Natural Homes

Natural Homes



Having done this on many an occasion I can say with confidence that a shower in something like this is a wonderful experience. You don't just shower in water but in the scent of flowers too. This is one of the natural showers at Channel Rock [www.channelrock.ca] Cortes Island, Canada. Notice the solar panels with pipes going up to the shower head.



Lots of thought has gone in to this small cob washroom. Look at the steps leading up to the sink so a toddler can peep through the round window and climb up for a sink bath. In the pattern language sense there is a lovely balance of soft clay plaster and warm colours with sunlight reaching in on two sides of the room illuminating an open shelf at waist height in the thick wallswhere the windows have small panes of glass and a door, with its thickened edges gives stability to the gentle mix.



This is an off-grid lodge in Canaan, ME, USA based on the Sami Gamme [http://naturalhomes.org/fbr.gamme] of northern Norway. It was built by Chris Knapp, of Earthways School, who spent a year in Norway studying traditional skills. You can read about the inspiration for this building on Mother Earth News here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2004-02-01/Live-Without-Many-Possessions.aspx and here is the ‘Earthways School of Wilderness Living’ website: http://www.oldturtle.org/.



If you hadn't already investigated the lavender treehouse interior then here it is. The strategically placed chocolates tell you it's a B&B [www.lapiantata.it] with a hefty price tag of €330 ($440) per night for a couple. The treehouse sees some beautiful sunsets over the hills of Lazio, Italy. The treehouse was built by La Cabane Perchee [www.la-cabane-perchee.com] based in Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, Provence, France.

Many lovely albums to go through here :
http://naturalhomes.org/

The site contains also a map of natural homes.It displays over 400 homes around the world from straw bale homes in England to cob homes in South Africa and bamboo homes in Indonesia. Click on an icon on the map and you will see a picture of the home with a short description and links to the owner's or the builders website.

You can configure the map to display one type of home like straw bale or a collection of natural homes by builder or at an ecoVillage like Cae Mabon in Wales.

Love Always
mudra

The Woodland Home by Simon Dale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8b80dXMgME


Love Always
mudra

DIY treehouse inventor creates Ewok world in rural Oregon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7aVLMZvNEQ&ntz=1


Love Always
mudra

The World's Best Treehouse (with a spa!) - Blue Mountains - Bilpin - NSW - Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl6W1gdNF6Y


Love Always
mudra

Building with the Earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b6jdOgxIYk


At Cottage Grove, Oregon, a group of remarkable people have come together to create buildings out of earth that teach us how to live more simply and closer to the earth. We are going to meet: * Michael G. Smith, who trained as a civil engineer, but turned, instead, to this more ecologically sane form of building * Ianto Evans, a Welsh landscape architect, who adapted traditional European earth building, or cob, so we could stop using our houses to hide from nature * and Linda Smiley, a therapist with a special interest in sculpting sacred spaces. And we will visit two beautiful cob buildings created at a fraction of the cost of conventional housing and see people from all walks of life, with no prior experience, mixing cob and building with it. The Cob Cottage Company is now in Coquille, Oregon. Their website is http://www.cobcottage.com/

Love Always
mudra

This is one of my favorite threads on the forum...