We just wrapped an incredible week of Japanese plastering with @kyleholzhueter . We spent 6 days learning all about traditional earth plaster recipes, application methods, shikkui, otsu, and much more. Beautiful walls of earth and lime.
Here are a few pics of applying the earthen plaster base coat in the pavilion and kura. We used our site soil and chopped straw with no additional sand or aggregate.
I have a lot more pics to share, so stay tuned...
#sakan #earthplaster #clayplaster #limeplaster #naturalplaster #naturalbuilding #japaneseplaster #japanesearchitecture
Raising day for the awning addition… counting down til our next go round in 2026. #japanesecarpentry #japanesearchitecture #timberframing #pavilion #naturalbuilding
Big push to get a coat of plaster on this NC timber frame...
This is a clay/lime blend. When the time is right, I'll return to do a lime plaster finish. This is shaping up to be a sweet little space. #plastering #naturalplaster #timberframe #marshallnc
Japanese guesthouse: phase 1...
We had our eye on this building site last year. For better or worse, we had to dismantle a quirky old barn to be able to build the guesthouse here. With the barn gone, the site shows its true potential. It's a tricky spot for so many reasons, but it's very tucked in and beautiful. Surrounded by trees. Siting a building = easy in practice, difficult in reality.
Then came the grading, batter boards, drainage trench, and pier locating. The west side of the house is on grade with an earthen floor, hence the rubble trench. The east half is elevated on stone piers -- much less challenging but still requiring some thought.
Long story short, here's a glimpse of the process thus far. Before we complete the stonework, the rough plumbing will be installed.
After that, the timber frame... The key element of the entire structure... Stay tuned. #japaneseguesthouse #naturalbuilding #foundations
Images from our 2025 workshop at South Slope Farm in Berea, Kentucky, hosted by Ziggy Liloia and April Morales of The Year of Mud.
Amazing food, great people, and lots of earth, lime and fiber.
The next workshop is August 29 to September 3, 2026
/.../japanese-plastering-workshop/
Last summer, I randomly met @ymtkhi while swimming at the reservoir. He invited me out to take pictures at a @theyearofmud Japanese Carpentry Workshop where he and @big_sand_woodworking were teaching. Here’s some of those photos!
This is what the beginning looks like.
Materials are coming in for the Japanese guesthouse project. These are some very special timbers -- Port Orford Cedar beams and joists (first 2 pics), and sassafras posts. Yep, the sassafras obsession continues. Local timber selection is really tricky around here. Every species has pros and cons. My go-to white oak has a lot of downsides, as much as I like it overall. It's not at all the right material for this frame. It was never a contender.
Sassafras fills a unique void -- it's very dimensionally stable and has an amazing appearance. It's heavy, but nice to cut. It's insect- and rot-resistant as well. I haven't seen carpenter bees go after it.
All of these need to be planed down to final dimensions once they dry a bit more...
There's a long and exciting road ahead.
#japanesecarpentry #timberframing #sassafras #timberframe
This is an earthen floor I built 9 years ago. I don't often get to revisit previous projects, and it's amazing how well this floor has held up over time.
This has been the main home for a family of 4 (with a dog), so plenty of life traffic in this dwelling. The floor seems to have barely aged at all. The power of earth + natural oils...
#earthenfloor #naturalbuilding #naturalfinishes
Rain chains are in. Sometimes the small tasks are the most satisfying to complete. I've been trying to get back around to this gutter install for months and months.
You can bet I've been running outside when it rains to watch the water run through the acorns and disappear into the drainage. I'll take a video next time.
#rainchain #halfroundgutters #naturalbuilding #kura
We can't wait to welcome back these two incredible teachers this year. Yama-san of @somakosha and Jon Billing of @big_sand_woodworking are both incredibly skilled and generous with their knowledge and time. Our Japanese Carpentry Fundamentals Workshop is one of the best ways to go deep into the world of Japanese carpentry and traditional architecture.
We've had students from all walks of life who have had deeply meaningful experiences in our class. The majority have returned for additional workshops, which is saying something.
I hope you can join us this May. We still have a few precious spots remaining in our Fundamentals class! Visit the bio link for details, ok?
#japanesejoinery #japanesearchitecture #japanesecarpentry #japanesetools
This is a sneak peak of the 2026 Japanese guesthouse project. We'll be building this lovely frame in our upcoming Japanese Carpentry Real Construction Workshop in June. We're thrilled to be working with @somakosha again and taking things to the next level!
This is 7mx9m -- not exactly a small project. It's an ishibatate structure, so the posts rest directly on stone. All traditional wood joinery, of course. We will eventually incorporate clay-straw wall insulation to improve thermal performance, and plaster finishes will round out the interior and exterior.
An engawa overlooks the forest and some rather large oak trees. Think of it like a slice of old school Japan in Kentucky. A colliding of worlds.
There's lots and lots of work to be done these coming few months, so stay tuned for progress. #japanesearchitecture #japanesejoinery #naturalbuilding #japanesehouse
I'm trying to rapidly cross things off the to-do list before late winter / early spring kicks in. I can call this tiny staircase build complete. We have a _big_ project on the horizon -- the Japanese guesthouse project. I'll have more updates on that soon. It's a full on ishibatate house that we're building in our Japanese Carpentry Real Construction Workshop.
Anyway, there's always more projects than time over winter. Winter is fleeting. Some of the same projects get pushed back multiple times. But that's just how it goes.
The kura is getting a lot of love right now, and that feels good! #kura #naturalbuilding #naturalplaster #shikkui
