A quiet season for connecting with self, land, and creative roots
From 13 December to 13 March I'll be away, and the land is looking for people to live in it. Two spaces are open, each with a wood stove, Starlink and the forest right outside. Stay a month, or the whole season.
It's a residency at heart, made for artists, makers and people who like working with their hands and want to live close to the land.
Eska & Nimbu
A 35m² Mongolian yurt with an egg-shaped wood burner, now extended into a room of charred yakisugi timber and salvaged glass. Then the Perch, a covered deck up in the canopy for writing, reading and watching the light go.
Ideally held by one steward for the whole season. The yurt steward also looks after Nimbu.
A naturally built tiny house of clay walls, glass inlays and salvaged windows, looking out over the valley. A small cast-iron stove keeps it warm through the winter, and a writing desk sits in the corner window.
This land was built by hand, and the tools that built it are here for you to use. Bring a project you've been waiting for the time and space to begin, or let one find you over the winter.
A sheltered workshop of over 30m², fully kitted out for wood, metal and clay.
An easel, brushes, paints and a box of art supplies.
A sewing machine for textiles, repairs and costumes.
A guitar, hand drums and a steel tongue drum, plus a small recording setup: Shure SM58, Focusrite 2i2 and studio headphones.
Writing desks in both spaces and a library on design, regeneration, agroforestry, art, philosophy and ecology.
The wood-fired cedar sauna, handbuilt here and seating eight, is yours to use through the winter, with a spring-fed pool and waterfall for the cold plunge. There are now two outdoor showers, one beside the sauna, and an outdoor bath.
Everything runs on the sun, and it runs like a modern home. The system is monitored and largely automated, so there's little to manage beyond keeping an eye on the battery on grey days.
Communal and fully equipped, just below the yurt: a gas range and oven, an air fryer, an Instant Pot, and shelves of jars and spices. There's sparkling spring water on tap too, more or less endless thanks to a 2 kg CO₂ tank.
Our compost toilet, built from scrap wood and salvaged flashing.
Medicinal plants for tea and intentional foraging.
A young food forest of over 200 trees and shrubs, slowly growing in.
Available for shorter stays alongside the two main spaces.
He's very low maintenance and very fond of cuddles, so cat lovers will be happiest here. The yurt steward tops up his feeder every couple of weeks and keeps his water fresh.
Although I'm a mechanical engineer by education, the patterns of humans and natural systems will always be infinitely more beautiful to me than machines, and this forest is where that passion has taken root. The land is on a slow journey of recovery from a fire that passed through two decades ago, and our work here is a gentle, creative rehabilitation from that.
This expresses itself in two intertwining streams: regenerating the land through agroforestry, and playful, ecological architecture as a form of applied learning. We host educational, not-for-profit gatherings asking ourselves one question: how can we engage more deeply with ecological restoration as a creative, communal process?
After a few years of pouring myself into this land, I'm taking a season away. I believe in keeping nests warm, and I'm excited to open this space to other stewards.
Applications are open now. Tell us a little about yourself, what you make, and the dates you have in mind.