The treehouse will be hidden in a remote redwood grove, beyond a Gravenstein orchard

Structurally, the new treehouse I’ve been commissioned to design will be a radical departure from the various tree-sited structures I’ve made over the years, but the spirit of arboreal living will remain in tact. Sited at the edge of a dense, second growth redwood grove, this treehouse will be more like a watch tower, aloft in the trees without making direct connection to any tree. Consisting of a rustic cabin perched atop a winding stair tower, the new treehouse will have more in common with regionally familiar water towers and silos, for which the foundational connection to the ground is most critical. After laying out the structure’s footprint in a clearing between clusters of coast redwood, our first step has been to take soil samples, which will be analyzed by a soils engineer to specify the appropriate footings for minimal impact to the root system.

carefully digging soil samples in the redwood grove

We dug about thirty inches deep and confirmed the soil to be Wilson Grove Formation, consisting of late Pliocene/late Miocene marine deposits, common to our neck of the woods. The structure will be supported by a perimeter of cast concrete, deeply secured to the ground with helical anchors screws

Tagged: deep craft, green design, scott Constable, sonoma coast, treehouse, vernacular architecture, wilson grove formation, woodworking

I’ve always liked to use chalk when roughing things out on wood. Lately I’ve taken to scouring the beaches during negative low tides in search of seashells for making my marks. The Pacific Razor Clam is ideal, softer than the East Coast equivalent, but hard enough to make a clean scratch, and loaded with calcium carbonate to leave a crisp white line.

Tagged: aesthetics, california coast, deep craft, green design, scott Constable, sonoma coast, sustainability, traditional craft, woodworking

I can relate to the work style of a 1930’s American cabinet shop (public domain)

After over a year of design development with the architect and client, selecting logs of deodar cedar and having them custom milled and cured to outfit the interior of a new guest house down the coast, I’m regaining perspective on my original thinking behind how I approached the project: Shuffling the Tree.

As my cabinets, doors and built-in furnishings take shape, each part of the tree finds its corresponding use in built form, the planks having been painstakingly graded for grain character, color and structural integrity. The process of hand sorting thousands of board feet of air-dried, rough sawn lumber has been slower than I had anticipated, but well worth the effort, and I’m feeling less overwhelmed as I convert my neatly stickered piles into glowing wooden furnishings. I’m taking extra pains not to use any laminated sheet materials, constructing all casework in solid stock.

I’ve found that designing and building this way automatically bestows a building with a feeling of belonging-ness, as though the house stands in honor of the tree it displaced. When the material is locally sourced from the waste stream, diverted from horticultural salvage that might otherwise be burned as firewood, the building’s interior has the added benefit of reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere. I call my approach ‘bioregional vernacular’, and I’m glad for the opportunity to test its scalability.

cabinets of deodar cedar w/face frames, stacked up while I prepare doors and drawers

To follow my progress on designing and building the guest house interior, please click here and scroll down.

Tagged: craft philosophy, deep craft, furniture design, scott Constable, slow design, sustainability, traditional craft, vernacular architecture, woodworking

Greenwood: Selective Harvesting Preserves Forests

Though I’ve built just one boat to date, I’ve been an avid reader of WoodenBoat magazine for over 25 years. The publication is a major torch-bearer for the practice of traditional boat-building, and a treasure trove of primary source knowledge for all things wood. My favorite feature is invariably the Wood Technology column by Richard Jagels, forest biologist and professor at University of Maine. The persistence of woodcraft requires constant adaptation to changing conditions, and Richard’s column always provides valuable, in-depth perspective on forest ecology as it relates to sourcing and processing wood products.

I was thrilled to learn that Jagels has taken his work out of the halls of academia as a founding director of Greenwood Global, a non-profit dedicated to protecting both forests and traditional artisanry internationally.

Tagged: appropriate technology, craft, deep craft, furniture design, green design, green woodworking, innovation, richard jagels, slow design, sustainability, traditional craft, vernacular, wooden boat, woodworking

the surfboard originated in Hawaii, where local woods were shaped for specific waves

I’ve body-surfed all my life and have a natural feel for wave mechanics, but I’m finally getting ready to learn to surf on a board. Being a ‘wood guy’ with access to local mills and several decent breaks within a few miles, my first step will be to shape my own board. Luckily, my first surfboard will double as an integral part of our NOMO (non-motorized transportation) exhibition we’re developing as artists in residence at Kohler Arts over the summer.

Believe it or not, Sheboygan, Wisconsin has one of the best fresh water breaks in the world. So I’ve conceived of my surfboard as a freshwater longboard indigenous to the shores of Lake Michigan, modeled on the early surfboards native to Hawaii, which were shaped of local Koa and Balsa. Because freshwater is less buoyant than saltwater, I’ve been researching the specific gravity of Lake Region woods, looking for large trees with straight, clear grain and low specific gravity for maximal flotation and easy carving. I’ve discovered that American Cottonwood (Populus freemontii) still grows prolifically in the lowlands of Wisconsin, and with a specific gravity of around 0.31, is ideal for shaping a surfboard. The tree grows equally well along the Pacific Coast of Northern California, so I’ll make a prototype and test it locally.

To follow the development of our wowhaus artist-in-residence project at the JM Kohler Arts Center, please click here and scroll down.

Tagged: california coast, california flora, deep craft, innovation, kohler arts, longboard, scott Constable, specific gravity, surfing, woodworking

someone left a rose in a driftwood log

I can’t think of a better way to recalibrate after an intense week of studio woodworking than a morning of beachcombing after a string of storms. I appreciate more and more living and working so close to the shore, and find daily release and inspiration being able to take a walk, a run, or an occasional dip in the surf when the waves are rideable. I always return to the studio refreshed, having put things in perspective simply by tuning in to the flotsam of the day.

beach erosion has uncovered an old engine block

I found a great piece of wood for my first driftwood skate deck

Tagged: beachcombing, california coast, deep craft, longboard, scott Constable, skateboard, sonoma coast, woodworking

With enough rainfall, Estero Americano drains to the sea, becoming seasonally tidal

My favorite chair, by far, is an ocean kayak. To unwind after an intense week of new projects, I spent a quiet afternoon idly paddling down Estero Americano, my favorite local slough, now flooded to the coast. The marshy, seasonally tidal estuary is like a living almanac of coastal California birds, evidenced by my encounters with numerous cormorant, dowitcher, egret, snipe, willet, loon, night heron, bufflehead, black skimmer and, closer to the beach, a flock of white pelican.

It’s coming up on two years since I created this site, whose first post was inspired by a paddle down the same stream. This time around, my voyage taught me less about the material provenance of my chair design, and more about the simple pleasures of sitting with nature.

The white pelican takes flight over Estero Americano

Tagged: aesthetics, birding, california coast, craft philosophy, deep craft, furniture design, phenology, scott Constable, sonoma coast