Sasha Rabin & John Orcutt

Sasha Rabin
NATURAL BUILDING DIRECTOR at Quail Springs Permaculture

Sasha first came to Quail Springs on a cold snowy night in early 2008 to visit friends who had recently started calling the place home, and the warmth of the people there brought her back. She is passionate about creating a beautiful life, including the structures that house us for much of our time. This passion leads her to practice those things that help us remember who we really are and why we are here – activities and creations which remind us of our connections to each other, our food, our shelter and the earth.

At Quail Springs, Sasha enjoys the feeling that there is another way to be in the world, and loves how beautifully this is shared and planted like seeds within the site’s many guests. She intends to share this passion with you at Laytonville this summer.

Sasha Rabin fell in love with natural building in 2002, when she began her building career with an apprenticeship at the Cob Cottage Company. Since then she has taught extensively through organizations that she co-founded, Seven Generations Natural Builders and Vertical Clay, and through collaborations with The Yestermorrow Design Build School, The Canelo Project, Cal-Earth, The Solar Living Institute, and Quail Springs Permaculture. Teaching natural building has brought her as far as the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) Jordan and PRI Kenya.

She currently lives in the southern California high-desert at Quail Springs, and runs her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter. And although she enjoys the act of building, her true passions lie in the teaching and sharing of natural building with others.

Sasha was drawn to natural building due to her interest in the impact that shelter has on our lives and what it means to live in beautifully created homes, of natural non-toxic materials. Building a non-toxic home is a profound experience. When people create shelter together their lives are changed forever through connections with one another and the shelter itself. Just as people are inspired when learning how to grow food, people are inspired when creating the structures we depend on for comfort and health.

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John Orcutt
NATURAL BUILDING INSTRUCTOR

In 2013 John left his job as a coral farmer seeking a more fulfilling life helping people build shelter for themselves. He spent the next three years as a nomadic natural builder and student.

After studying at the Earthship Academy in New Mexico and the Cal-Earth Institute in California, John joined a crew of superadobe (earthbag) builders from Cal-Earth and built in California, Arizona, and Nepal. In April 2016, John came to Quail Springs to learn cob building, joining Sasha Rabin and Paul Swenson’s Natural Building course.

John was struck by the beauty of the land at Quail Springs, and overwhelmed by the community’s ability to inspire, educate, and empower its guests and students. In no hurry to leave, John stuck around, helping to complete the building started in the workshop. He is now privileged to call Quail Springs home and proud to play a role in the organization’s 200 year regenerative plan.

Most of his time is spent working on the many natural building projects in the canyon, but he also enjoys contributing to the efforts of the facilities team, washing more dishes than any individual should, and is even attempting to learn how to cook (much to the shock and horror of his friends and family).

John has enjoyed learning from the community, the land, and it’s guests, but his most nourishing role at Quail Springs is sharing and teaching natural building, and helping with the variety of courses held on the land. The impact our community has on the students that join us continues to drive and inspire him.

Come be inspired by John and Sasha this summer at LEV 2017!