Speakers
Shay Salomon
Shay Salomon is an author, educator, and a builder in the field of natural construction methods. She is a co-founder of the Small House Society, which she helped establish along with Nigel Valdez, Jay Shafer, and Gregory Paul Johnson in the fall of 2002, when Shay and Nigel visited Jay and Greg in Iowa City, and gave a talk at the local library. Since that time, the Small House Society has been recognized by Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, The Columbia News Service, and other news media sources.
At the time of establishing the Small House Society in 2002, Shay and Nigel were traveling, collecting floor plans, stories, and photographs of the small house movement. They worked on this project for about 7 years, and were supported in part by a grant from the Graham Foundation for the Fine Arts. This year, Lyons Press (GlobePequot) published their book, Little House on a Small Planet. LHSP is a self-help, home-improvement guide for people who want to increase their happiness by living in much less space.
Shay earns her living mainly as a carpenter and natural builder. She's taught at least a hundred courses in carpentry, straw bale building, solar design, and related subjects. She specializes in coaching owner builders, and teaching women's courses and, of course in building very small houses.