About Us

Our mission is to create high-performance natural homes from local, carbon-sequestering materials; to preserve the environment by reducing embodied-carbon; and to educate about, advocate for, and provide healthy, high-quality shelter for as many people as possible.

We are an award-winning construction company specializing in high-performance natural homes, particularly straw bale buildings with natural plasters. We design and build comfortable, unique, quiet, healthy, beautiful, energy-efficient buildings that are better for people and the environment. We also help homeowners integrate the beauty and benefits of natural clay and lime plasters into their existing buildings.

Simple Construct is a small company focused on facilitating the construction of carbon-sequestering, sustainable buildings. Although we can design, draft, permit, and build your project from foundation to roof, we have shifted from a “Design-Build” model to a “Consult-Subcontract” strategy. We also install beautiful, healthy clay and lime veneer plasters in conventional homes (please see our website dedicated to veneer plasters). We can help to turn your good ideas and intentions into reality.

We are dedicated to simplicity, directness, and honesty — in design, materials, techniques, and ambitions. We seek people who have a similar vision: the not-so-big house, the simplest way to achieve energy efficiency, the healthiest materials, and the most direct way to get the project done.

Rebecca Tasker & Mike Long, info@simpleconstruct.net, 619-342-6709

about Rebecca Tasker & Mike Long, owners

MRframing1Simple Construct is a partnership between Rebecca Tasker and Mike Long, who met in art school in Brighton, England and have been working together, in one way or another, for over 25 years. Our backgrounds in art (sculpture, printmaking, and installation art) led us to careers in art management in Boston, MA. Mike ran a large art supply store and Rebecca ran a non-profit contemporary art gallery. After being too cold for six years, we moved to San Diego, CA. The move created an opportunity to redirect our careers back toward the hands-on making of things.

For Rebecca, this led to an entry-level job in construction, helping to build a spec home in Mission Bay. After too many trips to the landfill, Rebecca began to research more sustainable ways to build and found straw bale building. With the opportunities provided by Alan Schmidt of Distinctive Builders, Rebecca began building with bales. When Mike saw how much fun she was having, he decided to join her. Building with bales led them to learn about natural plasters, which they became passionate about.

Mstrawbreak1Through attending international, national, and local conferences and workshops and becoming more involved with the growing straw bale community in San Diego, we have expanded our knowledge of straw bale building and natural plasters. In 2007, to help us define and articulate our goals as strawbale and natural plaster professionals, we formed Simple Construct. In 2010, we earned a general contractors’ license, which allowed us to further expand our services. In 2011, Rebecca joined the Advisory Board of the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) and took over as editor of their Journal. In 2013, Rebecca earned the Building Performance Institute‘s Building Analyst and Envelope Professional certifications in building science. In 2017, CASBA awarded Simple Construct the “Traveling Straw Dog Award” in recognition of the furthering of straw building in California. In 2018, a home that we designed and built was the first residence in Southern California to receive Net Zero Energy Building certification through the Living Building Challenge. Our project was one of the last buildings to be included in the NZEB program before it was changed to “Zero Energy” (ZE), a streamlined version of the certification aimed at recognizing zero energy use buildings more quickly and easily. 

You may have noticed that our license number changed in June of 2019. That’s because Simple Construct became a Benefit Corporation. We restructured our business to reflect and embed our values. As a Benefit Corporation, although we are a for-profit company, maximizing profits is not our only consideration. We have written into our articles of incorporation that:

“The specific public benefit of this corporation is to preserve the environment and improve human health by reducing the embodied-energy, consumption, toxicity, and carbon footprint of construction through the use of local, natural, and carbon-sequestering building materials.”

our services

We are a small company specializing in high-performance natural homes with a focus on carbon-smart green building practices, strawbale building, energy efficiency, natural finishes, clay & lime plasters, and sustainable materials for new and existing homes in San Diego County, CA. We are experts in using natural materials to achieve comfort and high performance. We offer a range of services… Read more

what clients say about us

“We met Rebecca and Mike in 2011 when we were looking for someone to build our strawbale home. We immediately knew we wanted to work with them because they were so knowledgeable, experienced and enthusiastic about strawbale building. Rebecca and Mike invested a lot of their time with us initially, including showing us a studio they had built and a house they were currently working on. Rebecca and Mike were active…” Read more

what’s in a name?

sim·ple (sem’pel) adj. 1. Easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.: a simple matter; simple tools. 2. Not elaborate or artificial: a simple style. 3. Unaffected; unassuming; modest: a simple manner. 4. Free of deceit or guile; sincere; unconditional: a frank, simple answer. 5. Not grand or sophisticated; unpretentious: a simple way of life.

con·struct (kon’strkt) noun 1. An image, idea, or theory, especially a complex one formed from a number of simpler elements. 2. Something constructed.

As of June 2019, Simple Construct is a Benefit Corporation.

We restructured our business to reflect and embed our values. As a Benefit Corporation, although we are a for-profit company, maximizing profits is not our only consideration. We have written into our articles of incorporation that:

The specific public benefit of this corporation is to preserve the environment and improve human health by reducing the embodied-energy, consumption, toxicity, and carbon footprint of construction through the use of local, natural, and carbon-sequestering building materials.”

We hope you share our vision for a way of building that not only does less harm, but can actively do good for the environment and human health.