On to The Crestone Energy Fair

Where I believe there is more creative building going on than anywhere else in the country

I was there, thanks to my friends Chris Ryan and Anya Kaats, to give a talk entitled “Adventures in Building” at the Crestone Energy Fair. Crestone is a small town in Saguache County, Colorado, at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The actual town's population was 141 in 2020, but there are a lot more people on the outskirts of the town proper.

There is a lot of plaster/stucco in and around Crestone. And it all looks very well done; I think it’s a great long-lasting exterior building surface.

Chris and Anya have been there for a couple of years now and have been telling me about all the building going on around the town, both in the foothills and down in the valley below.

Two things amazed me:

1. The number of people building their own homes

2. The variety of construction methods being utilized

It’s especially a contrast to owner-building in Marin County, where I live, which has — over the years — been virtually shut down by draconian (and highly costly) building and especially septic regulations. I don’t know of one person in Marin County building his/her own home these days. Whereas in the ‘70s, there were maybe 30 owner-builders in and around Bolinas.

Bureaucrats beget ever more bureaucracy and this has choked off owner-building in many parts of the USA. Don’t get me started — or rather, this may be a subject that I ‘ll address in the future, listing regulations that I think are unreasonable.

There were at least two builders that were incorporating grain silo roofs into their builds.

Chris drove me around the countryside, and what I saw made me realize I could spend a solid week documenting all the building going on there. So these are just a few hurriedly-shot photos of owner building in the area.

This was Jay Drew’s place; he’s working for others, as well as building his own home at the same time. A lot of builders are using rough-cut lumber (where a 2 by 4 is actually 2 by 4 inches); some of it is spruce, there’s one other type wood used around Crestone I can’t remember.

On the wall of his house shown above at the right, he’s using earth bags, and I’d guess he’ll plaster over the earth bags.

A nice simple little tiny building at Jay’s

This is another house under construction and these are Faswall blocks, with lightweight concrete and poly-iso foam insulation. They are easy for the DIY-er. as they are stacked dry (no mortar or masonry skills needed), then filled with rebar and concrete. Strong, insulated wall with no need of siding inside or outside. I would guess they’ll get plastered on both sides.

Chris and I submerged in this icy cold stream one afternoon.

Below are a few old log buildings in Crestone town proper.

I like the way the dormers extend out to the same plane as the wall. Makes for a nice space in the loft

Below is Paul Lundquist. After my talk on Saturday, he raised his hand and said that our books had saved his life. Wow!

He’d driven out from North Carolina (in a Toyota Sienna) to hear my talk. He said that when he was in the USAF in the early ‘70s, and pretty unhappy with the military, Domebook 2, Shelter, and The Whole Earth Catalog had kept alive the dream of building his own home and growing his own food. And that’s what he did when he was discharged.

This kind of feedback makes it all seem worthwhile.

The final event on Saturday was a performance of sacred Japanese drumming by members of the Shumei International Institute, one of the many religious organizations with headquarters in Crestone.