In which Hanna wants to live in the dirt
Sorry about the absence, which on my part has to do with busyness laziness and distraction :P. Can't speak for Jen but I think she was camping.
So I've been reading The Hand Sculpted House by Ianto Evans, well my mom took it out from the library and I hijacked it. Anyway it's good times. I'm very interested in cob building for a few reasons:
- They are cool looking in a hippie way. Which makes me think they could be cool in a Hanna way as well.
- You can design and build them yourself. No machines, no contractor. I mean it might take a while, but people do it.
- They are wonderfully energy efficient.
- Did I mention I would design it myself? Hello window seats in every room!
- Cheap like dirt. Ahahahaha. Well except the the dirt part. By which I mean land.
- They are well suited to our climate of snow and rainness in BC, which many other natural methods of building are not.
Anyway, it's catching on in BC (because we're a bunch of hippies out here) and you can actually attend a weeklong workshop on Mayne Island and learn how to do it. Which would be helpful. Also people in BC have managed to get building permits. As opposed to the advice in the book which is to build in the woods so THE MAN can't find you. Erm, no thanks.
Here's some Cobby inspiration for all of you who think I'm nuts and need convincing:
- A cob house on Mayne Island:
- A house on Cortes Island: 
- Photos of this house near Victoria being built:
-And here's some cottages done by Cobworks, the company in Mayne through their workshops:
I love natural building. Ever since reading the Little House books where they live in a knoll in the ground (or something like that) with a grass roof. I'd want goats on my roof. Or maybe bunnies...wait they'd probably tunnel into my house. On second though, no bunnies.
You featured a house that I did in my green building post too. I hope to meet those people one day. They make me happy.
Jen Comer said... July 21, 2008 at 11:06 PM
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