This is one of the most exciting things I've learned about in years.  These homes are more beautiful, efficient and functional than 99% of what passed for conventional housing these days in the US.  There is a wealth of information available from people who are much more informed than I am.  I hope this page inspires you to learn more and build a place of your own!
My favorite buildings are made of straw bales, plastered over.  They are warmer, quieter, safer and healthier, and already built  in many areas of the US.  I've helped with a few and someday will build my own.  Because the walls are all 18" thick, so are all the window sills, ahh. 

There are straw bale buildings throughout this page. Here's one I helped build in Morrisville, NY.

In this age of McMansions, I am hoping to help spur the building of smaller houses, less to clean, less to heat, less to pay for. In fact some people are building houses without loans.  Check out Rob Roy's book Mortgage Free. 
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Cordwood buildings have both natural thermal mass from the mortar, and insulation from the sawdust.  Please see the 2nd photo for a close-up of the way they go together. One of their advantages is they can be built using the trees on the site.

 This home is off the grid, powered by wind and solar. It is made using local trees and many salvaged materials. Almost every part of the house has a story of what it used to be, and how they found it.  Jim is a shop teacher at the local high school, and he hired many students to work on the house.

Jim and Krista have about 50 acres and are hoping more people will move to their land and build.  This is already happening, an artist named Phil is building a home around a huge salvaged oil tank.  In another amazing salvage job, Jim and Krista bought and moved a 5 room roadside motel to the property.  They refurbished it and it now functions as guest quarters. If you'd like more info on Wood Henge please contact Jim at jsjuczak@gisco.net

The undisputed masters of this technique are Rob and Jackie Roy, the founders of Earthwood Building School. http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/  .  They give classes and have written several books.
 

Jim and Krista
 

This house is south facing, earth sheltered, super insulated and off the grid.  Located at 8,000 feet in the Rockies, it never goes lower then 52 degrees, even when it is 20 below outside.  When the tax inspector came to assess the house it was summer, and it took her a while to believe that it was naturally cooled and didn't have central air conditioning.  It was built for $95 a square foot, including the PV solar system, so including all the electricity he's used so far.   At that time the average price in the area for a custom built home was $110 a square foot, which did not include all the electricity! Back wall embedded in hillside is recycled tires, other walls are straw bale.

This home was designed and built by my friend Dan Chiras.  You can learn more about it by visiting http://www.danchiras.com  Dan is the author of over 20 books on natural building.  Please visit his site to see more and better photos, order books and learn more.

Earthaven, Black Mountain, North Carolina

Earthaven is an environmentally sustainable housing development and community outside of Asheville, North Carolina.  You can learn more about them by going to their website 'earthaven.org'. 

One of the most interesting facts about Earthaven is that the entire development is totally off the grid.  They generate all of their own power onsite.  One of the main reasons this is possible is that their buildings and systems are intentionally designed to be extremely energy efficient.  Then they have generated the power that they need using photovoltaic panels and micro-hydro power. 

They are a living example of the fact that an environmentally conscious life can bring a much higher quality of life.  These are some of the most beautiful small homes I have ever seen.  There is a mix of techniques used in the community. 

Earthaven’s long-term goal is to be totally self sufficient as a community.  So far they have several businesses in the community including a café, convenience store, saw mill, an herbalist who also gives class and a small education center in permaculture.  Seeing their small store, which is stocked according to the needs of the community, caused me to wonder why every large condo development in the US does not have its own small store.

I had the pleasure of staying there for a night when I was in North Carolina last summer.  I had a private tour with one of the founders.  The following photos and narrative are from that brief visit.
 

Building With Spirit

Thunder Mountain Meditation Center
Bath, NY, http://peaceweavers.com

Special Feature: Teen Scholarship Program

This year I am sponsoring four scholarships for teens ages 14-18,  to the Building With Spirit Colloquium, July 31st - August 4th, 2007.  Natural building is a natural fit for the energy and idealism of teens.  Teens are our greatest source of renewable energy!  If you or someone you know is interested, please contact me at kathymoser@mac.com for more information.  Teens must be able to stay for the whole colloquium and must develop a plan for taking this information back to their communities. 

Thunder Mountain Mediation Center is a non-religious spiritual center that respects each person's journey.  They serve healthy vegetarian food and insist that there be no drugs or alcohol brought to the center.  Accommodations are camping, port-a-johns and solar showers.

To donate to the scholarship program

The Peaceweavers are a 501(c)3 non-profit.  You can make a tax deductible donation directly them by sending a check made out to:

The Peaceweavers
Crouse Road
Bath, NY 14810

please write: "BWS Teen Scholarship" in the memo line.

Thank you to all the people who have donated so far!

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My natural building journey began at the 2004 Building With Spirit Colloquium.  People came from all over the world to share and learn from each other on the ancient and new arts of natural building.  I've returned every year since.

Here is an example of the schedule from one day this year, click on it to see it full sized::
For millennium people have built their own homes from the natural materials surrounding them.  The modern phenomenon of people being in debt their whole lives paying a mortgage (from the French meaning death payment), is a recent and strange way of being.  Housing is a basic human right.

