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I've been dreaming of building a small Eco-Casita / B&B in Mexico for almost 20 years. My family has owned a couple small lots near the beach town of Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit (about 25 min north of Sayulita) waiting for me to develop something useful. I dove into Permaculture in 2011 to start learning how to properly design a homesite with respect to its environment, and over the years I have studied various natural building techniques and visited many existing DIY Eco-buildings in the US and abroad. I started designing this house in 2015 and have tried to save money for this over the years but its been difficult for various reasons (thats a whole ‘nuther book).
Being "homeless" for the past 18 months after a painful breakup & moveout has been humbling. I didnt have funds or the desire to pay crazy Bay Area rents (my previous home was BY FAR the cheapest deal around), so I came to Mexico to gather myself and carve a new path. Since then I have moved over 40 times from place to place on both sides of the border— worktrades, housesitting, petsitting, sublets, camping, and crashing with friends and family. As one can imagine, this constant moving has kept me from establishing a reliable workspace or grounding in place to get a meaningful well-paid J-O-B. Being unsure of my place in the world, each time I’ve inquired deep within, the only clear message I receive of what to do next in life is "BUILD THE HOUSE and the rest will follow”…
So, as Divine Flow would have it, a few months ago I was blessed with funds from a small investment I made over 10 years ago. I decided to use this surprise gift from the Universe to just GO FOR IT and start building my little casita on a shoestring. What better time to build a home then when you’re homeless?
This seems like the right path toward self-sustainability in the long run. I’m gaining valuable hands-on design & building experience while NOT paying thousands of dollars in rent. When its done I will actually start making some rental income from it. There’s many more levels to this than I will get into here, but believe me this feels like a perfect alignment of circumstances.
I've designed a small hybrid building to be built in 3 phases over the next few years (work in progress). The beautiful organic form is far from a boring square concrete block, 2 bdrm/2 bath and an art/design studio space on the top floor overlooking the gorgeous ocean, jungle and sunset view. Its small (but not tiny), just a 400ft2 footprint (13’ x 30’). 2-1/2 floors totaling approx. 950ft2 plus small outdoor decks. It will be a mix of Concrete & Rock (foundation & load-bearing columns), with infill of Cob, Pallets, Straw, Bamboo, Recycled Bottles, Cans & other Natural and Used materials. I’m using rock and clay from the site and Bamboo I harvested from the jungle 3 years ago.
All the labor is being provided by locals living in the neighborhood, being paid a fair wage (which is incredibly cheap by American standards).
The home will be as self-sustainable as possible, implement solar energy for electricity, heating water, and cooking. It will capture rainwater off the roof, store it in cisterns and natural pond, and utilize greywater for the edible tropical landscape that includes lots of fruit trees, and will feature an abundance of artwork built-into the home and landscape (Mosaics, Glass, Cob, Stone and Wood). Basically this will become an Ecological Art & Meditation Retreat where guests will experience a peaceful stay, learning about Eco Lifestyle and connecting to source while sitting on petroglyphs and creating magic in a well-stocked Art studio.
Did I just say Petroglyphs? YES! What makes this experience extra-special is that, while designing it up a few years ago, I discovered an ancient petroglyph right under my nose. A SPIRAL carved into the limestone boulder which I always sat on while visioning the future of this site. As many of you know, as an artist/designer I’ve had a special affinity for spirals my entire life, basing my artwork and my previous hemp clothing line (Swirlspace) along this basic design form. This discovery halted my progress back then as i had to re-think and re-design the entire project in order to pay homage to this artifact. I struggled with it internally, not knowing if i should move forward or move the entire home elsewhere. As it turns out, this is part of a larger grouping of boulders just 50 meters away which have amazing designs carved into them, dating back approximately 3000 years (Google “AltaVista, Nayarit” for some background on similar carvings). Other folks in the neighborhood also have such boulders on their properties and don’t make a big fuss out of the one on my site, but to me this was a clear message from the universe that somehow I was chosen to be a steward of this little plot of land and move forward in a respectful way. The boulder will be protected inside the home with an amazing nook that will allow people to walk around, sit on, or sleep under the boulder in a sandy cave-like space (rendering to come) while retaining the original view it had.
So, here i am, going for it, super excited about it all and trying to finish up this first phase by mid-July, but I’ve run into a projected cash shortage. I've had to sink all my money into the foundation, the core, the bones of the building. As many home-builders have experienced I’ve had many unexpected cost overruns right from the get-go. I don’t want to be cut short on this first round, and neither do my workers…
With your generous support I will get through this first phase which provides the base for the rest of the building which I will re-start when I come back down this winter. And, besides helping me you will be providing a few more weeks of paid income to my awesome work crew thats been working so hard, digging, breaking and moving tons of rock. Literally tons and tons. And, as a contributor to this project I can offer you complimentary stays here once it is ready for guests. I’m hoping to cover the remaining costs, plus a little bit extra to drive back to the US where I will be looking for short-term housing and income until November or December so I can save up enough to get into the next building phase.
(And, if anyone is feeling extra supportive, I also welcome a larger donation or private loan to help with the rest of the building. There are also other investment opportunities down here which I am considering pursuing (Real Estate, Natural Building, and Eco product development). (For many years in the early 2000s as i was running Swirlspace Hempwear on a shoestring, I always thought “If only I could ask for $10-20 from each of my friends it would help me fund this business into the next level”, but unfortunately this P2P lending platform was not yet created… )
I’m hoping my community can help manifest this longtime dream. I am deeply appreciative of anything you can contribute. My heart, mind, body and soul will be ever so grateful. I will keep folks updated with progress as i go…
THANK YOU / GRACIAS for your support!
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