Welcome
to my Walden!
This load-bearing straw bale house was built by
me, Carolyn Roberts, consultant Jon
Ruez, and many friends, using natural (straw
bale walls, earthen & lime plasters, earthen
floor) and recycled materials. We passed 23 county
inspections. It's an incredibly sturdy, beautiful
and well-insulated house that will last for many
years and only cost $50,000 to build (land not included).
The straw walls offer insulation from the summer
heat, while the earthen plasters and floor give
thermal mass to maintain an even interior temperature.
The south-facing sunroom heats my home in the
winter. The house uses between 5 and 10 kwh per
day. I can collect 500 gallons of rainwater
in a 1/2 inch rain. A hand-made solar
water heater with a small tankless heater
as backup provides all my hot water.
This website is to pass along some of what I
learned for those who are interested in simple
living and natural building. The book chronicals
the emotional ups and downs, along with some how-to's
and some how-not-to's of building this house when
I knew almost nothing about construction.
Got questions
or comments? Write on my wall on Facebook:
facebook.com/ahouseofstraw
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We
act as thought comfort and luxury were the chief
requirements of life, when all that we need to
be really happy is something to be enthusiastic
about."
--Charles Kingsley
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