My name is Christo Markham. With a history of baking and building it was only a matter of time before I bumped into cob and natural building. After having worked in a Danish style bakery, apprenticing with a framing carpenter and building rammed earth houses and buildings; I left the U.S.A. and traveled in Mexico, Europe and Northern Africa.
Finally settling in the Netherlands and becoming a father, I worked in the graphic industry for fifteen years. Falling back on my roots in baking, I have been baking our own bread for several years. Wanting to deepen my understanding of bread I built an earthen oven. Struck wholeheartedly with an unexpected eureka, building that oven changed my life. Since then I have taken workshops in natural building, apprenticed with the Cob Cottage Company at the North American School of Natural Building, taught workshops and worked on various projects in Europe and the U.S.A.
Inspired by natural builders and earthen building traditions from around the world my perspective on how to build has changed. Not only building sustainable, healthy objects with natural materials, but enjoying working together and creating unique and beautiful places with people of all ages and backgrounds. Respecting each other's abilities and the world around us, discovering that we all have something special to teach and learn from one another.
I work together with natural builders from Holland and around the world. Promoting natural building and sustainable living at home and abroad.
Member of the Natural Building Network since 2006.
www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org