Cob: Small cob housing

Thu Jul 3 12:21:32 CDT 2003

Hi Rachel,

Is it okay to mention where you will be helping to build a cob wall?  I'm in (southern) California and looking for places to volunteer.  It's all new and fascinating as a building method to me, so it's time to see what the hands-on experience is like.  

Thanks,

Deanne 

Original message attached.
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<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>Somebody mentioned how 
its easy to overlook how small those houses in the cob books are.  That's 
true, it's hard to tell from photographs how big a space is.  In the year 
or so since I first came across the idea of cob, I've been mulling that 
over.  I came to the conclusion that, first of all, a lot of us feel the 
need for a bigger house just to store all of our stuff / clutter.  I've 
purged our house many times over the last year, and now our 1200 sf home that 
seemed to small is very spacious.  The other reasons I can think of to 
need a bigger space, are for entertaining, and so the inhabitants of the 
house can get away from each other.  (There are nicer ways of putting that, 
but that's what it comes down to)  I realized that the first cob cottage I 
saw pictures of (Ianto and Jane's) has that beautiful enclosed courtyard, with a 
wood burning oven and a fireplace.  This gives you the room to spread out 
when you have guests, or when you just need some space between each other.  
The enclosed space is for sleeping and eating, although I imagine a lot of 
eating takes place outdoors, too.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>  It seems to me 
that if you approach cob with conventional expectations, if you're 'using' it as 
a way to get a big house that you wouldn't otherwise be able to afford, you're 
going to be disappointed.  I guess cob building proves that old 
axiom,</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>"If it's cheap, and fast, 
it's not easy,</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>If it's cheap and easy, 
it's not fast,</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>If it's easy and fast, 
it's not cheap."</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 size=2>If the joy and thrill of 
living in a beautiful, earth-friendly home that you built with your own two 
hands is more important than having a big house, then it seems like cob is a 
good answer.  BTW, I guess I should introduce myself, I've been lurking 
awhile, but haven't had anything to contribute.  My husband and kids and I 
are travelling up to California next week to get our hands dirty helping someone 
else raise their walls, so I'm very excited to finally get some hands on 
experience!</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080 
size=2>Rachel</FONT></EM></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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