About Us

Our intentions as a craft person of all things clay, straw and wood, is to integrate that deep connection to earth, to healthy soil and both the reverence and reflection of place in our work the way earthworms weave a relationship between earth, plants and sky. 

The Journey

A woman wearing a red tank top, jeans, and brown boots standing outdoors at a building with a green wall and a wooden roof. She is smiling and holding sunglasses in her hands. Behind her is a wooden fence and trees.

Lydia Doleman, Founder.

Lydia’s path to natural building began with a deep desire to synthesize her passions for art, sculpture, and the biological sciences. After discovering the functional beauty of tangible, natural museum crafts, she experienced a pivotal, life-changing moment 30 years ago: she witnessed a group of women building a strawbale house in Montana. For Lydia, it was the perfect combination of art, ecology, and high-performing, affordable housing.

Formerly teaching and building under the name Flying Hammer Productions (since 2003), Lydia has spent decades mastering both conventional carpentry and natural building. As a master of her craft, she knows the rules of construction inside and out, which gives her the freedom to creatively break them. Today, she focuses on the fine detailing and sculptural finishes that transform a house into a work of art.

Her milestone projects reflect a co-creative dance of light, space, and materials, including:

  • Building her own custom tiny home, which was celebrated in Lloyd Kahn's renowned architectural book, Tiny Homes.

  • Designing a whimsical, sculptural cob entryway resembling cherry trees for Portland's Rebuilding Center.

  • Creating affordable $250 ecological shelters for the homeless community, Dignity Village, using natural materials.

  • Authoring the educational guide Essential Light Straw Clay Construction to demystify sustainable building.

The Name "Earth Dragon"

A woman and a young girl working together to build a wall out of mud and straw, with the girl covered in mud.

The name "Earth Dragon" is rooted in Lydia’s profound love for all things clay and earth-based. She has a deep admiration for the humble earthworm, a creature that quietly takes what we consider refuse and transforms it into something magical and life-sustaining.

When Lydia discovered that the Chinese translation for "earthworm" is "earth dragon," she fell in love with the beautiful metaphor. It added an element of magic to a lowly creature that does so much to sustain our ecosystems. Serendipitously, Lydia’s own Chinese zodiac sign is the Earth Dragon. Ultimately, In 2023, Earth Dragon Natural Building LLC was born. Reflecting a transition in her life and business toward becoming more grounded, rooted, and deeply place-based.

The Philosophy

Person working on a wooden construction scaffold against a bright blue sky.

At Earth Dragon Natural Building, the core philosophy is centered on democratizing the physical and social architecture we inhabit. In a fragmented world, we believe in empowering individuals to move away from a consumer-based mindset—where a house is just a financial transaction—to actively producing a deeply resonant home. We aim to reconnect people and places by creating structures that directly reflect your localized, authentic patterns of living.

Our foundational principles for sustainable natural building include:

  • Community Connection: Utilizing the construction process as a collaborative tool to foster deep relationships and collective ownership.

  • Ecological Sustainability: We utilize non-toxic, locally sourced, and carbon-sequestering materials like straw and clay to build robust, healthy and fire resilient sanctuaries. Installing wall systems like strawbale, rammed earth, and hempcrete.

  • Authentic Living: Crafting structures that directly reflect your localized, authentic patterns of living to reconnect people with their environment.

  • Artistic Expression: Applying a modern approach to traditional materials aesthetic that beautifully balances ancient, traditional textures with clean modern architecture.

Testimonials

  • Testimonial

    “Lydia has led and assisted in many a building project on my property and it is always a pleasure to work with her. She is highly professional, punctual, friendly, and her breadth of experience really shows in her mastery of the natural building skillset.”

    • Carla David owner of Wild Wines Little Applegate OR

  • Testimonial

    “Working with Lydia was great! She and I built a strawbale and plaster ADU, and she handled all of the parts I didn’t know how to do – stacking bales, interior and exterior plaster, and the clay floor. The end result was beautiful, and I can’t wait to build another one!”

    -Justin Hymas owner of Ashland Builders Oregon

  • Testimonial

    “We have used Lydia for two strawbale construction projects as well as four plastering projects. One of them was a mini-house and the other, a very large 5000 sqft. multi-family townhouse. Lydia worked well with us, the clients, the architects, and other contractors during the design and planning phase of the projects; she patiently sourced and tested various plaster colors for us until we were satisfied. She did an excellent job with raising the strawbale walls and left us with a beautiful, finished plaster work that is joyful as a lived-in experience. We love working with Lydia and would keep hiring her again in a heartbeat for all our future natural building projects.”

    -Radhika Thekkath Ashland, OR

  • Testimonial

    “Lydia has done various natural building projects for my family and me over the years and we've always been very happy with her work. The largest project was the outside plaster of our strawbale home. The plaster is beautiful; the coloring is well-blended and the texture is smooth and structurally sound. Lydia is easy to work with, full of integrity, and always reliable. Highly recommend!”

    • Katie Guidotti ND Table Rock, OR

  • Testimonial

    “Lydia is a "craftsman" in every sense of the word. Simply put she is of maximum service. And if that is not enough, she is a lot of fun!!!"

    _Robert LaPorte Econest Author and Educator Ashland, OR

Specializing in building and teaching straw based wall systems, finish carpentry and a relentless enthusiasm for artistic natural finishes, Earth dragon aims to imbue our crafted spaces with the sacredness of natural materials in a way that transforms human habitations into artistic, ecological symbols of home and belonging. 

Each undertaking is a co-creative process, a dance of light, space, materials, plans, joy, and whimsy. With natural and conventional building experience since 1998, we bring decades of building evolution to the table. 

To quote one of the great thinkers of our time, David Graeber, " the ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make, and could just as easily make differently."