A Little About Seven Generations Natural Builders
We advocate building with local natural materials using methods that are ecologically sensitive, environmentally sound, socially appropriate, and economically affordable. Through our workshops new builders can begin to gain an understanding of the basic properties of earth, straw, stone and wood and the skills necessary to transform these elements into beautiful structures.
SGNB offers training for novice and experienced builders alike, and our crew provides over 40 years of combined experience teaching and building across North America, Oceania, and parts of Europe and Southeast Asia. We emphasize a bioregional perspective, providing specialized experience in the Pacific Northwest, American Southwest, Temperate Northeast, and Hawai'i/Pacific.
In addition to workshops we offer Contracting & Consulting services for owner builders who are ready to get started on their Natural Building project.
Our goal at SGNB is to provide the best learning environment in North America and the Pacific Region for the new builder to get started and advanced training for experienced builders. The net result is further development and application of natural building in our communities. This is our lifetime commitment.
Meet the Motley Crew
Andy Burt
Andy Burt is a sturdy young fellow who likes to get dirty! He and cob/natural building have married quite well. Andy has spent two years with the Cob Cottage Company as an apprentice and assistant instructor helping to build and run their North American School of Natural building. Together with his partner and son, Andy lives as far off the grid as it gets. On a small tract of land in the northern reaches of Oregon's Siskyou Mountains, they maintain sustainably their humble homestead.
Danny Viescas
Danny lives in North County San Diego where he grew up, and spends most of his time working as a web developer. Although on occasion he also designs things, builds stuff, surfs, hikes, reads, plays guitar, and hangs out with his nieces and friends. Danny has had a passion for architecture from a very young age, and has been involved in natural building since 2002. He likes short bios.
Jacob Deva Racusin
Jacob Deva Racusin has been creating functional art with wood, stone, straw, earth, and other materials since 2000, when he began designing and constructing a solar-oriented straw bale house in the mountains of northern Vermont, in which he now lives with his family. In addition to educational work with SGNB and the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Jacob is a building and plastering contractor and consultant, aiding homeowners, owner-builders, general contractors, and designers alike in all phases of the creation of natural buildings. When not building things, he can often be found working on the homestead, walking or skiing in the woods, playing saxophone, or enjoying his family.
Mark Krawczyk
Mark has been building structures using natural materials since his first cob workshop in the fall of 2001. He went on to apprentice for the Cob Cottage Company and work on natural buildings throughout the States for several years thereafter. Since discovering the field of permaculture in college, Mark's adult life has focused on the cultivation of useful skills, ecological design and community building. He has undertaken internships, apprenticeships and work trades with teachers in the States and the UK in fields that include organic agriculture, forest gardening, keyline and permaculture design, green woodworking, timber framing, dry stone walling and coppice forestry. He currently lives in Burlington, Vermont.
Sasha Rabin
Sasha Rabin has a degree in Ecological Design from Evergreen State College. She has studied natural and traditional methods of building in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Indonesia, and the southwest United States. Following an apprentice at the Cob Cottage Company she worked with them as an assistant instructor and went on to co-found Seven Generation Natural Builders. She built a cob dwelling in the southwest US that she is currently living in. She continues to teach with SGNB, as well teaching as a guest instructor at the Real Good Institute for Solar Living, and Yestermorrow Design/Build School.
Tim Rieth
As an archaeologist living and working in Oceania the lessons of community, stewardship of natural resources, and sustainable living became readily apparent to me. Coupling my interests in traditional architecture with other natural building methods I became an apprentice and assistant with the Cob Cottage Company in 2001. In 2003 I co-founded SGNB with Sasha and Andy. I have continued to instruct with Cob Cottage Co, the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, and other natural building groups. When I'm not building and teaching I'm spending time on tiny green islands in the blue Pacific.
Email any member of SGNB with their [first name]@sgnb.com