Aerious YewWood: The Place

YewWood is a special place, registered as a nature sanctuary because of its unique environment. Home to spawning Salmon, adjacent to Spotted Owl Habitat, surrounded on two sides by National Forest, creating its own electricity and pure spring water; a small community and retreat center where humans and nature live cooperatively and learn from each other. Dozens of Salmon are spawning in our creek now, because it is undammed. It is home to many species of coastal flora and fauna, and is used as a center to demonstrate living cooperatively with nature and rediscovering our roots, as well as building and homesteading as naturally as possible. Because special places like these are becoming rarer by the day, this is becoming a laboratory for self-discovery and wholistic living for the 21^st century.

A nature trail was created here that winds thru several families of ecosystems, then continues with a trail that is being constructed and maintained with the cooperation of the Forest Service, and this trail terminates in one of the larger stands of Old Growth in the Oregon Coast Range. While parts of this land have been in pasture for a century (the old stagecoach road runs thru it), other portions have rarely, if ever, been trodden by humans. We use manual labor wherever reasonable, and the light touch allows for a more peaceful environment. YewWood has always been off the electrical grid, and a few years ago, a one thousand gallon a day spring sprang out of the hillside, which provides gravity water for drinking and the Organic garden. Cell phones don't work in our steep hillsides, which heightens focus and healing.

The present owner bought this land in 1984 from a church, and it was operated primarily as an organic herb farm until 1988. It has never been sprayed with herbicides. An agreement exists between the owner and Aerious that allows us to present retreats and seminars in a variety of subjects regarding nature, homesteading, healing, and self-empowerment. Aerious was incorporated in 1992, and YewWood has provided a powerful classroom experience since 1994. YewWood has been operated as a campground with few indoor sleeping options so far, which limits its main use to the milder months of the year.

Aerious-YewWood is now at a major turning point. To facilitate more visitors and larger year round classes, as well as showcase experiential and progressive building techniques, an expansion of facilities is now due. In August 1999, a building permit has been applied for to create a central meeting place. This is to be a two-story post and beam octagon with straw bale infill walls (non-load bearing). Those who are familiar with Oregon's restrictive rural building codes will realize how many conditions needed to be met, including engineering, fire protection, flood plain, setbacks, etc. All of these conditions have been met and we are awaiting the final approval of this project. We even had to do soil typing and timber stand evaluation. Having met all conditions required, we look forward to the issue of a permit and the breaking of ground on this unique one of a kind building.

The site selected was the only one that required no tree cutting, having been a meadow for one hundred years. However, we selectively cut about 12 trees, which are being milled on-site for beams and dimensional lumber for the center.

In addition to the necessary permits, we have also acquired many of the materials needed to construct this unique building.

What is so unique about this project? It is a two-story octagon with straw bale walls, the support coming from the lodgepole pine timbers. It will create its own electricity and have gravity fed water which will also be heated by wood and run thru the floor. The first floor is earthen and there will be some cobwork in the walls (cob is a combination of straw, mud, and sand that has been used in England for about 500 years).It is designed to maximize the use of passive solar heat, having thick walls and an earthen floor with rock bank for heat storage beneath it as well as radiant wood fired heat. There will be natural hand made tiles and other unusual features. It will remain off the grid and provide a valuable teaching and learning experience for decades to come, serving as a classroom during the construction and afterward.

We are very excited about this natural building, and have discovered that eco-friendly building is not cheap. The cost of the electrical components alone are about $5000 more than conventional electricity.

This building will serve as a hands-on classroom for students to gain experience in alternative and conventional building and design, and will aid in community building, self-empowerment, and environmentally friendly alternatives. We will be working with excellent teachers and other groups to present and facilitate this experience.

We are asking for your help and support in bringing this dream into material form, that we may continue to grow and embellish our mission: to teach and share wholistic healthy living into the 21^st Century.

Aerious is a not-for-profit 501©3 educational organization registered in Oregon. Our federal tax ID is 93-1072579. Donations made to Aerious and earmarked for this project are considered tax deductible under appropriate IRS guidelines. Documentation of the building process with photographs and text will continue thru the entire process. Significant donations of money and specific materials from individuals and corporate and private groups will be acknowledged in our documentation, outreach, and advertising, if the donors wish.

Further inquiries, including plans and photographs, may be yours with a serious inquiry.

We look forward to hearing from you
and encourage you to live your dreams.