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
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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
I would have taken the bark off of the wood that is used for the frame, because we have various beetles and bugs that love to chew up the wood under the cover of the bark. Removing the bark and the inner cambium makes this much more long lasting and keeps those critters out. They will eat all of that hard work up in a few years and cause a lot of problems.
This is a nice project, though, and I hope it works out. I build timber framed cabins, barns and houses and they are much more traditional, using hand tools, etc, but also allow people to increase their home value and resale, etc. but they are more expensive to build!
Nice article and pics….
Lucky not in Australia bull shit laws would make you pull it down. BUT HAY I LOVE IT.
Your right, the same bull shit laws apply in Egypt too, governments dont want people to have low cost self built houses, it dosnt tie them into the ‘work ethic’ of having to spend your life working to pay for over expensive housing and their bloody taxes, freedom of speech thats fine no problem ….economic freedom..No way
I agree,its the same in many countries!! They dont want us to be truly free and independant…Who would they get to do all the crappy little jobs then if we didnt live in FEAR…of repaying debts etc that they encouraged people to have …They want us trapped into work…to be their little worker ants ….Julie u.k.
5 grand is not going to get you the land to build it on, or the labour to build it with. Good luck building this house or living like these people do for 5 grand. Aside from which, I have it on good authority that they have another house and this is more of a holiday home.
Hey Mark, on who’s authority do you claim this is a holiday home? Easy to say, but can you back it up?
I own forty (40) acres in Shasta County California, that I bought for $10,000 15 years ago. That’s $250 an acre! I could put up an earth sheltered home for $5,000 if I had the skills; can you? The problem is I live in America and the fascist government would make me build to their code, so some crooked contractor could hire undocumented workers to do the work, and rip me off by cutting corners, etc.
we do not have a government,we have a foreign corporation “named” united states. per title 28 u.s. code. and you only have equitable title to the REAL ESTATE, which is everything from the land up. you do not own the LAND unless you have the land patent, which,in California,i assure you,you do not.
i would start by getting the land patent.
and by not doing everything a corporation tells you to, with no authority, mind you, save for the consent YOU give them.
if you dont want the “government” to control you, stop doing what they tell you to do. they serve YOU if they are a government.
and imposing ones will on someone without their express consent, is called tyranny and oppression.
Hey, congratulations to the couple who built that house!!! People in states would never be able to afford to build that house no matter how big of a necessity it is for them. Say you have $5K, well, after all these govenment mumbo-jumbo, you’ll probably be spending 10x that amount. Think about structural safety requirements they would burden you. Since these are out-of-the-ordinary built structures, these builders are thrown into the limelite and who would expect if the city would ask for other rediculous requirements like pest control or in summertime when those green grass would turn brown, the city might ask them to trim it because they will be a fire hazzard. Its all because the weird house is under a microscope. American culture would never allow that (unless you have money, of course). We like our poor to stay poor and the rich be richer. The middle class, well, they are trained to mimic the rich. Try to build one…America will treat you an outcast.
You must live in the city in the states then. I live in the rural & have actually started one of these after buying 5 acres for $3500 becasue of the location…nice & secluded area. There are very few restrictions in the midwest rural areas in the states. I would like to know about bathroom facilities or did you use an outhouse like I’m going to do, following alot of the Almish trends.
love it!
This is beautiful.
makes u want to be a hobbit.
i want this kind of a home too
thank u for sharing
Very cool looking house. Genius ideas.
Just wondering, how were the logs and scrap wood treated to prevent natural rotting/disintegration?
Would LOVE to do this but here in the facist country usa I really don’t think it’s possible. We r a country that’s a controlling, greedy prison, but w/o bars. Just covert sqeezing control. If I’m wrong, plz someone tell me where it’s possible to do this and me and hubs are there!
Canada..um….er….Mexico….um…er….eh….France…not there either? O.K. you tell me the other country where you can do it.
