often describe the week as equal parts education, inspiration, and community building. Many return year after year, bringing friends and family along to continue learning together.
The workshop reflects the values that have guided NMERA from the beginning: stewardship, cooperation, practical skills, and caring for the land and one another.
Building Resilience for Northern California
Natural building fits naturally within NMERA’s broader mission of restoring ecosystems while strengthening rural communities.
The same stewardship that guides forest restoration, wildfire fuel reduction, watershed health, and the Community Firewood Bank also inspires these workshops.
By learning to build with locally available materials, participants gain practical skills that reduce waste, improve fire resilience, lower environmental impacts, and deepen their connection to place.
These are timeless skills with renewed importance as Northern California communities adapt to changing environmental conditions.
Register for NMERA’s Natural Building Workshop
Whether you’re dreaming of building your own cottage, adding an earthen oven to your homestead, learning traditional skills, or simply curious about regenerative construction, everyone is welcome.
No previous experience is required. Just bring sturdy clothes, a willingness to learn, and an appetite for good food, good company, and meaningful work.
Workshop Details
📅 August 16 to 23
📍 Tan Oak Park, Leggett, California
🍽️ Food Included
🏕️ Camping Included
Veteran professional natural builder Colin Gillespie will guide participants through a week of hands-on instruction covering cob construction, straw bale, light straw clay, earthen plasters, earthen floors, and many other traditional natural building methods.
Space is limited, so advance registration is encouraged.
Register Online
Register at our official Zeffy page: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/natural-building-workshop. Or you can also use the secure registration form below to reserve your place in this year’s workshop.
We believe resilient communities are built one skill, one project, and one helping hand at a time.
Whether this is your first experience with natural building or the next chapter in your journey, we invite you to spend a week creating something meaningful with us at Tan Oak Park.
We hope to see you in August! 🌲🏡
