“The kiva or bee hive fireplace with their distinctive arched firebox door is typical of southwestern design and most often placed in a corner. Historically these kiva fireplaces were constructed of the same adobe material used to construct the home. Custom bee hive fireplaces can be found in almost limitless styles and must be installed … Read more
We have been following the building of a school in Nepal with earthbags and just got the following note from one of the organizers of that project: I just wanted to thank you for all your efforts and work in documenting and promoting earthbag construction. I am working with an organization in rural Nepal to … Read more
I found these pics on Inspiration Green and have been unable to find more information. The photos are by Justin Martin. Please leave a comment if you know more about this home. It’s a good example of a house many homeowners would be interested in owning. It also looks like a contractor built house and … Read more
Here’s something to consider when designing your home. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately … Read more
The importance of making your home beautiful goes without saying. Have fun figuring out the aesthetics as you design your home. Train yourself to search out the details that might otherwise be missed by casual surfing. There are lots of good online sources for inspiration. Here are a few sites with very nice galleries of … Read more
“I have now finished my first sand bag dome…well almost. It was a great experience, however lonely, as I moved over 25 tonnes of sand by hand, mixed it with cement and put it in the bags myself. I am excitedly happy with the result thus far. The dome was built at a significant Aboriginal … Read more