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 or check out other green homes for more ideas and inspiration like this post on building a cob house.
Images: www.SimonDale.net
Related stories:
Berkeley’s Homeless Build Paleolithic Barbecue Pit
Earthsheltered Home Construction Work Exchange
Wildfire-Proof Prefab Camp Closes Up When You’re Gone
Hard Lessons in Sustainable Living
About Susan Kraemer
Where in heavens name do we find the free property to build on?
I believe that Montana still offers free homesteading.
http://findforms.com/single_form.php/form/25670/D…
Where in heavens name do we find the free property to build on?
I believe that Montana still offers free homesteading.
http://findforms.com/single_form.php/form/25670/D…
Very informative article, will help many in North America survive during the great republican depression and beyond, to a sustainable lifestyle in the new “American Dream” now evolving in the tent cities in the south and among the folks living in cars and vans on the streets. We left self-sufficient farms, gave our land away as worthless, slaved in the factories, and are about to repeat the cycle in reverse! Little land is left, but modern technologies will be exploited to the fullest in our struggle to survive against Mao’s slave workforce and the uber-class rich folk. Thank You for this blueprint to create real value from the land. We need it more than ever now, as even our own kind devour us whole!
Join us at http://facebook.com/naturalhomes where there is a lot more about this type of natural building including a profile on Simone Dale and his new home at Lammas.
Very informative article, will help many in North America survive during the great republican depression and beyond, to a sustainable lifestyle in the new “American Dream” now evolving in the tent cities in the south and among the folks living in cars and vans on the streets. We left self-sufficient farms, gave our land away as worthless, slaved in the factories, and are about to repeat the cycle in reverse! Little land is left, but modern technologies will be exploited to the fullest in our struggle to survive against Mao’s slave workforce and the uber-class rich folk. Thank You for this blueprint to create real value from the land. We need it more than ever now, as even our own kind devour us whole!
Reminds me of Lord of the Rings. I love it. It’s so beautiful and quaint.
Reminds me of Lord of the Rings. I love it. It’s so beautiful and quaint.
Part II of the story would unfortunately be “How to tear down the structure when the building inspectors order you to get rid of it.”
Part II of the story would unfortunately be “How to tear down the structure when the building inspectors order you to get rid of it.”
I think this is so fascinating. It is like Hobbitville, a place you could go to forget about all the troubles of the world. I love the concept.
I think this is so fascinating. It is like Hobbitville, a place you could go to forget about all the troubles of the world. I love the concept.
Great house! Great focus! Great article pointing-out “sustainable financing” – this is probably the most honest and simple example I have seen of people doing something like this, and I’ve looked for years. In the US, even green building contractors speculate to say no house can be built for less than $100,000. I know that is not true. Self-built and community built homes can be built for $10,000 at 1000sq ft. using conventional material, which don’t look good anyway.
Bravo! We need more examples like this.
Great house! Great focus! Great article pointing-out “sustainable financing” – this is probably the most honest and simple example I have seen of people doing something like this, and I’ve looked for years. In the US, even green building contractors speculate to say no house can be built for less than $100,000. I know that is not true. Self-built and community built homes can be built for $10,000 at 1000sq ft. using conventional material, which don’t look good anyway.
Bravo! We need more examples like this.
Cool! thumbs up!
Cool! thumbs up!
Would be interesting to design a similar dwelling that could stand up to our climate here in Canada. Then there is the building codes and inspectors to appease. I would be willing to work on a marketable design if you wish.
Would be interesting to design a similar dwelling that could stand up to our climate here in Canada. Then there is the building codes and inspectors to appease. I would be willing to work on a marketable design if you wish.
We 1970′s “Self-Sufficiency on 5 Acres or Less” folk say, “Carry On”.
We 1970′s “Self-Sufficiency on 5 Acres or Less” folk say, “Carry On”.
This is just about the neatest little hobbit house ever! I’m so impressed. What a resourceful couple.
This is just about the neatest little hobbit house ever! I’m so impressed. What a resourceful couple.
Probably good for retirement…
Probably good for retirement…
You call it ecologically safe but you seem to have chopped down a lot of trees. We would be chopping down even more jungles for this.
You call it ecologically safe but you seem to have chopped down a lot of trees. We would be chopping down even more jungles for this.
Go build. The more of us who do will compound, and confuse the Authorities, who should be encouraging this sort of “home”. What else is the land for, not food that’s for sure.
Go build. The more of us who do will compound, and confuse the Authorities, who should be encouraging this sort of “home”. What else is the land for, not food that’s for sure.
Nice.. but where’s the toilet… being one with nature is nice and all, shitting in the bushes is not.
Also no shower… or running water… no sewer… hm…
Read: “composting toilet”. Toilets are not hard to build, and when you make pit toilets, as long as you don’t dump chemicals in them, when you bury them they create a VERY fertile area. I went back to a campground I spent 3 months in as a child, where we had built a pit toilet, and there were huge bushes growing where our toilet was. There are solutions to all of these problems.
Nice.. but where’s the toilet… being one with nature is nice and all, shitting in the bushes is not.
