Earthen Shelter was founded by Sasha Rabin in 2013, and is now run by Sasha and her husband John Orcutt. We also just added a new tiny human to our family, who will be joining us for our family run workshops.

Sasha Rabin fell in love with natural building in 2002, when she began her building career with an apprenticeship at the Cob Cottage Company. Since then she has taught extensively through organizations that she co-founded, Seven Generations Natural Builders and Vertical Clay, and through collaborations with The Yestermorrow Design Build School, The Canelo Project, Cal-Earth, The Solar Living Institute, and Quail Springs Permaculture. Teaching natural building has brought her as far as the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) Jordan and PRI Kenya. Sasha currently sits on the Quail Springs board of directors, as well as the Cob Research Institute. After living at Quail Springs and running the Natural Building program for a decade, she has relocated back to northern CA to be closer to family.

In 2013 John Orcutt left his job as a coral farmer seeking a more fulfilling life helping people build shelter for themselves. He spent the next three years as a nomadic natural builder and student. After studying at the Earthship Academy in New Mexico and the Cal-Earth Institute in California, John joined a crew of superadobe (earthbag) builders from Cal-Earth and built in California, Arizona, and Nepal. In April 2016, John came to Quail Springs to learn cob building, joining Sasha Rabin and Paul Swenson's Natural Building course.

John was struck by the beauty of the land at Quail Springs, and overwhelmed by the community's ability to inspire, educate, and empower its guests and students. In no hurry to leave, John stuck around, helping to complete the building started in the workshop.