Summer of 1996:
Fran reads the book "Place for the Soul" by Alexander Day about ecological and aesthetic buildings. Deanne proposes that she, along with Carolyn Koch, could create a beautiful studio incorporating these principles. We all decide that this is an exciting idea! Together we design the studio on the site, using an "intuitive process" guided by the Christopher Alexander's books "Timeless Way of Building" and "Pattern Language." The studio shape fits between existing trees, creating an irregular and curving footprint. We draw up plans, give the inspector information on Strawbale construction, and receive an agricultural permit to build our "Strawbale Studio."

Fall 1996:
Carolyn and Deanne rent a Bobcat backhoe, and dig out the foundation trench. Great fun. Easy to move/destroy land easily! We are given 50 spruce log timbers, which are brought to the site to be used for the frame and roof. We strip off the bark with draw knives, then stack the logs and let them dry out until the following fall.

Spring and Summer 1997:
Some of the foundation trench needs to be dug by hand to define a downward slope toward the dry well and create the curved "cozy nook" area. Small drain rock are put in the bottom of the 2 foot wide trench (dug to frost line - 42"), then miscellaneous sized rocks and stones fill the next foot of the trench. Then a cement and fieldstone wall is started 2 feet below the ground level, creating a "rat wall." Nine cement piers, which will support the log posts, are poured into 14" x 5' cardboard tubes. The piers are on the interior side of the foundational wall so that the log frame will also be on the inside of the structure. The sculptural wall is extended up above grade 2-3 feet creating a beautiful serpentine shape which will be the base for our Strawbale walls -- holding them well up off the ground! John Eisele, master stonemason, leads a one-day workshop demonstrating how to lay up a fieldstone wall below and above grade. From that point we are on our own to enjoy the process of setting in place beautiful rocks from nearby stone piles.

Fall 1997:
Top Plate Construction Company frames up the round logs to create a Dutch hip roof. We define and shape the split level floor, which conforms to the sloped site, and creates an interesting definition of various work areas. It will become an earthen floor, sealed with linseed oil and beeswax.

Winter 1997-1998:
Plans are made to bring Flemming Abrahamsson, Master Thatcher, over from Denmark in April, to lead a workshop on natural roof thatching. We learn how to collect local reed grass (Phragmite) for the thatched roof which is expected to last 40+ years. The winter is spent locating reed fields, getting permission from the DNR, Drain Commissioners, and private land owners to cut the Phragmite, and hiring local people to help us cut the 1500 bundles that will be needed to thatch the roof in the spring. Fran, Carolyn and Deanne, plus other volunteers also help cut, bundle and move the reed. With the help of Chuck Knoll and his stake truck, we transport the reed bundles to Carolyn's sister's barn, where we unload and stack it for drying and storage until the spring. We are able to get about 1200 bundles. It is a daunting and awesome task/adventure!

Spring 1998:
We prepare for the workshop! April 15th Flemming (and Ole Hav, also a thatcher), arrive from Denmark, and April 17th our 12-day workshop begins! Four students, from Vermont, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, MI, join with the three of us to learn the traditional craft of thatching on our studio roof. On April 25 we invite others to a one-day Introduction to Thatching, where Flemming gives a demonstration, discussion and slides. Thirty-five people attend, and the day is videotaped by Acclaim Video. April 30 the thatchers return to Denmark, the studio roof is 2/3rds thatched, and we find that we still need 500 more reed bundles! We will need to wait until next winter to collect them, so we tarp the unfinished parts of the roof reluctantly, and wait.

Summer 1998:
There are many things to do to prepare for the construction of the Strawbale walls - - finish the fieldstone wall, decide how to "cap" off the wall, research and purchase an environmentally friendly moisture sealer from Cedar Rose, try to get windows donated, (end up buying them from a local hardware, Dillman and Upton in Rochester, MI, with a partial donation from the hardware and the window company, Caradco), finish filling in the drywell, tie down the posts, reinforce the log framing with braces, build window and door frames, and lots of other miscellaneous decisions and activities.

August 22-23 1998:
A Natural Building Workshop will take place, offered through the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, which will give participants an opportunity to some stucco work. Videos on natural building will also be shown, including the process of our own studio, and a cable interview help, on site, with the studio construction. We expect to be putting in the bale walls by that point, and may be able to do and filming of Mark Hoberecht's "Hut" near Cleveland Ohio.

August - September 1998:
We are constructing the strawbale walls, framing the windows, and having a great time seeing the curved walls take shape! As we go, we can adjust our plan and create new things as well. People are coming by to help in this very interesting and satisfying phase of the project!

Fall 1998 plans:
Create a sculptural heated bench "mass wood stove". Work on landscaping that will promote good drainage on the site.

Winter 1998 plans:
Gather, bundle and store 500 bundles of reed grass so we can finish the thatched roof in the spring.

