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
Namasté!
Welcome to the Shire…
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There are plenty of houses alike in Iceland , really beautiful and cozy . of course they have the advantage of warm water all over the island . I love the idea and also the execution . no edges .
Fantastic I would love to live in a home like this, similar to my cave home in Spain but no walls to paint every year!! well done and best wishes with the new home.
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.
Love this. Thank you for all the info. Here in States, there are so many building laws, not sure whether it would be possible on my wilderness land or not..may look into it. Have looked at Navajo hogans and straw bale homes before, and this has some elements of both. We have no dirt hills though only rocky ground. But lots of trees. Oh the wheels are turning… =)
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.
I too Love this house for all the reason mentioned below. It will be lucky to last 10 years, also due to the issues mentioned by some below. Moisture and decaying wood will be it’s undoing. But due to its light and small nature the dwelling posses little risk to anyone. It is unlikely to fall down in one big BANG either. So 10 years for 5.000 Pounds. I think that is a very good deal!!!
I am amazed and impressed at your expertise, may the home you have built bring you and your loved ones lifetime of happiness, security and safety.
I urge everyone interested in this home to research ‘Earthships’.
The Earthship team have been in Haiti rebuilding eco-homes after the terrible tidal wave disaster.
Beautiful! Love it!
If you want to build something like this, make sure a large window faces south for solar warmth and thermal transfer. Proper ventilation is also essential in damp climates, otherwise, mold and mildew will be a big problem. Mold can make you really sick, so a good design should take this into consideration.
awesome. natural shapes formed by time. we did a roundhouse building workshop with similar materials it amazing, lots of bug hazel tied with silas cord. the structure looked great without the thatch on top.
think they still do the courses if anyone interested.
was. http://www.yurtsandroundhouses.co.uk and they build really nice yurts better than we had seen in England. think they were http://www.goyurting.com for those but they hired them too and one was 40ft across!
must get gathering sticks!
oops typo! awesome. natural shapes formed by time. we did a roundhouse building workshop with similar materials it amazing, lots of big hazel tied with silas cord. the structure looked great even withouth the thatch on top.
think they still do the courses if anyone interested.
was. http://www.yurtsandroundhouses.co.uk and they build really nice yurts better than we had seen in England. think they were http://www.goyurting.com for those but they hired them too and one was 40ft accross!
must get gathering sticks!
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.
Talk about down to earth reallity
wow,
A fairtytale house. I would love to live in such a house!! super!
Great Work People!
Seems a lot of commenters here are more concerned about Permits than the forced slavery it takes to get started to buy into the market system.
So what if a house is unsaleable. Houses are for living in.
I think too many people are sucked into the system that sees homes as investmnet collateral first , then a place to live. Its pathological!
Composting toilets work great.
I have friends who’ve also built their own homes very cheaply. Using more conventional materials and recycled bits and on site timbers for about AUD $2500 in todays money.
i would happilly raise kids in this environment. And when they are pre-teens in a few years they can help mum n dad build a replacemnet home and get life experience in the process
We get snow here ..I wonder if this would work here ?
That look so cool, it is certainly what I would call a custom home, although I don’t think the council would approve permits here In Australia not unless you wanted your custom home in the middle of nowhere.
The fact they the entire house appears to be made
out of fallen timber is something that I can see as a cause for
concern. If something happens so that wood weakens, the entire structure
is going to cave in. Although wood has fairly good tensile strength, it
performs rather badly under compression and bending stress, and is
prone to deformation, and it can weaken ever time. I suggest at least
having a central pillar of concrete. That house looks like a very
dangerous place to put children in.
We have various earth house projects for charitable purposes.
Help us construct a sustainable future. This means restoring
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