Sasha first came to Quail Springs on a cold snowy night in early 2008 to visit friends who had recently started calling the place home, and the warmth of the people there brought her back. She is passionate about creating a beautiful life, including the structures that house us for so much of our time. This passion leads her to practice those things that help us remember who we really are and why we are here – activities and creations which remind us of our connections to each other, our food, our shelter and the earth. At Quail Springs, Sasha enjoys the feeling that there is another way to be in the world, and loves how beautifully this is shared and planted like seeds within the site’s many guests.

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 for a decade, she has relocated back to northern CA to be closer to family. She also runs her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter, and although she enjoys the act of building, her true passions lie in the teaching and sharing of natural building with others.

Sasha was drawn to natural building due to her interest in the impact that shelter has on our lives and what it means to live in beautifully created homes, of natural non-toxic materials. Building a non-toxic home is a profound experience. When people create shelter together their lives are changed forever through connections with one another and the shelter itself. Just as people are inspired when learning how to grow food, people are inspired when creating the structures we depend on for comfort and health.