A lot has been going on at the Strawbale Studio site in 1999
In the spring of 1999 we continued thatching the roof, this time on our own without the supervision of our Danish thatcher. It was challenging, very interesting, and slow work. We had to resolve a lot of new situations, so of course, learned a lot in the process! The roof is entirely thatched now with the exception of the ridge. We ran out of reed, and will be going out in December and January to the marshes to collect reed again.

We also have been working on "muddying" the interior: applying an earthen stucco on the strawbales and around the windows, and creating details such as sculptural window benches and a 3-dimensional tree on the wall of the South East corner! Too much fun!

Student groups and interested families and individuals still stop by and work with us, joining easily into the process, leaving their creative energy imprinted in their work. It is a joy to share: to teach and learn.

As we harvest reed this year, we will be using only hand tools. The gas powered reciprocating pole hedge trimmer works a bit faster, but the "down side" of speed and efficiency is the noise, the exhaust smell, the danger, the machine breaking down, etc. Our Japanese hand sickles are much more suited to our rhythms, and make the day more peaceful and satisfying. It's great out on the marshes in the winter if the weather is decent. One of our favorite things to do.

In addition to our progress on construction, we have had numerous interviews and articles and photos of the project in the newspapers. One article has gone out on the Associated Press, and is being picked up by newspapers in other cities. The Permaculture Activist magazine ran a multipage article on our thatching process, and we had an award-winning videographer come to the site and create a short TV film that was run on the 10 O'clock News in September! We are very pleased to have interest in our project, and to be able to share it through the media.

Our goals for spring and summer of 2000: thatch the ridge, put in an earthen floor, apply finish plasters throughout the building, and continue to share the "word" and the process with others!

Millennium 2000 Update
During January through March we collected the last 200 bundles of reed needed to finish the roof, gathering about 25-30 bundles per reed-collecting day! Slow, satisfying work. The time to harvest is when the ground is frozen, and the best reeds are one to two years old, straight and strong. We had a big surprise when we went out to the marsh in the early spring to load up the bundles we had hidden away during the winter. Knee deep water! And a big old turtle claiming one of our piles as a getaway island. We drug and floated the reed about 200 yards to the truck. Boots were useless, but we laughed a lot! I am glad that I was led into this unique and interesting nature opportunities by the necessity of having to get the reed!

Solstice 2000 - Solar Energy "On Line" Party
We chose the longest day of the year, June 21, as our goal to complete the installation of the solar panels, electronics and batteries that Detroit Edison donated to our project. Bob Pratt from the energy co., came out and brought the equipment, and gave us information on how to set it up, while Jim Bates, a local electrician, helped us install everything. June 21 our first compact fluorescent lit up...powered by the sun on that strongly sunny day!

Mud and Music Work Party
As I write this it is July, and we just had a great work party and giveaway donation for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. They are also doing strawbale building! Folks came in for the work party from Ohio and Indiana, as well as local folks, and we started the floor, and put several rows of thatching on the almost finished roof. A very good time in the company of excellent people!

Earthen Floor An Earthen floor ends up looking like beautiful waxed leather -- water repellent and hard. The bottom layer of our floor is six inches of 1-2" limestone from a local quarry. This layer functions as a capillary break, so that moisture doesn't wick from the ground below to the upper flooring. Over the stones, we put a 1 1/2" layer of cob (adobe-like mix of clay/sand/straw). And over that, as an experiment in natural insulation, we put 2 directionally alternating layers of 1'-2' reed ends. These left overs from our thatching process are hollow and bamboo-like and water resistant to a high degree. For this application we are coating them in "slip" to hold the reed layer together. The following flooring layer will again be 1 1/2" of cob, then a final finish layer of sifted cob and linseed oil/beeswax combination.

Thatched Roof Ridge
We are using what we call an "Oatstraw Burrito" for the ridge. Though a series of fax conversations with Flemming, our Thatching Instructor in Denmark, we chose this simple technique. Attach chicken wire about two feet down from the ridge, running its length on both sides. Then load in a bunch of oat straw, and wrap up the wire bundles, sewing the burrito together with wire at the top. Oat straw has lignin (or is it lignum)? A glue-like substance which causes the straw to glue itself together into a waterproof barrier.

August,12&13 Mud and Music Work Party!
Stay a few hours or into the evening for a bonfire, or even camp out, as you assist in what's happening at the site. Sift earth, mix mud, help with the floor, framing or roof work. There is something for every age and ability! Bring your own water and food to share. How about a musical Instrument? Camping? Contact Deanne Bednar

Summer and fall 2000
We are working on that ridge and the floor, then will begin sculpting the interior benches in the curved nook area of the studio. That sounds like fun. We can build the benches out of strawbales covered with cob. Curving. Sounds like fun to me. Then we'll put in the woodstove, and the two doors, and be ready to go for cold weather. I imagine that we'll do an interior plaster in the fall, which will lighten and smooth out the inside walls. We've also put in a glass covered "Truth Window" that shows the strawbales underneath the earthen cob plaster. The truth window is sculpted to look like a knot in a 3-D cob tree that spreads, life-size in the South east (rounded) corner. Very cool.

