Needing to build a guest house. Inexpensive, but strong, well insulated, attractive and off-grid ready. There is a series of YouTube videos featuring Bob Vila building houses with Steel Shipping Containers, sometimes called CONEX boxes. When finished, they make attractive houses, indistinguishable from others in the tract. But the cost per square foot is about [...]
Archive for the ‘Culture & Education’ Category
Build a great house for under $10,000
Posted in Art, Community, Ecology, Homes, Liberty, Self-Sufficiency, Shelter, tagged Alternative Construction, Bob Vila, CONEX Container, Container Construction, Containerization, Debt Free, Insulated glazing, Off-Grid, Self Sufficient, Thermal mass, Wood-burning stove on October 3, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Why We Tip
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Life, Love and Wisdom, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, Foodservice, Guilt, intentional community, Lifestyle Choices, Philosophy on June 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Most people tip out of a generalized sense of guilt. I want to live out of intention.
Surround yourself with Extraordinary People
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Life, Love and Wisdom, Self-Sufficiency, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, Community, Energy Self-Sufficiency, intentional community, Old Fashioned Neighborhood, People, Provident Living, Self-Reliance, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Sustaining Community on June 15, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Top 6 qualities of people to Surround yourself with – Extraordinary People
I like liberals
Posted in Art, Community, Creativity, Culture & Education, Faith, Life, Love and Wisdom, Politics, Technology, Work on March 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
despite the fact that I am not one. I know I’m venturing into dangerous territory, the no-mans-land between opposing trenches. I am conservative, and cautious, sometimes fearful, repressed, yet sometimes driven. People like me keep the world from spinning out of control or at least we like to think we do. We live within our [...]
Mechanical Art of Self-Sufficient living at the Village on Sewanee Creek
Posted in Art, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, Technology, tagged Burning Man, intentional community, Mechanical Art, Sustainable Community on January 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I have a dream that some day the Village will be filled with artistic people with varied experience and talents, unafraid of getting their hands dirty and driven to create and share wonderful things that make our lives easier, more beautiful, more fun and more practically sustainable.
3rd Annual Independence Day Celebration @ the Village
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Nature, News, Self-Sufficiency, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, Amphitheater, Community, EcoVillage, Energy Self-Sufficiency, Independence Day, intentional community, Old Fashioned Neighborhood, Outdoor Movies, Provident Living, RV Camping, Self-Reliance, Self-Sufficient Living, Self-Sustaining Community, Tennessee Mountain Land on June 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
An independent, self-sufficient lifestyle is one element that defines the Village. So, Independence Day is OUR day, our 3rd annual. We will start celebrating on Friday the 3rd with a double feature on the big screen under the stars in our amphitheater. Call for an invitation to join us. You might even consider bringing a [...]
Sustainable Living Progress Report
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Energy, Food, Homes, Self-Sufficiency, Technology, Water, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, active adult community, alcohol as fuel, alcohol can be a gas, alternative fuels, catchment, Community, Community Garden, CONEX Container, Economic Preparedness, EcoVillage, Energy Self-Sufficiency, ethanol, intentional community, methanol, Old Fashioned Neighborhood, organic gardening, Peak Oil, permaculture, Preparedness, Provident Living, rain water collection system, Self-Reliance, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Sufficient Living, Self-Sustaining Community, Shipping Container, Tennessee Mountain Land, Water Conservation, Wood Burning Furnace, Wood gasification on March 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Progress Update OK, so I have been really bad about posting updates lately. That’s because I’ve been working hard on projects and I’m dog-tired at the end of each day. The good news is that we’re moving forward with lots of cool stuff here. Thanks to my wife, the greenhouse is planted and lots of [...]
An Abundant, Low-Impact Christmas
Posted in Caves, Creeks & Waterfalls, Community, Culture & Education, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, Bill Mollison, Bliss, Christmas, Edible Forest Gardens, friends, intentional community, permaculture, Self-Sustaining Community, Tennessee Mountain Land on December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Back again after a relaxing Christmas holiday. This was perhaps our most low-impact Christmas ever. We just vegged in our cozy home with the sounds of the babbling brook just outside our back door while we worked together assembling a big puzzle. I’m not usually one for puzzles as they seem like a waste of [...]
Top 9 Antidotes for hard times
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Energy, Food, Self-Sufficiency, Water, tagged Abundant Lifestyle, catchment, EcoVillage, Energy Self-Sufficiency, intentional community, organic gardening, Peak Oil, permaculture, Preparedness, Provident Living, rain water collection system, Self-Reliance, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Sufficient Living, Self-Sustaining Community, solar power, Tennessee Mountain Land, wind power on October 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
While there is some really good news happening at grass-roots levels with thinking people, there is plenty to be concerned about and to prepare for. I always try to stay positive in my communications. Sometimes, that is only possible because I’m feeling well prepared and getting more independent every day. Prepared for what? Read the [...]