Also no shower… or running water… no sewer… hm…
Upon completion, immediately invite Bilbo and Frodo over for dinner.
Upon completion, immediately invite Bilbo and Frodo over for dinner.
Great piece. The world needs to see more about options and solutions like this.
Quite agree G. Which is why I do this: http://facebook.com/naturalhomescome and see….
Great piece. The world needs to see more about options and solutions like this.
Thanks John, I too am most intrigued by the “sustainable financing” aspect of the project.
Thanks John, I too am most intrigued by the “sustainable financing” aspect of the project.
KC – he says they have downed trees in the forest that thye are supposed to “clear” (send to landfill). So he is not chopping down the trees.
yeah – He said there is a composting toilet, which is pretty eco friendly – it’s nuts that we waste fresh water sending valuable nitrogen (pee) to pollute rivers.
It does have running water diverted from a stream further up the hill it is tucked into.
KC – he says they have downed trees in the forest that thye are supposed to “clear” (send to landfill). So he is not chopping down the trees.
yeah – He said there is a composting toilet, which is pretty eco friendly – it’s nuts that we waste fresh water sending valuable nitrogen (pee) to pollute rivers.
It does have running water diverted from a stream further up the hill it is tucked into.
I live in two Yurts. I have done since 2004. This could be my winter quarters, great idea!
Get me at hob34itt@gmail.com, if you want to know more about Yurts.
I live in two Yurts. I have done since 2004. This could be my winter quarters, great idea!
Get me at hob34itt@gmail.com, if you want to know more about Yurts.
A building inspector would have to inspect it if you intended to sell it to someone else, but building it and living in it yourself seems pretty straightforward, I think. You can’t really sue yourself if it collapses during a thunderstorm or earthquake
A building inspector would have to inspect it if you intended to sell it to someone else, but building it and living in it yourself seems pretty straightforward, I think. You can’t really sue yourself if it collapses during a thunderstorm or earthquake
Uncle B is a frelling moron
Uncle B is a frelling moron
Since America is not a free country, you will be asked to bring this house down. Best thing to do is to take your idea to a remote piece of land by the beach somewhere in South America and build it there.
I wouldn’t mind building or living in one of these myself. Get away from everything, grow my own food for a while. That’s living.
America is a free country, but unthinking people react to regulations and laws that are in place to assure safety like teenagers to rules made by parents. That's foolish and childish. Electric codes assure you don't burn down the house, and so forth. There are ways to make such a house safe and pass SAFETY inspection. Duh.
Dude, they’re in Wales.
Since America is not a free country, you will be asked to bring this house down. Best thing to do is to take your idea to a remote piece of land by the beach somewhere in South America and build it there.
I wouldn’t mind building or living in one of these myself. Get away from everything, grow my own food for a while. That’s living.
America is a free country, but unthinking people react to regulations and laws that are in place to assure safety like teenagers to rules made by parents. That's foolish and childish. Electric codes assure you don't burn down the house, and so forth. There are ways to make such a house safe and pass SAFETY inspection. Duh.
Keep on keepin’ on!
It is a shame that in this day and age we are surrounded with “green” options that are trying to make our current consuming, technological lives sustainable. However, a sustainable life, to me, is going back to our roots. Live off the land, live simply, and live in harmony with the natural circle of life. Thank you for setting an example that society ought to follow in order to save us from this environmental crisis!
Cheers!
Keep on keepin’ on!
It is a shame that in this day and age we are surrounded with “green” options that are trying to make our current consuming, technological lives sustainable. However, a sustainable life, to me, is going back to our roots. Live off the land, live simply, and live in harmony with the natural circle of life. Thank you for setting an example that society ought to follow in order to save us from this environmental crisis!
Cheers!
Well…looks fascinating. What does Dad do for a living? How is it he has so much time, and where did the LONG trees come from to sustain the weight of the house..? NO..please do not tell me that he cut down trees…! LOL..yes he did. And burns them also. Did he reforest as he cut? Does he have an emission scrubber for his chiminy…?
Nice concept. I suggest we all go out and try it and see how far we gt befor the neighbors complain and the building department orders a cease on it(providing we already OWN the land).
Or not.
Made for interesting reading though, and was great ‘mental floss’.
Well…looks fascinating. What does Dad do for a living? How is it he has so much time, and where did the LONG trees come from to sustain the weight of the house..? NO..please do not tell me that he cut down trees…! LOL..yes he did. And burns them also. Did he reforest as he cut? Does he have an emission scrubber for his chiminy…?
Nice concept. I suggest we all go out and try it and see how far we gt befor the neighbors complain and the building department orders a cease on it(providing we already OWN the land).
Or not.
Made for interesting reading though, and was great ‘mental floss’.
Lovely. Probably the first environmentally friendly house that has appealed to me. I’m guessing the building one twice as big wouldn’t cost all that much more. All I need is some suitable land first (and planning permission!)
Lovely. Probably the first environmentally friendly house that has appealed to me. I’m guessing the building one twice as big wouldn’t cost all that much more. All I need is some suitable land first (and planning permission!)