From the home front: Watershed writing studio; build a tiny house at McMinnville workshop

Watershed

Watershed:

A tiny writing studio in Oregon's Willamette Valley was intended to show off the ecological complexity of its site along the Marys River. It was designed for well-known nature writer

by her daughter Erin Moore, whose firm,

engages in projects at the intersection of ecology and architecture.

The 100-square-foot, off-the-grid studio, built in 2007, "is a poetic solution to occupying space in a sacred landscape and an experiment in embracing the temporal qualities of a site-specific, prefabricated shelter," according to FLOAT. "The off-the-grid studio touches the earth on only four concrete piers and is designed for quick disassembly once it is deemed extraneous in the future."

Erin Moore currently is an assistant professor in the architecture department at the University of Oregon. Kathleen Dean Moore is a philosophy professor at Oregon State University and the

"Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature,"  "Riverwalking" and "The Pine Island Paradox."

Erin Moore explains

Two major intentions underlie careful design detailing: 1) that the studio be able to be constructed without road access, without electricity on site, and without major excavation and 2) that the building be removable and recyclable at the end of its useful life. The way the studio is designed in three separate construction stages made it possible to shop fabricate most of it and then to walk the parts to the site for assembly.

Under the studio are small tunnels that bring rare reptiles and amphibians into view through the floor-level window. A water collection basin that serves as the front step attracts birds and deer. And the roof amplifies the sound of rain falling -- a feature the elder Moore had requested.

Gleefully, she adds: "This weekend my husband and I are going out with our sleeping bags. When the storms come in and the rain beats down on the roof, it's like a musical instrument."

Build-it-yourself workshop:

Portland Alternative Dwellings (PAD) will offer an opportunity to get hands-on with a tiny house in its

workshop April 19-20 in McMinnville. Over the course of two days, participants will build the shell of a tiny house -- roof, floor, insulation and all -- and anchor it to its trailer, with help from tiny-house experts

of PAD, Derin Williams of

and

of Niche Consulting (and This Is the Little Life blog).

The workshop will take place during the

in McMinnville's Saturday Market. The cost is $375, and you can

. Class size is limited to 15, and no construction experience is required.

PAD plans to use the house shell for teaching short seminars (in partnership with Shelter Wise) over the next six months on such things as installing cabinets and wiring -- so the April 19-20 workshop is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor, so to speak.

More

Plus, La Casa Verde, an annual community event devoted to green building and sustainability, will be the site of the oddly named International Chicken Tractor Races of the Nation (

) -- and who would want to miss that?

Petite power:

A diminutive house in Spokane's Historic Garland District, is "a converted 1930 repurposed Washington Water Power (now Avista) substation," according to the

on Airbnb.com. The 374-square-foot house has 13-foot ceilings, a loft bedroom, a courtyard, a covered back patio and much more -- plus plenty of vintage charm. No phone or TV, so it's a true retreat.

-- Pat Jeffries

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