Winter 2000-2001
The building season stops and lies dormant just like the weather. We do not need to gather reed this winter, since we have enough, finally, to finish the roof...but we miss the reed collection, which was a wonderful winter activity with friends.

A new book by Athena & Bill Stein, The Beauty of Strawbale Homes, comes out, and features a 2 page spread on the Strawbale Studio! Deanne works at home on the illustrations for an upcoming natural building book by the Cob Cottage Company. Both of these books are published by Chelsea Green.

A grant from Home Depot -- to train assistants in natural building, and to monitor the building -- is applied for, but not received. Anyone have leads for a similar grant opportunity, or have funds to donate to this process?

Spring, 2001
Up on the roof we go...first thing! Peter McCreedy and Deanne, and Mike Jones from Toronto area finish up the "butt up" ridge application where the reeds are wired to the sways with stainless steel wire...in smaller 3" diameter bundles with their "bottom end" up. It is sort of like praying hands on the roof. It is such a pleasure to be handing out on the thatched roof these beautiful spring days!

The log door was reset in place so it opens fully, and a 10" x 30" double pane glass was "cobbed" into a transom area above the door. The rectangular shape was then cobbed to an arched shape, and decorative vines were experimentally sculptured out of cob onto the window.

Summer 2001 Events
We are looking forward to more people and energy coming into our project during the "Natural Building SANDWICHES" (2 weekends and the week in between) which will focus our productivity (and fun!). Come ANY or ALL days!

Saturday, June 23 through Sunday, July 1, 2001, and
Saturday, July 28 through Sunday, August 5.
Saturday, September 15 through Sunday, September 23

We will be learning about and doing natural building: hands-on experiences, resources on display, and tour of the studio ... and for those staying more than 2 days ... videos, evening discussions and slide shows on sustainability and natural building, as well as a tour of the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center (Sod roof, earth-sheltered, wind, solar and wood-powered building located 5 miles south of the studio).

It is also possible to set up a special date for groups who want to do "hands on" work for a day or more. Contact Deanne

JULY 2001
Our June/July "Sandwich" was sucessful! Over the 9 day period, 15 people attended, some camping out in the meadow, and our goals were pretty much accomplished!

The interior finish plaster got about 3/4 completed, the bench basically shaped in, and the chimney installed through the roof!!

The chimney process was a major event and achievement. It was challenging to resolve the numerous and unique issues of working with a thatched roof: the thickness of the roof (having extra lengths fabricated), the safety issues (extra spark arrester,etc.), creative flashing around the chimney and thatching, getting the chimney pieces up on the roof, and adjusting them to the steep 45 degree angle. Whew! Thanks for helping, Peter!!

The finish plastering on the walls is almost done now...it has been really fun and aesthetically and artistically rewarding (What part of the building hasn't though?). We put our clay sand mix through a window screen to make it fine, and left out the straw, then added dry wheat paste and some borax. Yum...a lusciously smooth mixture that adhered and spread well, and didn't crack at all. We applied it by hand, troweled it smooth, then sponged it when it was set up a bit. Lots of experimenting and improvement in technique as we went along. It lightens up the place just to have the walls smooth. More reflection of light I assume. Later we will put on a natural paint wash to make the interior even more light.!

The bench in the nook area is fully shaped and soon to receive its finish coat. It was harder than I imagined to make a bench that "feels good" to sit on....all the correct shaped and angles. But now I understand the process...and the next bench will be much easier (What's new?).!

The sub floor is completely done, with ceramic piping under the floor to bring in fresh air to the future wood stove. (Gosh, I like this project!)!

We are still looking for double opening French Doors that we can afford. The section of the building where they will be (the East side looking out at the old oak tree and stone pile) has been an empty hole throughout the project...which has made it really easy to get in and out of the building. A boon, no doubt. However, the time has come to close it in. Keep your eyes open for some french doors, ya'll !!!

January 2002 Update:
The French doors are in, with narrow windows to the sides and above, so that there is still a beautiful view looking out at the arching oak tree. It was the first double door we have hung, and it was a real challenge. Luckily we got advise from Fred Will, a local "fine carpenter".

The final plastering is complete throughout the interior, and we have installed the beautiful triangle windows with ventilation in the peaks formed by the roof. Thanks to the helpers who helped make that all happen!

The third sculpted bench, which divides the bi-level floor is now complete. It is a very aesthetically curved structure which serves as a bench for the lower level, and a low "sitting wall" for the upper level

. We have collected some reed this winter and would like to go out for more, so that we can use it on future small projects, such as a garden shed. Would you like to come and join us in reed gathering? It is a wonderful winter activity on the marshes near Lake St. Clair.

September 2003 Update:
We are closing in the building, making it airtight around the doors, and applying an earthen plaster to the underside of the thatched roof. The chimney is being put up again after the winds brought it down, and the trees will be trimmed around the studio so no branches overhang the roof.