This lovely little straw bale building is an art and music studio for Kim Hamilton and Rob Deason, retired school teachers and artists. It is located in Deerhorn Valley, in eastern San Diego County, in an area that was heavily damaged by the wildfires in 2007.
This new straw bale building replaces an old shed that was lost in the fires. It was built by Paul Turner, a local builder who does high quality work. Simple Construct were hired to do the clay plastering.
The owners wanted to have a celebration where their friends and family could “have a hand” in the building, so we ran a workparty (or, in this case, a not-very-hard-workparty) for them. We hand-mixed some clay plaster and everyone got a chance to put some on the wall.
Here is a nice article one of the local papers wrote about the project: http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/7715
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- Reclaimed posts and beams frame an inviting porch.
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- Custom details around the front door.
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- A small loft.
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- A hand-sculpted niche.
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- Exposed ceiling beams.
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- a Truth Window shows that the walls are really made of straw
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- The staircase to the loft.
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- An inset window.
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- Walls in process.
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- A collage the client made.
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- Base coat of plaster drying.
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- Walls in process.
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- A new coat of plaster drying.
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- In process.
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- The start of the Truth Window.
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- Layers of clay plaster wrap around exposed wood.
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- Starting the plaster.
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- Ready for plaster.
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- The homeowners plan a relief sculpture.
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- The “cornerstone” with family handprints.
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- An inset window.
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- Working on the exterior plaster.
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- Exterior base coat of plaster.
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- Plaster drying.
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- Plaster drying.
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- Plaster drying.
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- The east side.
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- Cute little gable end.
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- Volunteers at the workparty.
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- Volunteers try out making plaster by hand.
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- The plaster works party.
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- An Open House to see the building in process.
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- Ready for plaster.
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- Progress.
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- Progress.
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- Taking shape.
