Natalie Bogwalker spent her childhood in the countryside of Washington state. This is where her deep affinity for the forest and passion for crafting always guided her pursuits. Ironically, despite her inclination, she initially took a different path. Opting for the conventional route by enrolling in college to study genetic engineering.
However, at the age of 19, a life-altering car accident abruptly shifted her outlook. During this challenging period, she had a profound revelation: the traditional American dream was not what she aspired to pursue. “The normal success story of life in the US was not for me,” Bogwalker said. “And so I quit university, went traveling, learned a lot — and I went back to study ecological agriculture.”
Driven by a profound calling to connect with the earth, Natalie Bogwalker embarked on a journey across various corners of the globe, including Spain and Guatemala, before finally settling in Western North Carolina. Her path led her to live among kindred spirits who shared her passion for a more grounded way of life. Her journey commenced with her decision to reside alongside fellow kindred spirits on their properties where she lent her skills to contribute to realizing their various projects.
“They were just happy to have other people living on it who wanted to do cool things,” Bogwalker said
After a period of cohabiting with her boyfriend on his property, their relationship ended. It was during this challenging phase that Natalie Bogwalker recognized the importance of having the security of property ownership. Consequently, she made the pivotal decision to acquire her own piece of land. She, along with two close friends, pooled their resources to purchase approximately 16 acres. Then they divided the land equally among themselves.
“Our plan was to buy in bulk so it’ll be less expensive and also so we could guarantee who our neighbors would be,” Bogwalker said. The three individuals combined their funds into a single account to facilitate the purchase and conducted a double-closing procedure to partition the land, according to Bogwalker.
The entire acquisition cost amounted to $199,000 for the entire 16-acre property
Of this amount, Bogwalker personally contributed $47,000 in exchange for her ownership share of seven acres. In addition to selecting the cabin’s ideal location, Bogwalker also faced the task of identifying the available resources on her land that could be utilized in constructing her new home.
“After all, you want to be building something that makes sense in the landscape that you’re in,” she said. Ultimately, she chose to utilize pine logs from the trees she had felled on her property for the cabin’s construction. “They were pine trees that were overcrowded or in places where I was hoping to release some oaks and hickories,” Bogwalker said. “Thinning a forest is often helpful for the health of the forest.”
The log cabin was designed in her own image
Initially, she had envisioned her cabin as a single-story structure with a loft. But her perspective swiftly shifted when she realized that the available space wouldn’t suffice for her needs. “I drew out the floorplan, which was 12 by 16, and I tried to fit in little paper cut-outs representing all the things that I wanted in there — like the couch and my bed — and I couldn’t fit it,” she said.
Ultimately, Bogwalker opted for a two-story cabin as her final choice of design. While most of the raw materials for the cabin were sourced from her land, she had to purchase certain essential items. Items such as windows, doors, insulation, fixtures, and plumbing materials. To furnish her cabin, she acquired some furniture from Habitat for Humanity and obtained the remainder from online secondhand sellers.
Read: A Tiny Cabin Is Built in Three Weeks For Only $10.5K
Friends and family were invited over to assist in the major project
“The host cooks a bunch of food, provides all the materials for the projects ahead of time, and then they invite people to come and help,” Bogwalker said. According to Bogwalker, these work parties can attract a crowd of anywhere from 15 to 30 individuals. This assembly includes her friends, friends of friends, and fellow members of the DIY and off-grid living community.
“It was a big undertaking to build your own house as a single woman. There was a lot going on for me emotionally as well as physically,” Bogwalker said. Bogwalker emphasized that the core concept behind these work parties is mutual aid. “The number one thing was building friendships with people whom I helped out with various things. And they helped me out.”
The proud mom moved in before the project was actually completed
“I still didn’t have the finished floors up. I didn’t have any plumbing in the cabin.” Bogwalker said. “I had a hydrant outside the cabin that I could get water with, but the whole place was very unfinished.” According to Bogwalker, approximately a year and a half passed from the initial tree cutting to the point when she finally moved into her cabin.
