In early 2003 I built a cob pottery studio in Gulf Breeze, Florida about a mile from the coastline.  At that time I had never built anything before, but I had just taken a cob basics workshop and I was feeling bold.  Many people warned me that any such building in Florida would certainly melt away in the first hard rain.  I was quite certain that this was not true, but I was building the first cob structure in Florida (as far as I know), and I had never heard any accounts of cob buildings going through hurricanes.  Well, just a year after the building was finished I had my chance to test its hurricane performance.  In 2004 and 2005 the Gulf Coast was pummeled by storm after storm.  Gulf Breeze was hit by many smaller storms and two very large ones.  First, Hurricane Ivan struck a direct hit to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola completely leveling parts of the city.  There was hardly a building left in the region with a roof still on and only about 1/3 of the trees survived.  Many people were killed as the houses they had decided ride out the storm in were literally blown away.  My cob studio did not even have a scratch.  After the storm a few people said that next time they would prefer to take their chances in the “mud hut” rather that remain in their homes.

The next hurricane, Dennis, was actually a less severe storm for most people (perhaps because anything that could blow away already had), but the cob studio did not fare quite as well this time.  I had built it in the shade of a very large oak tree and during the storm that lovely big tree fell directly on the studio.  When I returned to the house I couldn’t even see the building beneath the tree.  After several days with a chain saw removing the tree limbs I was finally able to assess the damage, and guess what?  One section of the steel roof was badly mangled, but when the tree hit the cob it just stopped.  There was no damage to the earthen walls at all although the tree had struck at the weakest point, right above the door.  We discovered when removing the tree that it was so heavy six strong men could not even roll a small section of the trunk.  Any conventional house would have been crushed by a tree even half that size (and some in the neighborhood were). Here are some pictures of the studio during construction and after the storm.

-         Christina Ott

Christina, Ashleigh and baby Willow making cobs.

Colored glass windows in progress…

… and the same windows completed.

Arched window partly done…

… and completed.

Operable shuttered window.

The same window finished.

The studio the day it was completed. 
Note the oak tree shading the roof.

The oak tree felled by Hurricane Dennis sitting on top of the studio. 
You can just see a bit of roof peeking through.

Once the tree was removed we could see the damage to the roof.

No damage to the cob walls, and the roof was easily repaired.

Cob Basics Workshop in Alachua, Florida December 29^th – January 2^nd  2005/2006.

Day two of the workshop.

Dancing the cobber’s jig.

The cob toss.

Christina and Gaura Priya demonstrating “speed building”, 
a batch of cob from the dirt pile to the wall in 5 minutes!

Craig  installing the door frame with the help of a workshop participant.

Some creative details inside the building.

Building the walls.

Wild workshop participants getting ready to ring in the New Year!

The cob office nearly completed on day 5.

Introduction to Earthen Building: Cob Basics

April 1^st – 6^th in Moultrie , Georgia

Building the loft floor and roof on temporary posts.
Once the cob walls are finished  we will remove the posts and let 
the loft and roof sit directly on the cob walls.

The roof is finished and the foundation is ready to receive cob.

Workshop participants taking a break  after the first morning of mixing cob.

Anyone can make cob!

Many hands make light work.  These workshop goers are moving their cobs to the wall.

Christina making a cob.

A lovely niche on the back wall of the house.

Kids at the workshop making the first batch of plaster for the walls. 
Playing in the mud comes naturally!

Christina demonstrating plaster toweling.

Rhet, Woody, Laura, Frank, Dianne, Holly, Tom, Tait, John, Christina and Annabelle,
who all helped build this house.