Wisdom Workshop

A look inside one of our modified A-frame saunas! All of our saunas come pre-assembled, ready to use for up to eight friendly folks (get cozy)

Cedar log benches on reclaimed Douglas Fir feet, made by 🔥 bonfire season is nearly here!

Alpine Sauna on location in Bigfork | 📷

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”

— John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley

Cross-laminated timber + economic sustainability 🌿

Throughout our species’ long evolution, we were often rewarded for valuing short term benefits over long term ones (not a surprise if you’re only going to live to be 35!). As we move away from a scarcity mindset and into an abundance mindset, we must consider the impact of our long term decisions on not just our lives, but the lives of our children— generations to come. 

CLT provides a very economically sustainable solution to the problem of housing in several fundamental ways:

— lower cost of ownership
— reduced energy demand
— lower remodel potential
— fast build times
— increased equity retention

To learn more about our sustainability practices & ethos, head to the website!

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Social sustainability —

Our environments shape our behaviors, social interactions, health, and happiness. They make us feel safe, clean, and provide a space to share with our people. With proper design and initial investment, we can forever improve our quality of life and the lives of those closest to us. The use of CLT means that the buildings in their raw form are aesthetically beautiful, which research has shown to have a dramatic effect on mental health and outlook.

CLT’s absorb and release moisture readily, which stabilizes humidity levels in homes. This, combined with the total elimination of drywall, leaves no cavity in the wall for condensation buildup and mold. Solid wood is naturally hypoallergenic, according to the EPA.

When CLT and associated technologies are combined with concepts such as Pocket Communities, or fields of study such as Acrology (Architecture + Ecology), you can implement the creation of cityscapes, housing areas, or individual homes that support the health and wellness of the broader community and its inhabitants.

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from nature, back to nature 🔥

The use of Cross Laminated Timbers, or CLT, is central to our effort to produce environmentally sustainable products and housing. CLT has the benefit of using small-diameter trees that can be selectively harvested rather than clear cut. This reduces fuels that could be potential fire hazards while, at the same time, allowing the biggest, most mature trees to be stewards of the land.

Mature trees are a critical player in the forest ecosystem; they provide a myriad of benefits, including raising young trees, stabilizing the forest ecosystem, providing habitat for many species, and water sequestration and transport, just to name a few! Mature trees are much more fire-resistant, and in the era of climate change and mega-fires, we need intact forest ecosystems with mature trees now, more than ever.

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a throwback send for your Thursday evening

Ancient principles + modern methods, handcrafted in the Northwest

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“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” —Linda Hogan

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Mod A-frame on location at Stumptown Inn 🔥 summer bonfires will be here again before ya know it!

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Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things,” 1968

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