Farewell Hale County

December 16, 2025

We’ve had an extremely fun and busy few weeks since our last blog post, and it’s now the end of the semester. Our time working on Mark’s Home is complete. We are excited to show what we’ve been working on!

Studio + Site: All Zipped Up

Things have been full steam ahead on site! We successfully completed the framing of the walls before Halloween Review. Adorned in our costumes, we gave our visiting collaborators a tour of site, which gave them the opportunity to walk through the project and get a better understanding of the space at full scale.

Moving forward, we divided and conquered to work on multiple parts of the project at once. We mounted and taped the ZIP System® sheathing, placed all the brackets needed to meet the FORTIFIED Gold standards, and, ahead of schedule, framed and decked the front porch.

In studio, we met with lighting consultant Thomas Patterson, who gave us insight on lighting strategies to use at Mark’s Home and in the workshop space. With Mark’s low vision in mind, we developed a series of charrettes to brainstorm different lighting conditions that would enable him to live and work comfortably. After narrowing down the options, we tested the conditions with Mark at Mac’s Model Home to get feedback on the lighting types that he preferred.

The semester was ending, so we spent our last full week of class finalizing our presentation material for Soup Roast and doing one last concrete pour to make the roof column bases. We also did one last charette to formulate ideas for the cladding that will go on the FEMA safe room, and design potential layouts of the workshop space. This milepost will be a good starting point for the students arriving next semester.

Two people dressed as Phineas and Ferb from "Phineas and Ferb" stand on a brick pathway in front of a rustic building with wooden beams and a blue door. Their costumes feature oversized cartoon masks and colorful outfits
3rd-Years in costume for Halloween Reviews
Multiple architectural sketches of buildings, including elevations and perspectives, displayed on a wall or board. Some drawings are colored to highlight design elements, and the papers include tracing and regular sheets.
Last design charette of the semester
Four individuals wearing large cartoon masks of Phineas, Buford, Perry the Platypus, and Ferb pose outdoors near a wooden building. A monitor beside them displays a digital rendering labeled "Mark's House"
Halloween Reviews presentation in costume!
A house under construction in a wooded area features green ZIP System sheathing panels, framed window and door openings, and a wooden staircase. Construction materials and tools are scattered around the dirt lot.
Mark’s Home with ZIP sheathing up

Woodshop: Shopaholics

We’ve officially finished with all our chairs, and they look incredible!

After we finished our mock-ups around Halloween Reviews, we spent almost every night in the woodshop working on final products. The mock-ups allowed us to both practice our fine woodworking skills and make minor alterations to our measurements. We worked closely with Instructor Steve Long on processing our wood, using the table saw, and producing jigs, all of which was critical to every group’s process. Before Thanksgiving break, all the chairs’ major components were finished. Coming back from the break, we spent the last week finishing up the final touches like staining and sanding. 

At Soup Roast, we had an exhibition on the Great Hall featuring our chairs, our cutting boards, and some students’ side projects. These four differing chairs were a beautiful testament to the valuable skills we learned in woodworking and design from Steve. While our time at Rural Studio is over, it is exciting to know that the woodshop will soon be filled with a new group of students next semester!

A woodworking shop scene showing several wooden pieces clamped together on a workbench for steam bending. Clamps of different sizes and colors hold the pieces tightly in place. The background includes various woodworking tools, materials, and equipment on shelves and pegboards, suggesting an active workshop environment.
Steam bending plywood to jig
Top-down view of a woodworking project clamped and glued on a large wooden workbench. Several orange bar clamps hold bent and layered wood pieces in place, with blue tape visible between sections.
Steam bending stool leg to 90 degrees
A handcrafted wooden chair with a simple, modern design sits on grass in front of a weathered gray wooden wall. The chair has clean, angular lines with a slightly reclined backrest and a seat plate, both showing the natural grain of the wood.
The Standard Chair
A collection of handcrafted wooden cutting boards and trays with various geometric patterns and wood tones arranged neatly on a rustic wooden table outdoors. The pieces display a range of designs, including stripes, chevrons, and checkerboards.
Final cutting boards at Soup Roast
Three students work together in a woodshop, using clamps to secure a piece of wood on a workbench. The table is covered with tools, including a mallet and metal blocks. The students appear focused and collaborative, surrounded by woodworking materials and equipment.
Students bending a leg piece
A collection of handcrafted wooden furniture pieces arranged outdoors on a wooden deck. There are several uniquely designed chairs and stools—some with bold geometric shapes and others with more traditional forms—set on top of and around a sturdy wooden table.
Final chairs at Soup Roast

History: Watercolor Marathon!

