UPDATE: All our non-event rental stuff has been merged with our SEPPer program! Click Here to visit our SEPPer page! wheaton labs rental listing 2020 please note, we do have a two night minimum
wheaton labs is over 200 acres on two pieces of property (Base Camp and The Labs--see the following post for maps and each property's unique features) nestled in the forested, Rocky Mountain foothills near Missoula, Montana (USA). Kick back and enjoy the pristine wilderness and/or join in on one of our tours, operate one of our many rocket mass heaters, visit or stay in a wofati, revel in massive hugelkultur gardens, go bow hunting, sign up to drive the excavator or the tractor .... we've got these and more options for you!
This is base camp's micro cabin with the "Minnie Mouse" rocket mass heater, full size bottom bunk, twin size top bunk, off-grid with small solar to charge a phone or operate one light. The willow bank (willow feeder style toilet) and shower shack both are just a short walk, about 200 feet from the love shack. Base camp's wifi does not reach the Love Shack, though the community space called the library just down the driveway does have wifi and regular electricity should the solar power run out at the cabin. Firewood is included, though you'll likely have to chop your own kindling.
The red cabin is the home of the cyclone batch style rocket mass heater built by Donkey. Bunk bed with a double on the bottom and a single on top, all bedding plus fluffy organic cotton towels provided. Firewood is included but you might need to chop your own kindling. About 200 feet from the willow bank (willow feeder style toilet) and shower shack and a short walk up to the fisher price house.
We call the main house at base camp the "Fisher Price House" because it is a double-wide mobile home. We offer bunks in the small bunk bedroom sort of similar to hostel accommodations. There are two full size bunks and two twin size bunks. So it could provide bunks for six people. Open shelves (we've moved all books to the library) and a closet provide room for your bag and clothes. There is access to a full bathroom just across the hall. Access to the kitchen depends on whether the kitchen is the event kitchen during your stay. (See our event calendar for the latest.) Full bedding and fluffy organic cotton towels are provided.
Base camp is easy drive in access for car camping, pitching a tent on one of our tent pads, or finding a secluded spot on one of the plateau meadows, in the trees, or up on the hollowed out volcano with good submarine access. Volcano road is a rough, rocky one-lane road that snakes up the 500-foot rise of the rocky hillsides of base camp and around to the back of the volcano's peak.
RV, trailer, and car parking is at the base of hilly base camp, in the sandy parking lot behind our shop that we call Arrakis, or in our small turtle parking lot. We do not provide RV hookups at this time. Arrakis and the turtle lot do not have much shade, though we are attempting to grow trees (from seed!) to change that.
The function of this tipi is to seriously experience the value of the rocket mass heater. It can be super cold outside, your fire goes out at 9pm, and you are warm as toast til morning. Inside the tipi is a cob bed platform which *just* sleeps two if they like to sleep close. Burn as much wood as you like in the rocket mass heater (RMH) which heats the entire bench and bed platform. We provide full bedding on a mattress made out of straw (as part of our experimenting to have household materials as natural as possible), plus pillows and blankets for the cob bench seating. There's a hot water kettle that heats up on top of the RMH barrel, plus full water jugs for washing and drinking along with bins, soap and cloths for washing dishes outside. Candles are the only lighting source since the tipi does not have any solar panels in this off-grid location. Fluffy organic towels are provided for showers at base camp. Firewood is included in these rates, though you'll likely have to chop your own kindling. The chateau de poo (a willow feeder style toilet) is about a hundred yards away (next picture), a little walk through the woods. The tipi is also about a hundred feet from the bee hut (2nd next picture).
Allerton Abbey has one full size bed and two twin bunks. The thermal mass has not yet been fully charged, so the annualized thermal inertia cannot be tested yet, but there is a rocket cook stove inside which does a good job of heating said mass, and the occupants. This is a great way to get a closer look at this highly realistic vision of an eco friendly home, and how well it functions. Bring your favorite cast iron pans, split a little kindling, and get cozy in your bunk while you daydream of the modifications you would make if this were yourWofati.
Cooper Cabin is our second version of a wofati which, while not quite fully completed, is still a cozy place to stay with a first classrocket mass heater (RMH) in it. It also has Lasse's rocket wood cook stove, plus a (propane) gas stovetop. This is an off-grid cabin with some electricity from the solar leviathan. There is no running water, though we'll fill up a gravity-fed bucket for washing at the sink, and provide plenty of fresh drinking water in glass jugs from our wonderful well at base camp, plus fresh kitchen linens. There will be some dishes, utensils, pots and pans available for your use. Full bedding is provided for the king sized bed in the back bedroom (there is no door to close off that bedroom at this time), and cots or additional bedding can be provided at an additional charge. Firewood is included, though you'll likely have to chop your own kindling. The willowonka is just outside (willow feeder style toilet - next picture). Fluffy organic towels are provided for showers at base camp.
