A year off grid in my cordwood roundhouse


Cordwood roundhouse home tour after living in it for about a year. Cost: 4,000 British pounds ($5,590). It look about six months work to build. Features include micro hydro power, gravity fed water, wood stove, loft and living roof.

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Clever Moderns Quonset Hut Homes

Architect Earl Parson is building experimental Quonset hut houses near the Grand Canyon
Architect Earl Parson is building experimental Quonset hut houses near the Grand Canyon

I’m architect Earl Parson. After 20 years in the Los Angeles architectural custom home industry, I started asking myself why things couldn’t be done differently. What if, instead of hiring an architect for a (very expensive) full service to design a new home, and paying a general contractor a big markup to build it, there were a way for people to get simple, well designed modern home plans to construct themselves?

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Permanent Water Rationing is Coming to California

Have you experienced water faucets that spray tiny jets of water onto your hands? You know, those eight tiny jets of water that makes rinsing the soap off nearly impossible? You can find these water faucets in airports and other public places, where they constitute a minor annoyance. But wait. Thanks to California’s state legislature, they’re on their way into your home.

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Denim Insulation

Ultra Touch denim insulation is recommended by the Make and Do YouTube channel who says this brand provided better insulation than foam panels he’s used in the past. Denim insulation is a natural, non-toxic insulation product that’s available loose (for blow-in applications), and in rolls and batts. Some products are available with foil backing.

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