The natural approach to building is “for the birds?” We wholeheartedly agree. A bird builds its nest using the materials at hand to create a perfect shelter for its bioregion. When no longer used, the nest building materials decompose, becoming fertile ground for nature’s regenerative miracle.

A “nest” connotes a cozy, nurturing shelter — a place of one’s own in the world. ‘EcoNest’ is our name for homes that we design and build. Like the birds’ nests that inspired it, the EcoNest embodies our efforts to build respectfully, in appreciation of the beauty of nature, and in a way that uses nature’s resources so as to consume less energy, create less waste, nurture our health, enrich our senses and improve the quality of our lives.

How we came to be involved in nest building.

Robert’s story began 16 years ago.

“I had already been handcrafting timber frames for ten years when I went to hear Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of transcendental meditation, lecture on the ancient Indian science of building called Sthapatya Ved.

“‘In Sthapatya Ved’, Maharishi told the audience, ‘we build in such a way that everything nourishes everything’.

“This single sentence pierced me, and a series of scenes flashed through my mind: Hands chiseling a long, paper-thin curl of wood... horses hauling logs... a tranquil water scene... with dead fish floating on the surface... a pipe spilling green water... a factory spewing smoke where building materials were manufactured. I left thinking, ‘What am I building with, and what are the consequences of my choices?’ I began researching all the building products I was using. My next building would be different.

“This...led me into a new career in holistic building and teaching. In Germany I learned the concepts of Building Biology and the use of clay and straw for breathable wall construction. Over the years I have refined a building system using these natural materials and have taught this system to over a thousand people.”

Meanwhile, Paula was redefining her architectural career in Santa Fe. Here is her story.

“My discovery was not visionary but experiential. My home had made me sick for years with chronic respiratory and chemical reactions before I discovered the cause. My formal architectural education included no training about creating buildings that support health. When I realized that my illness was caused by chemicals used in conventional construction, I began researching healthy building. This was now my major focus, both personally and professionally, while researching my first book, ‘Prescriptions for a Healthy House’. Searching for ways to apply principles of building for health and ecology, in 1993 I found an article about Robert. His work applied the fundamentals of Building Biology to a much greater degree than anything I had found thus far, and I was eager to experience it firsthand. I booked myself into his next workshop. I left the workshop knowing that clay-straw building techniques were doable, beautiful, durable and practical. I was determined to use them in my work. And I did.

“Six years later Robert and I were married under an elephant-trunk beam in our own new EcoNest. Since then, my health has gone from fragile to healthy to vibrant.

“As an architect-and-builder team, our life’s work has been fostering the nesting instinct in our clients while shepherding them through the complexities of creating a nurturing home. More than any other investment, our homes reflect back to us who we are. They have the power to heal us and everyone who enters. Home becomes the context of our lives.

“Our new book, ‘EcoNest: Creating Sustainable Sanctuaries of Clay, Straw and Timber’, explains our natural system for designing and building ecological homes and our training programs, involving the owners in the building. More importantly, it tells the stories of several families who created their own sustainable sanctuaries of clay, straw and timber.”


For more information about the LaPortes and their work, see their website: www.econest.com.

Robert Laporte and Paula Baker-LaPorte will be doing a Booksign tour in November 2005 in California and Arizona, starting November 7 in Santa Rosa to San Diego, and in Arizona November 19-22. Go to www.econest.com and www.sbpermaculture.org.

See the Permaculture Calendar in the print issue for more details.


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