matthew rayBon

My name is Matthew Raybon. I am a maker, designer and human. I love making stuff. All sorts of stuff.  Over the years I have worked as a florist, a carpenter and most recently as an architect. Each brings its own mysteries, challenges, and rewards. I make homes for real humans, cafes for coffee, and furniture for both friends and strangers. I believe that creative problem solving through collaborative processes is the key to creating a more sustainable future. In my work as an architect I’ve come to know intimately a system for creating shelter and building community that is broken and out of touch with the needs and health of our communities and the earth. This is what first started me on my path to Rancho Mastatal.

I am a brother and a partner, a son and a sailor. I spent the first part of my life in coastal New Jersey and the second part in the mystifying city of New Orleans which basically just means I used to say yous guys and now I say y’all. Beginning when I was a little kid and continuously throughout my life I have spent a great deal of time sailing small fast boats. This experience has provided me with a deep reverence for the power and mystery of nature and a fascination with simple man made systems for passively using that power. Living and working in New Orleans taught me many things but above all it showed me what an urban community can look like. It reminds me every single day of the value of uninhibited creativity and ritual.

Over the past few years my partner Dewey and I have unified our lives and embarked on a journey of unlearning and growth in order to seek a more sustainable life for ourselves and our community. It is our hope that our time spent at Rancho will provide us a foundation in creating a life that is in alignment with our values and in harmony with our environment. I am reaching back to relearn time tested methods for fostering community and looking forward wondering how those techniques can integrate into the world resulting in slow gradual cultural shifts away from fast fast fast, profit profit profit and towards slow slow slow connect connect connect.

Anyway, here’s a short list of things I get really excited about: finding surprising connections between seemingly unrelated things; space, light and perception; the interplay of social creatures and physical space; beautiful pieces of wood; yummy food with friends and family; and DANCING! Lots of dancing!