This is an off-grid cabin nestled in the woods, with a tiny (albeit a bit smoky) camping woodstove and single size loft bed. There is no running water, though we'll provide full water jugs for washing and drinking along with bins, soap and cloths for washing dishes outside. There will be a very few dishes, utensils, pots and pans available for your use. Full bedding is provided for the twin loft bed along with fluffy organic cotton towels for showers at base camp. There is no solar to power the chandelier at this time, though there are candles for your use. Firewood is included, though you'll likely have to chop your own kindling. It is a bit of a walk to the chateau de poo (a willow feeder style toilet).
The lab is off-grid and a more remote location than base camp, surrounded by private timber land and U.S. forest land - see more about that location in the next post. We do not have tent pads at the lab, though there are plenty of meadow-like or grassy spots to pitch a tent. RVs or trailers could make to the lab if the road is in decent condition, though of course there would be no hookups available there.
You would be welcome to fill up on water at base camp, use any of our willow feeders (the willow bank at base camp, or the willowonka or chateau de poo at the lab) and the shower shack back down the hill at base camp.
A note about showers: The shower shack is an outdoor shower at base camp with the hot water heated by a rocket wood stove. This means it is seasonal, only in use from late April or May until October (or so). We can help with firing the wood stove to heat the hot water and will post a schedule for when the water will be hot. Renters will also have the option to use the hall bath in the Fisher Price House. We ask that you use only biodegradable soap (or go 'pooless) and remove all of your bathing items from the shower or bathroom when you are done - even if you are staying in the house. We provide buckets to capture the water as it heats up and then we use that water to water plants or bucket flush the flush toilet in the house. (Do not put water in to the willow feeder toilets.)
Discounted pricing is offered to those attending a workshop at wheaton labs (see our event calendar for the latest). That pricing will be sent to you after you fill out the registration form for that event.
If you have any questions, please post to this thread. If it's a private question, e-mail bunks AT richsoil DOT com.
Use the links above to make payments, or send payments via paypal to paul AT richsoil DOT com. Once your payment is received, Paul forwards the particulars to Nicole who will get the details all sorted.
wheaton labs is comprised of two pieces of property:
base camp base camp is a ROCKY, very hilly chunk of land with a steep rise culminating in a 500 foot little peak that we call the "hollowed out volcano with good submarine access" and has:
good well water
on-grid electricity
wifi
outdoor willow feeder "willow bank" (like an outhouse)
outdoor (rockety wood-heated hot water) shower shack
the lab The lab is two miles from base camp along a paved, then gravel, then steep dirt-sometimes-mud-or-snow-adventure road. It is a much larger, more diverse, forested property surrounded by US forest land. lab features include:
off-grid
no wifi
solar electric power via the small "voltzwagon" at Allerton Abbey
solar electric power via the "solar leviathan" at Cooper Cabin
no water source yet (bring water from base camp)
limited cell service, some places no cell service
two outdoor willow feeders - "the chateau de poo" and the "willowonka" (next to Cooper Cabin)
lots of wildlife - including black bears, so please store food properly to avoid attracting bears
Hi,
When I click the link to look at the open dates for the Love Shack, Hipcamp just keeps asking me to log in again, (which I have a login, and then do), but then it doesn't actually show me the available dates.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Anyways, what's the next best way to check two particularly peppy date ranges? Is that a Coco PM?
Thanks!
Ash Jackson wrote:Hi,
When I click the link to look at the open dates for the Love Shack, Hipcamp just keeps asking me to log in again, (which I have a login, and then do), but then it doesn't actually show me the available dates.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Anyways, what's the next best way to check two particularly peppy date ranges? Is that a Coco PM?
Thanks!
Oh, thanks for alerting us to that, Ash! We'll try to fix that link.
And Nicole is right, that besides posting here, a PM to Coco is good, too.
I believe the Love Shack and Shan-delier are open and ready for renting. There should be a bunk in the bunkroom, too. There might also be options for "slumber party" at Cooper Cabin and a bunk at Allerton Abbey, but I need to verify.
Yes please. I Wanted to check in about specific dates before I pay. Can I be a SEPPer Before/after event and rent the love shack for 14 days?
I could arrive as early as the 16 or wait til the 18 and stay after the event.
Is this the best place to sort out these details or is a purple moosage better?
Co-Steward of a Natural Burial Cemetery in south-central Washington State
I asked Paul, and whatever days work for you, work for him. No one is already renting it before or after the event. So, just pick the dates that work best for you and post them here or email them to me--I think you have my @permies.com email from our communication about other events? And then just paypal Paul the amount using the Love Shack 14 night rate link
I don't know if this information is useful for planning processes: Some of the instructors will be there on the 17th to have time to settle in. So, if you come early, you won't be the only one!
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