Natural Building Education
Meet our natural building director Bryan Burnoski
Bryan Burnoski has been teaching and leading natural building workshops for over 17 years. He has built over 16 earthen structures through the workshops he’s taught. Using just clay, sand, and straw as the raw materials for building, allows for participants in a workshop to get involved, no matter, age, ability, or skill level. Natural buildings breathe, are natural, free from toxic chemicals and compounds, are DIY friendly, and can be quite inexpensive. Bryan enjoys teaching people natural building so that they can learn the skills our ancestors learned over centuries. Natural building is an age-old technique that still works very well in today’s world. “It’s more like remembering how to build than anything else, and once people get the hang of it it’s really quite intuitive and fun”
Natural Building Workshops 2025
Cob Camp
June 14-15 & July 19-20
Pricing (per session)
Tier 1: Community Supported - $300
Tier 2: Community Sustaining - $370
Tier 3: Community Regenerative - $460
*Minors accompanied by an adults are free
* Please enquire about financial aid , or work trade opportunities
For more info contact - businessadministrator@lostvalley.org
🛖 Build Together, Learn Together:
Join us for a hands-on Cob Camp where we’ll explore the art of natural building by constructing a cob wall from the ground up! This weekend is perfect for beginners who want to get muddy, build new skills, and connect with others in a beautiful, supportive environment.
You’ll learn the basics of cob—how to source materials, how to make mixes with confidence, and how to build, sculpt, and shape with cob—while helping bring a real structure to life. This is a great way to dip your toes (or your whole feet!) into natural building. Ideal for people seeking to start their own cob projects.
📅 Schedule
Saturday
🕗 8:00–10:00 AM – Arrival and camp setup
👣 10:00 –1:00 PM – Cob building intro: mix n stomp
🥗 1:00 PM – Potluck lunch (bring something to share!)
👣 2:00–5:30 PM – Cob building workshop: sculpt and build, mix and stomp
🍲 6:00 PM – Dinner provided & campfire hangout and discussion
Sunday
☕ 8:00 AM – Breakfast provided
🛠️ 9:00 AM–1:00 PM – Continued building & wrap-up
🚙 1:00 PM – Lunch & Departures
🏕️ What’s Included
Camping for Saturday night
Shared meals (dinner Saturday, breakfast & lunch Sunday)
Guided, hands-on instruction in cob wall building
Beautiful land, great people, and lots of learning by doing!
Bring: A dish for the Saturday potluck, a water bottle, clothes you can get muddy in, sturdy shoes, gloves, and your camping gear. We’ll provide tools, meals, and mud!