Thank you Earthchick, my sentiment EXACTLY. As a matter of fact, I haven’t read anything more sane in a long time. I hate the USA and I cannot wait to leave; just stuck due to custody issues for another 10 years. This is a totally fascist country; you have no rights unless you can afford unaffordable lawyers and the exploitation going on in the workplace is medieval. In regards to alternative structures: I tried to purchase an earthship last year but due to the new lending regulations the seller could not get an appraisal on it because it was considered “too alternative” or “the structure is not on the electric grid” (duh it’s off the grid and that is the whole point). I say nevermind. I’ll bide my time in this hell hole of a country; the glorified prison that it is, until I can leave and go home. No I am not from the USA; I am proud to say I am NOT a citizen and will never be.
Good luck to anyone who is stuck here and trying to live an alternative lifestyle! More power to you!
Take your sorry ass out of here, USA doesn,t need an ungrateful punk like yourself living here!
Awwww did the nice guy hurt your feelings? Or does it sting to see the truth spoken about this country? This country DOES suck now. I gave my all to Uncle Sam when I served in the military and now as a veteran I get what? Oh, yeah, a free meal at a “ginormous” buffet restaurant. My college benefits were not enough to pay for college, heck, not even enough to feed my family while in college. Seems the only thing of value here is the almighty dollar. I would love to build a home like this, but even if materials and my own labor make it affordable, the greedy bureaucracy wants to leech money from the homeowner and then tax him to death. Here is the US of A it is all about the green, not about the red,white and blue anymore.
I have built many alternitive houses in UK and USA i just dont tell any one. also if you are far enough off the grid they dont see you. I also know that in Texas there used to be an alternitive comunity that the got grants to build every kind of house as long as every one was different so there was benders yurts earth houses etc – part of the deal was that once a month it was open house so any one could come and see what is possable – it was a great idea – i passed on the idea to some in in UK and they did it there [without the grants] but were eventually closed down because of drugs..
I am american – dont chose to live ther – but as i travel a lot i see the world government is really all one and what you hate there is the same every where some places a little more or less – in Indonesia its the worst but you can pay a corrupt official and build anything you want… at some level its all corruption.
Hmmm. Yes, I have to agree. There must be a problem with YOU to hate it here so much. I’ve lived all over the world and the USA is the best place to live. Try living in Germany or Poland where you have to register with the police every time you want to move! Or pay some corrupt official just to get anything done. Sorry you don’t like it here, but I think it’s a personal problem, you probably won’t like it ANYWHERE!! Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way outta here!!
“Try living in Germany or Poland where you have to register with the police every time you want to move!”
Oh, you must mean like how we have to register at the post office if we want to ensure delivery of our mail,,, or perhaps you meant more like how we register and update our address with the Selective Service for draft purposes right? Same B.S. just working the shellgame through different offices.
…and go where? millions of people trying to get into the usa from countries stuck in the dark ages. no vote, no voice, no freedom, no jobs, no education, no opportunity, nutrition or drinking water…the list continues. you have been given the gift of the united states and have royally cocked it up. seriously, if you can’t crack it there you should book yourself a ticket onto the next spaceship leaving planet earth.
You need to leave this “facist country usa”. You really hate it here and shouldn’t have to be here. LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!
Pat, how’s it feel being a Sheep?
to anyone who says “Love it or Leave it,” I would like to remind you that there is a third option: FIX IT. you don’t have to accept the way things are in the US, or in any country. Our forefathers didn’t. in fact, they started a revolution to change this country, to make it their own. anyone who says “love it or leave it” is blind. you think you are patriotic, but you’re just hitting the feeder bar to get another pellet.
love it or leave it, huh? so to you that must mean: everything here is perfect and there’s no need to change anything – no one is allowed to criticize? we can still think something is bad but recognize it’s the least bad option.
Doesn’t mean she doesn’t love this country. Though it’s hard to love it as is; currently.
Corporations run everything for the most part. The America our founding fathers wanted for us, is not what we have become.
I don’t like it either, but I am going to “be the change I wish to see in the world”
America will go to great places. Though it’s real hard to see it in that kind of light right now.
