The Straw House: A Living Vision for the Future — And an Invitation to be a part of it
- Kris Spitaleri
- Mar 12
- 4 min read
To everyone,
Imagine a place in your dreams where nature teaches, animals are friends, art inspires, herbs heal, friendships grow, and community thrives.
A place where everyone learns to create with their hands and hearts.Where elders and all generations share wisdom and knowledge of the past, present and the future.
Where artists, ecologists, healers, animal experts, and neighbors gather not to consume - but to remember what it means to be a person, passionately engaged, alive with energy, and full of happiness. We are building that place, and it is nearing completion.
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At a time when the world feels fractured, hurried, disillusioned, and disconnected, we are creating an Ecology, Art, Sustainability, and Wellness Center. A living sanctuary devoted to regeneration, creativity, and collective well-being in hopes of reversing our self destructive behaviors, by living whole again.
This will not be just a building.It is a property that will be a bright shiny beacon.
A Center Rooted in the Earth and in Hope, with an inspiring vision of the future.
Our center is being built with the loving hands of volunteers, reclaimed, recycled, and non-toxic materials, including straw bale walls and natural clay plasters that are healthy for people and gentle on the planet. The building itself is a teacher, demonstrating what is possible when we design responsibly and in partnership with nature.
Within and beyond property boundaries, the community will experience:
Art & Creative Expression - workshops, exhibitions, performances, intergenerational connections and storytelling
Ecology & Sustainability - hands-on learning, regenerative practices, earth-based skills, demonstrations, and experimentation
Wellness & Healing - movement, mindfulness, nourishment, restoration, herbalism, natural healing techniques, neurodiverse space
Native Cultures - survival skills, native history, ceremonies, native techniques
Animal sanctuary - clinic, rescues, rehabilitation, therapy, butterfly pavilion for breeding and release
Community gathering - a safe inclusive space to connect, collaborate, make friends and belong
This center exists to restore what modern life has eroded: connection - to the land, to creativity, to each other, and adventures to the unknown.
This Matters Now
We are living at a pivotal moment. Climate confusion, social isolation, cultural fragmentation, unawareness, unhealthy lifestyles, disconnect from nature and so many other issues are taxing our healthy limits of stress so we must respond not with fear - but with a trail of uplifting vision and clarity.
This project is our response.
It is a bold declaration that beauty matters, that community and connection with nature is medicine, and that sustainable living can be joyful, inspiring, healthy and deeply fulfilling to the human soul.
By supporting this place, you are not only funding a space—you are helping to seed a future where:
Creativity is accessible, not exclusive
Sustainability is lived, not just discussed
Wellness is natural, not political or economic
People of all ages and backgrounds feel welcomed and valued
An Invitation to Be a Founding Visionary
We invite you to become a founding supporter of this living vision already in progress.
Your contribution - whether large or small - will directly support the creation of this center and the programs that will serve thousands for years to come. This is an opportunity to invest in something tangible, lasting, and transformative.
THIS IS LEGACY WORK.
Together, we can continue to create this place future generations will point to and say, “This is a place that changed us. This is where we learned to live and think differently. A place that made a difference.”
Please Join Us
If this vision stirs something in you - if you believe in a world where ecology, sustainability, art, and wellness are not luxuries but necessities - we invite you to give today.
Help us to finish building this magical fairy tale wonderland that restores the land, uplifts the spirit, reconnects community, explores the many facets of sustainability and inspires freedom to explore the unknown without fear.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
GOAL: $1,500,000
Naming Opportunities and Sponsorships
The following naming opportunities represent select sponsorship tiers within the capital campaign. Contributions of all sizes — including general donations, grants, and combined sponsorships — collectively support the realization of the full project vision.
Founding donors recognition wall:
All donor names or anonymous if preferred will be acknowledged on this wall.
$ 50 Straw House Poster (Given if requested)
$ 100 Straw House T-Shirt (Given if requested)
$ 100 Little Hand Tile Wall (Individual)
$ 150 Entry Path Tile
$ 250 Fruit Tree
$ 800 Lend A Hand Tile Wall (Family)
$ 1,000 A combination of the preceding
$ 5,000 Special requests (Mutually agreed upon)
$ 8,000 Bench
$ 10,000 Picnic Table Setup
$ 25,000 Natural Healing Space
$ 50,000 Fruit Orchard
$ 50,000 Laboratory room
$ 50,000 Sound Recording Studio
$ 50,000 Library Room
$ 100,000 Butterfly Pavillion
$ 100,000 Ceramic Studio (Combined Space)
$ 100,000 Glass Blowing Studio (Combined Space)
$ 100,000 Wood Shop (Combined Space)
$ 100,000 Multi Use Studio (Combined Space)
$ 100,000 Temporary Emergency Housing (Combined Space)
$ 500,000 Artist Live/Work Space
$ 1,000,000 Main Building
We are confident with your help we will reach beyond our goal in some combination of the above and through other solutions.
Please arrange for a tour if you would like to get a better understanding and a visualization of the project. We hope you will be pleasantly surprised.
With gratitude and hope,
The Straw House Team
Building a more beautiful,regenerative and sustainable future together.
GoFundMe: gofundme.com/straw-house-laguna
Website: https://www.lagunastrawhouse.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lagunastrawhouse/
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