Marie-France Roy has it made. Right now she’s holed up in a little cabin just outside the fishing village of Ucluelet on the western edge of Vancouver Island. It’s a fantasy forest. Sasquatch country. A wild place. She’s got chickens, a greenhouse and enough firewood for the winter. There are two houses on the land, the one she’s living in now, and the cob house she’s almost finished building. For the uninitiated, a cob house is like a normal house only it’s built with mud. Well, more specifically sand, clay and straw.
Stay dialed for Marie’s short documentary video, dropping November 16th on snowboardmag.com
Why Ucluelet?
I ended up here because I always wanted to learn how to surf. There are not many options in Canada, on either coast, but I was definitely loving the West Coast. Plus, it wasn’t too far from Whistler. I liked the vibe in Ucluelet; it’s a little less busy. And now I love everything about it — the people, the nature — there’s good skateboarding and surfing. To me it’s paradise.
When was the cob house dream born?
I’m obsessed with small spaces, like cabins. I see a chicken coop and I’m like, ‘We can transform that!’ I don’t know what it is. But when I broke my neck snowboarding, a couple months after that I took a course in sustainable building. It was on Salt Spring Island. The Mud Girls, a group of women who hold the course and build houses, teach people sustainable building. It’s a week-long workshop, and it’s so rad. They are such awesome women. I learned a lot. The first day of the course a cob house was one of the examples they used and I was like, ‘I want to build that.’
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And what did it take to make the dream a reality?
I’m really lucky because my brother is a carpenter. I don’t know if I would’ve taken on such a big project if I didn’t have him. He has all the tools. I definitely can’t take all the credit for this house; if anything he gets more credit than me, but it was a lot of teamwork. It was really fun and rewarding, and there was lots of learning!
What was the biggest lesson you learned?
Building is stressful! But this was a dream project. I learned that building takes a lot of time and money, and I also learned that you can build a little home for not that much if you have realistic goals. You don’t need all that much. I’m really happy to live in a small space, and really happy to look out the window and see all trees.
What’s your best advice for someone trying to do the same — build a cob house or some sort of smaller-scale shelter?
Make sure you’re not stressed for time. It’s not expensive to do it, and it’s a cheap way to build, but like with any big project in life, make sure you have enough time and the right people. Having someone who knows their stuff about carpentry really helps! Do it with love and it’s going to be fun. It’ll be worth it.
Why is it important for you to live so directly connected to the earth?
That’s when I feel the most happy and healthy and the most like myself. That’s when I’m grounded. When I’m outside, camping, surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, that’s when I feel the best. If I have any stress in my mind it just instantly releases. It’s part of our DNA — that’s what we need.
Watch also: Natural connection: Sidetracked with Marie-France Roy by Full Moon
Originally featured in Snowboard Magazine 12.2: The Intrinsic Issue
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