“This is a living house,” says owner Doug Rellstab of Pinedale, Wyoming. “When you go through, it just seems alive. If you look at all the curves that are built into the window wells and places, it’s got its own feeling to ’em, you know. It’s just not squared off and flat.”
Rellstab and his family built their home in the early 2000s using straw bales stacked atop a foundation, supported with wood posts and beams and sealed with a lime-based plaster to prevent decomposition.
Straw comes in at about the same price as conventional materials, but working with it can be tricky. You have to make sure it’s built correctly to keep moisture away.
Will Haywood is currently finishing his own straw bale place in Victor, Idaho. “The only way you can tell now that it’s straw bale is the thickness of the walls here.” He says. Haywood has worked in construction for over a decade. He got tired of filling dumpsters with plastic on the job site and wanted to do things differently for his own home.
And now that he knows how to build with straw, he hopes to help others do the same. One possibility is starting a company that makes straw building panels. “Or putting more time and energy into sustainable materials and supporting architects or builders,” Haywood added.
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