I think it’s kind of pig headed to tell someone to leave because of an observation stated. Good thing it’s America. With free speech and all..
interesting comments on the article, thanks… oh, hang on.. no they all got on about the gud ol US of A! and they say Americans cant concentrate for more than 10mins
Oregon
Is this in response to Earthchick? What makes you say Oregon? I am so crazily curious; that is where we want to move to!
Earthchick (and anyone else who thinks we’re living in a fascist country): don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. We don’t need your kind here.
Sierra County New Mexico USA currently has no building regulations if you are not in a city limits. Pretty nice weather two lakes Rio Grande River. Most expensive thing for raw land would be drilling well for water.
I live entirely off rain catchment in Nothern NM (10″ annual rainfall) in an earthen home. Passive solar design takes care of 90% of heating (and cooling too).
Also, you can’t run from corporatism (which Mussolini called fascism). It’s everywhere. Work to shift the culture where you are.
Take a breath, live in awareness. Leave the haters to themselves.
This looks great.
I wonder about the solar panels providing ‘just enough for for lighting, music and computing’. Photo Voltaic panels are still very expensive – was their cost included in the £5,000 total price? What about the land they built on?
I suppose they’re heating water with the wood burner. It’s primitive, but not badly so.
I need to know more! (And I’m glad I stumbled on this site).
I am using a small solar array and 2 marine batteries for a small structure on our lake land. As it is considered “mobile” we do not have to get anyone’s permission. The total cost of the solar electric system was $300.00 and runs everything we need it for, hot water, music, lights, cell phone and laptop charging, and a fan. It will even power an RV air conditioner if we needed it. I got most of the items at Harbor tools. A composting toilet is allowed, but an outhouse is not. I would love to put up the hobbit type house there also, either attached or as a guest house. Building a conventional home there is not allowed as it is in the flood plain. Be creative and learn what is allowed in your county or country. Yurts and teepees are ok also as they are mobile.
This reminds me of the hobbits’ houses in The Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring’s trilogy. Looks cozy and your kids are going to have stories to tell when they’re older. Creativity and sustainability are well and truly thriving.
Love and Light
Love the concept, not so sure about the execution. Hopefully it adheres to local building requirements, or is an acceptable alternative
Building codes are not draconian or arbitrary, they’re MINIMUM STANDARDS.
Bull they cannot adjust fast enough for the changing building technology. They work out to be an amazing impediment to people building low cost housing. In most cases code works out to be a job program for overpriced licensed trades people. I have repaired the work of licensed electricians and plumbers on occasion. Your claim to minimum standards is as bogus as the federal reserve is to protect the value of the US dollar! Sorry if you remain deluded.
I’m not deluded. I’ve been a building inspector for 15 years, and the codes do adjust for new materials. There is no code requirement for tradespeople to do the work on an owner occupied property. However, inspections of the work are necessary to ensure the safety of the occupants, and neighbors.
I’ve also seen crap work from licensed electricians and plumbers. Again, that’s why it needs to be inspected.
It’s been my experience that those who complain loudest about building codes are slum landlords who are more interested in exploiting the poor than in providing decent housing.
Here in the UK even owner occupiers have to use a licensed electrician. And sadley it’s often more who you know than what you know.
In California, we have a Straw bale Code as part of state law. But local zoning boards summarily deny permits for straw bale even when it’s code compliant, thus requiring the use of extremely expensive lawyers to force zoning boards to comply with the law. This process mimics feudal society and is part of the reason so many Americans are fed up with the existing system. We go and do the right thing, get laws passed to ensure we can do what’s necessary but then the owning class and their minions do whatever the hell they want and put the onus on the poor to make them comply with the law. It’s utter madness.
Well said Just Jack, thank you for the reality check. John commented above, “However, inspections of the work are necessary to ensure the safety of the occupants, and neighbors.”
I’d advise him of his right to know that a more significant threat is a code that requires adhering to practices known to be far more long term damaging; persistent toxins, deforestation, and unsustainable energy demands. Not to mention the class defining housing affordability gap. The new deal is inspectors will provide greater value as practical assistants and consultants in creating housing — not Capt. Hindsight police, that was the old game. You know, the one that bankrupted cities with cushy retirement funds and health care in excess of most citizens not in the self serving and perpetuating Gov’t Club.
i would be more worried about the compost toilet it would have to keep ecoli from starting and the wood should be pretreated so as not to rot but other than that i would love a hobbit house.