As this semester closed, we went on our last house tours for History. In the meantime, we continued to work on our final watercolor. Thanksgiving break was a time of rest and collecting materials to create natural pigments. The most impressive natural pigment we found came from boiling cabbage. We don’t want to spoil the surprise, but a hint is that the color is featured in most everyone’s final product. After a light refresh on color theory, everyone mixed pigments, and made colors to present our final watercolors. At Soup Roast, we showcased our sketchbooks from the semester along with our watercolors. Mars and Emily won books for the outstanding quality of their work throughout the semester! 

Every week we seemed to find a new favorite home with each detail showcasing the impressive craftsmanship throughout. During the semester, we learned some of the techniques used that help these homes survive for many years. We are so grateful to have learned about restoration and history through firsthand experience. 

A group of people stand around a large wooden table covered with open sketchbooks that display architectural drawings and watercolor studies. Hands are visible flipping through pages that show elevations, color swatches, and building sketches. The scene is outdoors on a cloudy day, with grass and garden beds in the background.
Showing off sketches
A person in a cozy blue sweater and headphones works intently on architectural drawings at a desk. The room is well lit, with papers and a laptop nearby.
Final line weights
The professor, Dick Hudgens, stands in front of a table that displays architectural renderings while students wearing Santa hats look on. Behind them, a large digital screen shows a rendering of a house labeled “MARK’S HOME” with trees and grass in the background. The setting is an open-air pavilion with wooden decking.
Presenting the finals
Several adults in winter jackets stand beside a table that displays large pastel-colored architectural renderings and photographs of Southern-style houses and flowers. The table is set up outdoors on a wooden deck, with greenhouses and garden rows visible in the background.
Finals!
A smiling student in a Santa hat and glasses holds the book "Historic Architecture in Alabama," while a student beside him holds the book "Watercolor Painting." They stand on a wooden deck.
New Books!

Student Life: The More the Merrier

In November, we had the absolute pleasure of hosting a group of students from Wales, UK. We played pickleball with them, introduced them to some local restaurants, and gave them a tour of the Mark’s Home site. This was an excellent opportunity to compare our countries’ building techniques. For dinner, our visitors even helped Chef Amanda Pinkstaff cook a delicious shepherd’s pie. They were incredible guests, and we enjoyed our time with our new friends from across the pond.  

We spent holidays celebrating with our Rural Studio family through great food. Our client, Mark, graciously hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for us. From dressing to cornbread to turkey, it was the best Thanksgiving meal Newbern has ever seen. In celebration of the end of the semester, the 5th-year students hosted a potluck and gift exchange. Everyone took a break from their hard work to have a nice, shared meal before Soup Roast and the holiday break. We welcomed parents and friends at Soup Roast to showcase all the work from our semester. Our families got to see the progress on Mark’s Home, which thrilled us, and we received feedback from our reviewers to help next semester’s students. 

Thank you to everyone who came out to Soup Roast and helped support all our hard work this past semester! 

A person sits casually on a chair in a dimly lit, rustic outdoor space with string lights. A black dog is nearby. The scene feels relaxed and serene.
Standard Chair in use!
Man in sunglasses sits on a large, wooden throne-like chair on a plywood deck. Green construction boards in the background read "ZIP System."
Mark’s first look at his new porch
A group of students work on architectural models in a studio with various tools and materials. The atmosphere is focused and collaborative.
Behind the scenes getting ready for Soup Roast
Two people wearing Santa hats hold OSHA certification cards, smiling and standing against a wooden building backdrop. They seem proud and festive.
OSHA cards arrived just in time.
A person in a brown jacket holds a large, curved wooden chair section in a woodworking shop. The workspace has tools and wood pieces, evoking a sense of craftsmanship
Improvement!
Two people wearing whimsical, oversized cartoonish headpieces sit at a piano in a cozy, wood-paneled room. The atmosphere is playful and creative.
Phineas and Ferb playing the piano
A diverse group of 17 people pose, standing indoors against a wooden wall and smiling. Front center, an older man in an "Auburn" sweater stands out. Casual, friendly atmosphere.
Thanksgiving hosted by Mark