Amphitheater, Community & Movie Reviews
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Food, Self-Sufficiency, Technology, tagged Self-Sustaining Community on June 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
As some of you know, I’m an unabashed movie lover. I got my start when I worked for Blockbuster Video years ago doing international development in places like Japan, Brazil and Thailand. Since then I have built several home theaters, one with a small stage. From that experience I learned the power of having an [...]
Arts and the University at Sewanee
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Self-Sufficiency, tagged Self-Sustaining Community, Sewanee, Tennessee Mountain Land, University of the South on April 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s a link to an article posted in today’s The Tennesseean, Nashville’s paper. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/FEATURES0502/804270306 It highlights how wonderful it is to have the University (locals call it simply “Sewanee” or as it says in the article, the domain) nearby. Several of you have mentioned the importance of a local arts community like the one around [...]
Tennessee Mountain Community
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Energy, Food, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, Water, tagged Community, Self-Sufficiency, Tennessee Mountain Land on March 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’m intensely committed to BUILDING a close-knit, self-sustaining community of like-minded, intelligent and resourceful people within the Village on Sewanee Creek. But there is a sustainable mountain community surrounding the Village proper already in existence. It is filled with highly resourceful people who already know how to live joyfully in good times and hard times [...]
“Intentional Community” or just an “Old-Fashioned Neighborhood”?
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, tagged active adult community, EcoVillage, intentional community, Old Fashioned Neighborhood, Self-Reliance, Self-Sufficiency, Self-Sufficient Living, Self-Sustaining Community on February 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Much has been written about the “Intentional Community” or “Eco Village” where like-minded altruistic people band together to create an idyllic, Utopian lifestyle. We intend to enjoy an abundant community lifestyle without the pitfalls. Despite best intentions, about 90% of these social experiments fail for different reasons including: – Unclear Vision or Mission – Common [...]
Is There a Prepared Community Out There?
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Energy, Food, Nature, Self-Sufficiency, Water, tagged Economic Preparedness, Self-Sufficiency on February 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Pick up today’s newspaper and you will likely be hit with news of surging grain prices, “peak oil”, changing weather patterns, flooding, drought, economy woes, terrorist threats, war…. Bummer! So, toss the newspaper and just hunker down, right? At the Village we see a bigger picture. “Being prepared” for life at The Village on Sewanee [...]
Education in the Tennessee Mountains
Posted in Community, Culture & Education on December 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
To some, this may sound like an oxymoron. That depends on where in the Tennessee Mountains. The area around Sewanee is particularly blessed with truly outstanding schools due to the location of the University of the South. My daughter is a Sophomore at St. Andrews Sewanee School, which is affiliated with the University. Her experience [...]
Highbrow in Appalachia?
Posted in Culture & Education on December 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
One of the things I find unique and love about the Tennessee Mountain Community composed of the Sewanee, Monteagle, Tracy City Triangle is the Highbrow Culture that augments the local down-to-earth culture. How many mountain retreat areas can you name in Tennessee that are anchored with an ivy league quality University? Don’t believe me? Check [...]
Progress Update
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Nature on August 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Dear Friends, We’ve been making steady progress here at the Village, completing amenities and opening a new phase, 1B. The entry sign is almost complete. This week we will be adding the kiln-fired tile face with Sewanee Creek Logo nestled between cut stone columns like those found at the University in Sewanee. It will be [...]
Amphitheater Inauguration: Movies on the 4th
Posted in Community, Culture & Education on July 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
We just enjoyed a family reunion over the 4th with barbecue and movies on the big screen under the stars at our lovely amphitheater on the bluff. For those of you who have requested information via this website, my apologies for the slow response, but we’ve been busy this week just enjoying life with loved [...]
Life in the Village
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Health, Nature on June 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
After a recent visit, my friend, Kerry Clay, wrote down his vision of life in the Village on Sewanee Creek. I think he did a nice job of capturing it, so I’d like to share it with you. “It’s Saturday morning and what are we going to do today? We could watch the beautiful sunrise [...]
Why you should move to our Village in the Tennessee Mountains
Posted in Community, Culture & Education, Nature on May 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This morning I received a very long inquiry filled with all the right questions. I thought my answers might be useful to anyone interested in the Village. Here is my response: Dear Shirley, It sounds like you may be exactly the kind of neighbors I would like to live near. I will try to answer [...]
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