Prior to this, she had been residing in a small shed that she had constructed on her land. She built the shed to stay close to the main cabin during its construction process. Over the following year, she dedicated her efforts to working on the cabin’s interior. And it was ultimately completed around 2013, according to Bogwalker.
Two years later, Bogwalker decided to expand the cabin’s size
Bogwalker’s expansion of the cabin saw it grow from under 400 square feet to about 700 square feet. The initial phase of expansion included the addition of a covered wraparound porch to her cabin, as she mentioned. While she constructed the porch floor herself, she enlisted the help of a friend to create a timber frame for the porch cover.
Coincidentally, it was during this period that she discovered she was pregnant
“I was like, ‘Okay, we need more space.’ I was living with a partner at the time, and so with the help of some work traders, apprentices, and work parties, I closed in a part of the covered porch,” she said. The enclosed porch, which has since been transformed into a parlor, served a special purpose back then. Bogwalker used it as a “birthing room” where she gave birth to her daughter Hazel in 2016.
“After I did that, I still had a pretty lavish covered porch, and I added onto it. At that point, I had a really nice outdoor sleeping area,” she added. In 2019, when Hazel reached the age of three, Bogwalker took the initiative to enclose the remaining portion of the original covered porch and transformed it into a bedroom for her daughter.
This entire project taught her the value of community
“I think in some ways the hardest part was doing it alone,” Bogwalker said. “There’s something really easy about doing things as a couple that makes it so that you don’t have to reach outside of that partnership and into the community to get help.” Bogwalker also mentioned that relying solely on herself compelled her to seek assistance and support from her community whenever the need arose.
Today, Bogwalker is the founder and operator of Wild Abundance, a school specializing in permaculture and carpentry
Wild Abundance has grown substantially and now boasts a team of approximately six staff members. Along with a rotating roster of over 20 instructors, as indicated on the Wild Abundance website. Among the school’s most sought-after courses are basic carpentry classes designed for women and workshops focusing on tiny house construction. Most of these classes are conducted on-site, situated on the same piece of land owned and inhabited by Bogwalker.
Notably, course pricing operates on a flexible scale. For instance, according to the Wild Abundance website, the four-day women’s basic carpentry class is priced between $850 and $1,700. Participants are encouraged to pay according to their means, as per Bogwalker’s guidance.
“Our sliding scale is completely based on self-reporting,” she added. “We ask students who have a yearly household income of $115,000 or more to pay at the upper end of the sliding scale, and those who consider themselves low income to pay at the bottom, and for folks to place themselves in between as they see fit.”
While classes are available to individuals of all genders, Bogwalker emphasized the significance of offering courses specifically tailored for women. Her intention was to create a safe and comfortable environment where women could become proficient in using construction tools without fear of judgment or discomfort. “I think there are a lot of situations where women are told that they’re not good at things,” Bogwalker said. “And it just makes my heart sing when I see women coming into their power.”
Bogwalker offers a piece of advice to those aspiring to build their own homes:
Begin with modest ambitions and start small. Particularly for individuals lacking prior experience in such endeavors, Bogwalker recommends commencing with a more modest floorplan design and gradually expanding it over time.
Additionally, she emphasizes the importance of maintaining an open mind when confronted with challenges, recognizing that adaptability and creative problem-solving are invaluable skills in the process of building a home. “It’s about making the best choice you can and having the understanding that you’re not going to be able to anticipate everything,” she added.
Take a look at the construction of the gorgeous log cabin in this video
Keep Reading: Man Builds Gorgeous 4,000 Sq Ft Home By Hand So He Can Live Debt-Free
Sources
- “Learn How to Build and Grow.” Wild Abundance.
- “This single mom lives in a 700-square-foot cabin she built by hand. Now, she’s teaching other women how to do the same.” Business Insider. Amanda Goh. October 4, 2023