Love it!
How did it work re. planning permission? Genuinely interested in doing it in the UK. Rachel x
Love this,I want one. It is the way I would love to build my home, if I were younger… I had a 1500 sq. ft. solar-passive home, my heating and cooling bills were never above 40.00 a month, I wonder what there’s will be, I suspect a hobbit of a price.
Beautiful! Any suggestions for making a fantasy home in a tropical setting?
Im pretty sure there are problems with damp..
and.. who among you have used a compost loo..?
Lovely place for a weekend or retreat but are you seriously going to live ther..?
lets see where you cook.. shower.. etc..
Compost “loos” (hee-hee) are actually pretty easy to use and maintain. Modern ones don’t smell and cook down the humanure to a usable addition to compost.
Been doing humanure for over 6 years. No smell, no sickness, no problems. Humanurehandbook.com is a start.
Um, cute. But my first reaction is, what about building codes?
Building codes do not have to be adhered to if you have no mortgage for the bank to approve. You also can’t have electrical hook-up or a septic system. From the article, they use solar panels and a composting loo, so they are in the clear. I’m assuming they don’t have insurance on the house either, which would be the smarter way to go.
Very cool. Well done sir!
If only Local regulatory bodies could see the advantages, if not the beauty, of enviro’ housing. Perhaps one day, when….
I just love this initiative…. It is amazing what creativity can do…
We have to promote this kind of susteinable living..
Great!!!!
Hi, this just too cool … looks like Bilbo’s home in Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movie… I bet it’s a blast, living in there… thanks so much 4 sharing!
Love from Uruguay,
Alex
Hi, this is just too cool … looks like Bilbo’s home in Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movie… I bet it’s a blast, living in there… thanks so much 4 sharing!
Love from Uruguay,
Alex
LOVE ur homes
The land in Wales would cost about $200,000
It doesn’t have planning permission.
It hasn’t passed building regulations.
If the local council notices, it will be knocked down.
This is a totally illegal house in the UK, our regulations are far stricter than the USA.
This place is adorable! It looks like a Hobbit house. What a great place to raise children!
Absolutely love it!!! Well done!!
I’ve taken cob building classes before and HIGHLY recommend learning how to build these amazing homes. Each one is a unique work of art, great for those who are creative and want to express themselves.
I also plan on building a hybrid cob/earthbag house in the near future. I recommend that more people do this and live more simply – it feels so good!
Looks like a hobbit home.
check out dan and lynne price, in joseph oregon…. check out Moonlight Chronicles, it is possible to live this way…. it is the only way to live!! there are several articles and photos about The Hobbit Hole, see flickr and hoboartist or hobogirl
Thats grave. Have you please more photo of each phase building the house? How exactly you made the roof, foor and wall.
Thank you Dominik
Critics, ease up. Yes, it is completely doable. My father-in-law built a house with exactly this concept. He budgeted $8K originally but the county codes wouldn’t allow him to run electricity with straw walls, roof and floor so he made some adjustments but it is a beautiful home. He kept the straw floor and compost roof. My experience is that if you are prepared to stay off the grid then you can do it for 5K or maybe less. I hope to do it, meself, soon.
I’m sorry dude, but that house looks like it’s been hijacked from the teletubbies.
tried to post my email to the site and it kept saying invalid.
I think we as people should be “allowed” to do things like this. I think if more people did things like this, like building their own houses for their familys, we would feel alot happier in life and feel rewarded. Everything nowadays is about money, and things…who has the most money?…Who has the better things? If we took our time and didnt worry about those things, then started to DO things that were on the simplier side of things, but WAY more rewarding..I think people would start to feel happiness again.
The house is BEAUTIFUL! The ONLY thing I would be a little worried about is the bugs. I would’nt want bugs to destroy something so beautiful. I would LOVE to live there! And im sure that the people who built it Love it also!…Way more then if they Just bought a house. Good work! Enjoy
Local Building Codes in California as currently written would NEVER allow anyone to live in such a structure. There is no way to verify the strength of random dimension logs as structural elements. As an engineer however, in looking at the pictures I love the design and think it’s great.
