Cash, that most basic element of our economy, can be in abysmally short supply for new young families scraping by on marginal jobs.
Sustainable housebuilding may not be foremost in their minds.
But one young couple in Wales managing on an annual income of just $10,000 went ahead and built their own cheap home anyway, sustainably, mostly out of materials from “a rubbish pile somewhere.”
They had wanted to spend as much time as possible at home while their two children were young. Their nearby woodlands ecological management work would have been impractical if they were paying a mortgage.
So they enlisted some help from family, and sometimes just from people passing by, and from any of their friends who stopped by to visit:
The result was their very low impact homemade house. A hand built unique setting for a charmed life for their two young toddlers. I’ll bet they’ll remember this first home for the rest of their lives.
Four months of hard work and they were all 4 moved in and cozy.
Total expenditure? $5,000. Tools? A chisel, a chainsaw and a hammer. Building expertise? Simon Dale says:
“My experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around in-between. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverance and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.”
Sustainable design and construction:
- Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
- Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
- Frame constructed of fallen trees from surrounding woodland
- Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally very easy to do
- Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
- Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
- Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture compared to cement
- Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
- Other items were reclaimed from “a rubbish pile somewhere”: windows, wiring, plumbing
(Maybe there should be a new LEED rating just for building so inexpensively: Sustainable Financing. This is one mortgage bill that’s not going to be haunting their mum and dad for years.) Inside there’s a wood-burner for heating – waste wood in the old-growth forest is locally plentiful.To get the most of the heat, the flue goes through a big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly releases the warmth.
There are just a couple of solar panels – just enough for for lighting, music and computing. It’s a simple life. A skylight in the roof lets in enough natural feeling light, and water is fed by gravity downhill from a nearby spring. There’s a compost toilet. Roof water collects in a pond for gardening
Says Simon: “Our house is unusual but the aesthetic appeals to lots of people and perhaps touches something innate in us that evolved in forests.”
Want to try making one too? Simon will show you how.
Images: www.SimonDale.net
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Earthsheltered Home Construction Work Exchange
Wildfire-Proof Prefab Camp Closes Up When You’re Gone
Hard Lessons in Sustainable Living
It’s too bad that you cannot do this in most parts of America. You would not pass building codes and they would not let you do this. That is for certain. I’m a builder and I know how hard it is dealing with different bureaucracies, for zoning and building. It’s really too bad the strong arm of the government has too have such a tight noose around our neck.
The young man’s genius. In a “Simple Simon” sort of way.
Who cares about building inspectors! As long as the structure is on your own land, that land is not within city/town limits, it doesn’t have poured concrete over the building code limitations, it isn’t grid-tied to any public utilities, and you are not building it to sell on the real-estate market as a house of any sorts, there is absolutely “NOTHING” the local bi-law enforcement agents can say or do!
The codes were put in place for a very good reason. To provide proper protection to the occupants/owners of their investments for a set period of time(as well as many other significant reasons).
I applaud these people & all others wishing to “finally” take matters into their own hands and do what has now become “absolutely” necessary to survive the, not coming, but now “here & present dangers” of what we have all done to our global home.
If any government agencies attempted to remove me from a shelter I had hand-built for the benefit of my own family, on my own land, well…. It would not be very nice of them. Would it now?
Bravo Simon
BRAVO! I LIKE IT
Very cool house. We are spending quit a bit more on our earth sheltered house but also building it ourselves.
This is totally awesome. What fun it would be to build a home like this and then live so creatively. Thanks so much for thinking outside the box and coming up with such a green idea/project.
I love the idea of this. I agree with Jeunesse completely. People need to get back to their roots and enjoy nature instead of all of this technology crap.
Its nice, and a good idea, but would it pass inspection? Unfortunately, not likely. And how would you get an address?
Incredible! I do think that the issue of land is an issue and the sourcing of nearby water sources. It seemed to work out for Simon and his family. But, so much of the surrounding resources have been made unusable, that it seems to me to be an impractical solution on a larger scale. Still, what a result they’ve achieved. I wish them all the best in their new home!
This could be a great way to express real earth-centerd, back to the God type of thinking, never mind huge energy savings! (How simply do many people in Haiti live, for example, anyway?!)
bravo !!!!!!!
i am really happy to see this beautyfull simple envormental house ,the stile is great cos is unique the material used is pure nature the site is blessed with good energy and this project in my eye is amazing …..
very good i wish i was there to help ……
beautiful house for real people with positive light
I sooooo want to live here!!! :c)
What a beautiful house, pity it will likely come crashing down on them during a bad earthquake.
There appears to be little in the way of shear strength, and using nails into green wood instead of screws or spikes is asking for trouble as the wood dries out.
The straw bale in-fills don’t appear to be pinned, so they could break away from the wall during an earthquake.
No structural engineer in the USA would ever sign that house off for habitation because it isn’t a safe structure anyplace that earthquakes occur.
Sure is a nice looking/feeling house though.
How I wanted to be part of a such a cute couple when I was younger! How gratifying to live right smack inside one’s own, scrumptious, home-made architectural mini-feast that one is empowered to doctor up anyhow and anytime. I still hope to live like this someday… I’m envious but also inspired.
The house looks like it came out of the Hobbit.
Benjamin Koshkin
hi
I live in Costa Rica and have a lot that is pefect
for your idea.And I am verry series . The website
helps but maybe some more help would be helpfull.
than you in addvance…..good idea
Kosta
In the county where we reside, it would take yrs for the planning commission to approve such construction. And the cost of engining would be astronomical. Therefore, must be done without authorization, under the cover of darkness and far away from nosey neighbors.
However, with the controlled demolition of the world's economy taking place our county officials are now far and few between, but must respond to any complaints received by "concerned neighbors".
I just hope there are none of those in the neighborhood we relocate to ^_^
I own my land free and clear. My land is Allodial. I own it superior to all others. The state does not own my land. The County does not own my land. The federal Government does not own my land. Therefore, I have no hesitation to build a Hobbit House. I ask no one for permission and I grant NO ONE REPRESENTATIVE of a Collective the rights of passage on to my land! There is no compelling state interest as my land is NOT PUBLIC LAND, and my safety is of no concern of the COLLECTIVE.