Building Styles

Hobbit House Plan

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There’s near record traffic on our blog today. Obviously the Hobbit House Shed is extremely popular. Since we have so many new readers, I’d like to point them to my Hobbit House Plan. This particular plan currently comes in five variations. On my Earthbag House Plans site you find over 120 affordable earthbag designs. Feel … Read more

Hobbit House Shed

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I just found this Hobbit House shed by Owl Swamp Natural Builder. “This was the second project I worked on. It’s a hybrid earthbag, cordwood, and papercrete roof shed with a reciprocal roof. The plaster over the earthbags is earthen, with a lime stabilizer. All the wood, doors, and windows were salvaged. I paid five … Read more

Reading Nooks and Window Seats

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I just blogged about heated benches and it occurred to me this concept would work great with reading nooks and window seats. You don’t have to heat reading nooks and window seats, it’s just one option among many. The photos above show a few possibilities. Image source: OCRegister.com Image source: Low Impact Living Image source: … Read more

IAT Earthbag Building in Costa Rica

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During March of 2010, Rowen Wilson and Heather Taylor, the two youngest members of the volunteer team, led a small group of Costa Rican youth in the construction of a prototype Earthbag Building. Composed of sacking tubes filled with clay and sand, and covered with waterproofing material, these structures are inexpensive and fun to build. … Read more

Majestic Dome

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LandTrees, a Panama rental, agricultural and agrocultural tourism company, is building structures made of earthbags, adobe, rammed earth, bamboo and/or wood logs. Their EcoRanchos earthbag structures (see link below) have a construction permit issued by the authorities. As far as we know this is a first for earthbag structures in Panama. From Walter: “Majestic Dome” … Read more

Hypar Roofs

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    George Nez pioneered and wrote the book on hypar roofs, along with Albert Knott. They’re extremely durable and practical, and have been used around the world for decades. This is the same type of roof used on the Free Burma Ranger Clinic posted earlier. The basic process involves building a wood or bamboo … Read more