I absolutely love it! That is a solution for people and what a dream for many of us! I am 1 of them and will build 1 soon in the future.
all the best to all
If you’re like me–disabled–this is all very pretty and PC, but not at all realistic. Great project for a couple of twenty-somethings with tons of time on their hands, yeah, but for the rest of the world?
Interesting concept!
Wonder how it would hold up in a storm?
If they needed more solar panels to run the home or the family wanted to get in the green business, they should checkout this- http://www.solarbusinessblueprint.com/gotprofits
This is something we believe will revolutionize how solar is done!
Well, it is a cute hobbit hole, but I worry about whether it can keep out moisture and mold, rot etc. I think you are looking at a lot of maintenance, and maybe a need to tear down and rebuild in a few years.
And what about insulation? Will it be warm enough in the winter without lots of expense for heating?
Thats great! Until a deer grazes on your roof and falls on you in bed!
This is great! Its unfortunate that this has led to conversations about countries and laws. Be a pioneer and figure out how to do this no matter the regulation. This is happening so get on board neigh-sayers need not apply, or do apply and show yourself what you can accomplish
Ladies and gentleman, I live in a Yurt in rural western Colorado. This is possible in my county because my home is considered “movable”. This has its advantages and disadvantages. firstly, it is non-taxable because it is temporary. Secondly, it required no permits. Drawbacks to this type of shelter are it is very humble. Having no indoor plumbing or modern conveniences, one must be resilient. I find this very rewarding.
I had a teacher growing up that had a rule in his classroom. We could express hate and discontent towards anything within our country. We could hate the government the laws the bureaucracy and the bullshit, but could not hate our country. The United States was founded with a pure spirit like of an infant child born onto this earth. That spirit remains as the root core of the American peoples beliefs. Hating America is misguided and counter productive. Instead direct that discontent, frustration, and anger towards the entity’s responsible.
Wow… I would love to build something like that..
Great shelter/home…Beautiful way to harmonize with the earth!!!
thank you for sharing your beautiful home, an inspiring creation. it’s so exciting to think of how we can achieve what ever we can envision. thank you, all the very best to you and your family and to all those who also dream, vision and create. blessings.
this is very inspirational, congratulations….
this makes me believe that this is possible on a small budget that im sure we all have.
im an arboriculture graduate with a keen interest in wood and wood based housing and would like to think that i could live in a house like this in the future.
thanks for the opportunity to see this property and good luck
It’s a Hobbit House – straight out of the Lord of the Rings! Love it…
that reminds me of hobbit house from herr der ringe! wonderful!
Where in the USA can I build or have one built? This one is beautiful…but in Whales? My health insurance, after I retire in USA, won’t cover me in that country. What to do?? Thanks, dollie
Really beautiful. A question though…how can they be sure that that roof will be supported after a few days rain make it ten times heavier?
Fallen trees?
Why did they fall?
I ask because a friends dad died in exactly a building like this during a storm. Crushed under his own handiwork.He remains one of the most respected alternative builders in California.
It’s all very nice and romantic but codes exist to protect innocents like their kids from irresponsible ignorance like this.
I love these homes, although as I live in a new house in a city I doubt I’ll ever have one. But they’re fascinating to see. It’s so disappointing to see all the negative and hateful banter going on here though. Quite shocking. I’m British/Hungarian/American and yes, Governments do what they want and make life difficult and expensive for us all. But these homes look to me like they should be in the middle of nowhere and go under the ‘radar’. Build it or not but you should keep your nasty comments away from here.
WOW….people really don’t know ANYTHING about building codes. In the U.S.A. you CAN build this. If someone onhere says that you can’t…They know NOTHING about construction laws. Now you CAN’T build it within city limits or apply for a building permit or insure it. If you are caught you will pay a fine $25-$400…Thats IT!!! So, stop saying that the U.S.A. is sooo bad!