Shelter Institute in the News
The Working WaterFront September 2010:
North Haven students get a team-building experience
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| North Haven Community School students raise one wall of their new Projects Building. |
North Haven Community School's high school students clamber out of their tents in the cool morning air of Chewonki Campground. Their morning procedure is almost like that of a normal school day-eating breakfast and preparing for class-but today's preparations are for a most unorthodox classroom setting. Today they will be attending the campus at Shelter Institute, where they will learn the age-old art of post and beam construction. This is not for novelty, nor a lesson in an antiquated trade-the timbers that the students carefully measure, mark and cut will then be ferried out to North Haven and erected as part of the Projects Building, the newest addition to their school.
"It sort of naturally evolved," says Barney Hallowell, principal of North Haven Community School (NHCS), of the timberframing project. "The kids got very interested in the project, and actually began building their own models of timberframes. It was kind of surprising in a way. And that led to us saying ‘Well, let's have some instruction.'" The Shelter Institute in Wiscasset was a perfect match for the temper of the project-it has a long running history (35 years) in the teaching and dissemination of sustainable building techniques, and has developed a well-earned niche in the field of "green" architecture. The school has worked with high-school aged students before, but never an entire high school. Instructor Blueberry Beeton says, "We are really excited about it. We've offered a scholarship for years, [for one high-school aged student per class], but this is sort of a unique project." Beeton points out the fact that due to the small size of the school, the entire high school can attend one timberframing class session. (More . . . )
Financial Times Newspaper May 2009:
A hands-on revolution
A few years ago Jon Biehler took a life-changing bicycle ride through the US state of Maine. He happened upon a school – the Shelter Institute – which would eventually transform him from a teacher into an architect and builder, the sort of man able to put a roof over his own head.
“[I was] already interested in building a house for myself with good construction techniques and a very open feeling [and] I realised that Shelter Institute could give me the knowledge to either contract out or take on whatever portion of the work I wanted,” recalls Biehler, who is based in Germany. “A few summers later, I took their three-week post-and-beam course.”
Enchanted by the school’s surroundings, he bought a nearby plot of land, where he erected a pre-cut 20ft by 40ft post-and-beam structure . . .(more)
Wiscasset Newspaper March 2000:
New Shelter Institute Campus Inspires Future Homebuilders
"Our excitement comes from being on this new campus. Students come here and see our building and explain, 'This is like what I want to do.'" -- Patsy Hennin
Who has not dreamed of building his or her own home? That's as far as it gets for most people, however. Cost factors, lack of skills, and what seems like an overwhelming task keep most people from fulfilling their dream.
But Pat and Patsy Hennin of Woolwich have been in the business of helping people see things differently and make such dreams a reality as operators of the Shelter Institute -- even for those who have never lifted a hammer. (More . . .)
The New York Times February 2, 1989
House-Building 101: A Hands-On Class
Joyce Cowfer was in tears when she called Pat Hennin to say she had miscalcuated the size of her foundation and realized it would cost $1,000 more to build her Maryland house.
Not to worry, said Mr. Hennin, a co-owner of the Maine Shelter Institute and Ms. Cowfer's former instructor. He patiently explained how to correct her blunder and even drew diagrams and mailed them to her. (More . . .)
The New York Times October 11, 1981
Schools Teach Homebuilding
On a steaming day laced with periods of rain, Carl and Dotty Albright worked against time to finish building their house. Camped out in a tent on their 21-acre property with their four children, they were trying to get in before winter. But they were behind schedule, ( . . . More)
Time Magazine September 1979
Have Hammer, Will Teach
Mon.-Sun. for 3 wks. Tuition: $300 each; $450 per couple. If the Shelter Institute had a printed catalogue, that is how its one course entry might read. Located in the shipbuilding city of Bath, Me. (pop. 9,679), Shelter has a curriculum that could be outlined on a matchbook cover. If it had commencement ceremonies, its new graduates would probably sport construction helmets and carpenters' aprons instead of caps and gowns. Yet they leave knowing how to do something that most Americans only dream about doing: build a house.
( . . . More)
