Hobbit 'Habitat' House

[Vedel DK]

Hey, this is my first post on this forum, so be gentle.

I just wanted to show you another type of off the grid/eco house called Earthships. Invented by a american guy called Michael Reynolds.

Check it out.


http://www.earthship.net/

[Carol]

Originally Posted by Vedel DK

Hey, this is my first post on this forum, so be gentle.

I just wanted to show you another type of off the grid/eco house called Earthships. Invented by a american guy called Michael Reynolds.

Check it out.


http://www.earthship.net/

Been there, done that, loved it. We stayed in Taos, New Mexico one winter in one and they really are amazing in cold or hot temps where we learned how to build them. They must have the floor at least 4 feet below the earth which helps maintain the indoor temp in the 70s year round. South wall is full length windows, indoor garden on inside. North , side and inner walls are made of packed earth filled tires and then covered with dirt on back and sides to maintain constant indoor temp. They are designed to be completely self-sufficient where the roof will gather rain water and store it in cistern tanks built at the side ends of the structure.

[Peace of Mine]

I've been researching areas where Earth-friendly building doesn't pose too great a challenge. Ecuador, for instance, uses the mud from the foundation to create adobe bricks in the driveway of the new house. One builder advertises rammed earth. Domes are plentiful. Land is accessible.

Land is very reasonable in Belize, but I couldn't determine the building codes. Also, looks like many areas of Nicaragua and Costa Rica would be hassle-free. Anybody got any specific feedback?

It is possible to build in North Carolina and Georgia, as long as you don't apply for a septic tank or electricity. That's how the PTB contol the people.

Earthaven, a community in Black Mountain, NC, brought in instructors to teach cob, strawbale, and log, and let the students help them build their houses. They also teach permaculture. www.earthaven.org. Quite a successful, long-term community.

One interesting experimenter built a guest house, using a different method for each wall. Since one of the Earthaven Strawbales was musty (it is a temperate rainforest in that area) he wrapped the first two layers of straw in tyvek. That solved the problem.

The second wall was cob. It took four times as long for a DIY to build the cob wall, compared to the others. though it is very easy to do and looks fabulous. It did not offer very good insulation for the cold winters of NC.

The third wall was cordwood. It complimented the rustic cob/strawbale plaster. Easy to build, wood was plentiful on his farm, a good choice for NC.

Fourth wall was a board and batten-style, from lumber milled on-site. More conventional building, there wasn't much to figure out.

The guest cottage had so much character! It was a stunning success, both low-cost and functional.

One family built a Cal-earth dome in South Georgia. It turned into a nightmare of a project. It was too big, took too long to build, and had lots of structural flaws. It seems more time-consuming, expensive (buying the tubes and the barbed wire), and harder to use than cob and strawbale. The red Georgia clay gives amazing colorations to rammed earth. I could imagine a monolithic dome using a clay combination.

AND there are some gorgeous Cal-earth houses that I would love to live in. And Earth-ships. And Hobbit Houses. Why do we settle for gated communities with cookie-cutter boxes? And mountains of debt? Shall we show the rest of the world how it could be done???

[Orion11]

beauty beauty beauty!!! wow, thanks soo much!! everything in this thread is great!!!

You guys/gals are amazing.

[Carol]

Why do we settle? Do we really have a choice? We are strangled by regulations and it takes years for something new to be tried and proven.

We plan on doing a hobbit house but will say it's our daughter's play house.

[Peace of Mine]

You've already discovered the way to do it. Of course nobody would say a word about you building your daughter a playhouse! And who would know if you moved into it and rented out your main house? Why not live where you want to live?

Either ignore their silly rules or find ways around them. Don't apply for permits. If you do the work yourself, and why wouldn't you - it's the most satisfying, pleasurable step toward self-sufficiency that you could take - nobody will bother you. Been doing it for years. Never paid a fine yet.

[Shellie]

[whines] I want one!!!!

[Carol]

This is such an excellent article that was posted earlier and also filled with great tips.

Lost middle-class tribe's 'secret' eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ken-plane.html








The original 180-acre farm was divided up into the area around the farm, a section around the original roundhouse known as Tir Ysbrydol (Spirit Land) where Mrs Orbach lives, and 80 acres of pasture and woodland run by a community known as Brithdir Mawr.

Each community is independent and they co-exist as neighbours in a more traditional style.

Brithdir Mawr continues to support sustainable living based around the original farmhouse, with eight adults and four children sharing communal meals, looking after goats, horses and chickens - and also holding down part-time jobs to raise the £200 per month rent they each pay Mr Orbach, who lives in a house in nearby Newport.

The current residents now run businesses such as courses in furniture making and sustainable living for around £95 a head.

On their website they explain: 'We are eight big people and four little ones who choose to live here: working, eating, meeting and laughing together. Being a community is a large part of what we do. To sum up the rest; we are striving towards a life in which our footprints are as light as they can be.'

One resident, Ben Gabel, 38, who runs a seed business with his partner Kate, said: 'It is completely different to what it was. Most people would consider the set-up quite normal.

'The kids watch DVDs and we run a business from the farm.'

[Orion11]

wow!! thats amazing!!!!

we all need to do that!! Beautiful!! Thanks!!

Oh WOW! I am totally taken with that, not only is it perfect for living away from mass civilisation and being at one with nature, but it's beautiful! Am smitten! I know what I'm working towards with those positve thoughts now thank you for posting that Carol, has made my day!!!

[Elephant Man]

wow!!!

[whitecrow]

Absolutely stunning! Wonderful work by so many! This is so inspirational! I've been dreaming along these lines for years. The day will come.

I have a question...I wonder if anyone knows the answer. Two of the posts had photographs of roundish roofs made of logs, with a circular skylight at the center. Both of these incorporated the beams tangentially rather than radially. The effect is beautiful, and what I'm wondering is whether there is an inherent strength advantage in a round roof using tangential rather than radial beams. In the case of a bicycle wheel, the tangential spoke is far superior. My guess is the same would apply to a roof. Anyone?

[Carol]

[Gnosis5]

http://www.curvedbydesign.ca/