Learn to build your own cob house — from foundation to roof
35-Day Advanced
Cob Building Course
June 1st - July 4th, 2026 — Portugal
A full building journey
From Earth. From Scratch. With Your Own Hands.
A 35-day immersive cob building workshop where you learn to create a complete, beautiful and ecological 12m² round cob cottage from raw, natural materials.
Did you ever dream of building your own earthen home?
june 1st- July 4th
A month of learning through hands-on experience
What if building a home didn’t require industrial materials, huge budgets, or complicated machines?
With these workshops, we offer both, the skills and the lived experience to help make that vision tangible. Participants not only learn how a cob house is made, but also discover that it is truly possible — and that the power to create it lies in their own hands.
This workshop is not an online course.
It is a real, raw and intimate experience with the earth and with other people.
Together we step away from the digital world and learn by doing — using our hands, our bodies and natural materials to create something meaningful together.
Over five weeks, we will move through each stage of the build, a 12 m² round cob house, combining hands-on sessions with practical instruction. Short lectures and demonstrations deepen your understanding, giving context to each step. In a small group we work with earth, shape walls, and add finishing touches, experiencing the full process of building a home. By the end, you’ll gain practical skills, confidence, and a real understanding of natural building you can apply anywhere. And propably a few new friends, eager to help you build your own projects.
What you'll receive on this course is:
Theory about building sustainable housing
Practical knowledge and profound understanding on natural building from foundation to roof
Hands-on experience and opportunity to learn from experienced facilitators
A month of living in nature close to the land and working with others
access to potential future projects
Choose your pace: 2 weeks for a taste, or 5 weeks to build your own cob house from start to finish
Sign up for the Cob-building Course:
Committed Builder Pass
Learn the entire process: foundation → roof
Hands-on building plus theory & guidance from experienced facilitators
Meals, Camping Accommodation
Leave with skills, confidence, and a network of natural building peers
Deep, focused learning in a supportive, collaborative environmen
Total value: €2000
This month Just €1600
"Best course ever!"
"Learning from them doesn’t just teach you how to build — it changes the way you see materials, spaces, and what’s possible." - Julia
Drop-in Builder Pass
14 days hand-on learning experience
Meals & Camping Accommodation
Experience collaborative, practical learning in nature
Connect with fellow builders and form lasting friendships
Total value: €1000
This months price €750
"It was a great experience!"
"Beyond learning natural building, it was an incredibly empowering and inspiring life experience." Alexandra
We want to make the course accessible for every person. Contact us directly for a payment plan or work trade opportunity.
The Journey
Course Program — what we'll build togehter
week 1
foundation
Site selection,drainage, building a rock stemwall + 1st coat of earthen floor.
week 2, 3
Building the house structure
Making cob, building walls with cob, inserting windows, bottles, shelves and other elements of the house.
week 4
Sculpting & earthen plaster
Create the details, relief sculpting, decorations, earthen plaster and finishes
week 5
Closing the Buidling
Carpentry, Reciprocal roof framing, sheathing, green roof cover + 2nd floor coat
What our students say:
I joined the workshop dreaming of building my own home, and left realizing: I can actually do this. Working with cob, mixing, building and sculpting the walls showed me I’m much stronger than I thought. Beyond learning natural building, it was an incredibly empowering and inspiring life experience.
Alexandra from Germany
Both, Lea and Raoul share their natural building knowledge in a way that is engaging, experiential, and inspiring. I gained practical tools I can truly apply, while learning in a space that balanced focused work with playfulness and creativity. Their workshop felt like a muddy playground where you’re free to learn, create, and express yourself.
Noa from Israel
Lea and Raoul are incredible teachers with deep experience in natural building. They explain things clearly while keeping the process creative, playful, and full of heart. Learning from them doesn’t just teach you how to build — it changes the way you see materials, spaces, and what’s possible.
Julia from Russia
Lea and Raoul taught me not only the most important things in cob building, but also the joy of creativity, cooperation and working using your bare hands.
Walter from Netherlands
Our previous workshops...
What you'll learn in this cob building course:
- Site selection
- Foundations & drainage systems
- Building a natural rock stem wall
- Soil analysis and understanding building materials
- Making test bricks
- Finding the correct cob ratio for different soil types
- Choosing the best building location according to permaculture principles
- Mixing and making cob
- Building cob walls
- time and money budget for your project
- Integrating windows, doors, and shelves
- sculpting niches and integrating bottles
- Installing electrical wiring and plumbing within cob walls
- Sculpting with cob
- Preparing and applying earthen plasters
- Pouring an earthen floor
- Wall-to-roof connection techniques
- Building a roof frame
- Installing a green roof covering
- other earthen building techniques
The Facilitators
Lea Zdarsky
Nature has always felt like home to me. When I began traveling at 17 and found myself on permaculture farms, in eco-villages, and activist squats, I realized that I wanted to learn how to build my own home.
After spending almost a year in India in 2018, I decided to take matters into my own hands and joined my first 6-week natural building workshop with CruzinCobGlobal. The first time I had mud between my toes, shaped it with my hands, I knew I was in my element.
I later worked as an assistant and teacher for CruzinCobGlobal, and my travels increasingly revolved around learning more about earthen building. Along the way, I used these skills to live and work on natural building projects in many different climates and environments.
Since then, I have built a variety of structures — houses, sculptures, and ovens — in different places around the world.
This path has naturally led me to begin offering workshops myself, sharing the skills and the empowering experience of creating a home from raw, natural materials.
Raoul Janmahomed
I have been a nomad for almost two decades of my life. Studying, practicing meditation and massage, dancing, and exploring the world. Throughout this journey of discovery, I was also always searching for a deeper sense of belonging.
When I discovered the world of natural building, the desire to create a home and a place where people could come together became not only stronger, but also a tangible reality.
Building with earth is a way for me to connect and share not only practical skills, but something deeper. It feels like a very primal way of coming together — creating the sense of belonging and connection that I have often missed in many parts of modern society.
Often we arrive as strangers, but after dancing in the mud, sweating, and building a house together through collective labor, we leave feeling like a tribe.
about the host
Hey, I'm Joelle!
The Forest is a place where we live a species appropriate life. Several species like horses, cats, dogs, small wild animals and a couple of humans live closely together respecting each other's needs so we can all thrive. nature is our teacher.
Accommodation is simple and close to nature, with camping as the main option included in the workshop fee. On our beautiful farm, home to various animals we offer outdoor showers, compost toilets, a shared outdoor area for meals and gatherings, and a basic outdoor kitchen for weekend use. There is an option to upgrade to a caravan, bring your own van or rent something closeby.
Daily Flow
7:00-8:00 Yoga/ Movement
8:00-8:45 Breakfast
9:00-1:00 Hands-on building session
1:00-2:30 Lunch
2:30-5:30 Theory & Hands-on building Session
5:30-7:00 Free time
7:00-8:00 Dinner
The weekends are off to explore the area, enjoy the beach & play with the farm animals as well as for rest & restoration.
Worktrades are available, please reach out if the price is an issue for you
Ready to jump-in?
Join us in 35-Day Advanced Cob Building Workshop and learn the art of earthen building.
35-Day Advanced Cob Building Workshop
Learn to build Your Own cob house
From Earth. From Scratch. With Your Own Hands.
Copyright . All rights reserved