First of all, the people who had learned how to build their own homes from natural materials were some of the most joyful, intelligent, educated,  articulate and fully realized folks I have ever met.  The builders I met seemed to have gone right past protest and directly to transformation, literally building the world they want to live in.  Imagine how powerful people can be if they all built and owned their own homes outright.

Secondly, the natural built homes that we saw in the slideshows every night were
SO BEAUTIFUL!  Why do we live in these impersonal boxes that are too large,  hard to heat and cool and all look like each other? My life has takes me into some really large fancy homes , and I am struck by the lack of imagination and personality that is regularly achieved in really expensive houses.

All the buildings shown were designed by an architect and approved and permitted by the local building code.

An incredible round building, with wood mostly harvested from the woods nearby and sawed with a portable saw mill.  The copula was raised by a crane, the rest of the work done by human power.  The foundation is about waist high, the walls are straw bale plastered over.  Also see the earthbag section below for info on the beautiful freestanding arch doorway.

Also check out the work of the visionary builder Sun Ray Kelly, who helped with this building.  He was all over the building like an elf, barefoot, carrying a chainsaw, cutting perfectly by his eye alone. This is not recommended!

http://www.greatdreams.com/commune.htm

articulated roof beams, partly filled in

This system, technology, (I feel silly using words like technology and system for describing putting dirt in bags!) anyway, it is "dirt cheap."  It is also practical, structurally sound and results in  some really beautiful structures.  Check out the links below.  Doni Kiffemeyer, who is a champion of earthbags, came all the way from Utah to lead this part of the colloquium. The bags are often misprints from rice manufacturers, filled with dirt, and laid in running courses with barbed wire between them to keep them from sliding.  They are then plastered over.  This arch was built over a form and held beautifully when the form was removed.  This building with the arched doorway, taught me more than anything else the way a building can change the way you feel.

http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/builwitbag1.

http://www.networkearth.org/naturalbuilding

Composting Toilets

This is one of the most revolutionary simple systems.  Of course, human have actually been doing this for thousands of years, but we've forgotten.  Joe Jenkins is the guru of the topic.  Please check out his website, where his book Humanure is available for sale and also as a free PDF.  These toilets were so much nicer to use than the porta-potty's!

Basically you use like a regular toilet but add a small amount of saw dust after each use.  See Joe's site for composting info.  Donni said at the first colloquium I went to "I can't get over the fact that in the US we poop in our drinking water!"  http://www.jenkinspublishing.com

privacy screen for outdoor loo

Straw Bale Play House, Duplex, Cob Kids House and other cool stuff
 

wood framed straw bale infill

finished straw bale wall

straw bale duplex, Eco-village, Ithaca, NY

wood furnace, heats approx. 8,000 sq. foot radiant heat system

straw bale with living roof

a little bit of heaven!

the beauty of the details

preparing living roof

water heated by wood furnace can be directed to different areas

this radiant heating system was retrofitted into the building

cob cottage, Solar Fest, it was noticeably cooler in this tiny building

cob is just mud and straw mixed together

mixing cob

mixing cob

a couple I met who built a house in VT factored into their budget several hundred dollars for beer and chips and salsa and they hosted several cob dance parties!

here's what's possible!
cobcottage.com

I know this isn't a building, but it exemplifies many qualities that make natural building so appealing.  It requires cooperation, safety is a real issue dealing with these big stones.  It requires problem solving.   It is a multi-disciplinary task.  It ties together a variety of kinds of knowledge, from astronomy to basic physics and knot tying.  Traditionally, these stones are placed in ways that mark the seasons and earth's relationship to the stars.  Aside from the stone itself, which is from a local quarry all the tools used were at hand, mostly logs, used pallets, and rope.  

This was the first project that started the 2004 colloquium.  Rob and Jacki Roy led a small crew of volunteers through the process of hand raising this 1500 pound stone in lace using only ropes, levers, and their knowledge of forces and energy.  The project served as a focusing point to start to bring the group together.

Several of women volunteers had experience on boats and were masters of knots and rope use.  It was fascinating over the week to see these young women called into help with tasks that required their vital skill.  This was the first time that two of them stepped from the crowd and demonstrated their prowess, in service of the community.
 

This stone is bigger, almost three tons.  It was amazing to work with the crew raise it.  It was a study in patience and incremental progress, and also helped me expand my mental image of what is possible.  Basically the process involves raising the stone slowly, next to a hole, then tipping it into the hole.  Rob and Jackie were very aware of the stone's center of gravity.  Using fulcrums (short logs and planks) and levers, (long logs, and an iron bar) they raised it a bit at a time.  Then they lashed the stone to rollers, balanced it on a pin over the hole, and knocked the pin out and the stone fell neatly into place.  I spent the time mostly because I wanted to be around Rob and Jackie Roy because their work impresses me so deeply. Natural building is a great way to meet great people.