People are staying home these days to avoid the spread of Covid-19, and unfortunately this means that many of the wonderful workshops that have been offered for learning about natural building and sustainable living have been cancelled. This is a loss for both the folks who organized and promoted the workshops and all the potential … Read more
Jim Gagnepain and his wife, Stephanie, built their retirement home in eastern El Paso County, Colorado. Jim, who has a background in electrical engineering, acted as the general contractor, and he and Stephanie did a lot of the work. The result is an almost completely self-sufficient bermed earth home. Jim and Stephanie had long been … Read more
Mark and Chera rescued and renovated an old cabin and transformed it into an epic off-grid home for their family of 5. There’s no road to get there, so they had to figure out how to do absolutely everything by boat and barge: transporting building materials, equipment, belongings, workers, as well as commuting to and … Read more
Dan Phillips of Phoenix Commotion is a trained architect from Huntsville, Texas, who helps people build their own affordable dream homes with recycled materials. He has helped construct at least 14 houses, mostly for low-income, first-time buyers. When Dan was a child, his family suffered through the Great Depression and he learned to value what … Read more
Here is one couple’s experience with an earthbag root cellar in Alaska: www.youtube.com
The New York Times recently published a fine article about Lloyd Kahn, the builder and publisher of numerous books related to natural building through his Shelter Publications. I have been aware of Lloyd’s work since he published an article I wrote about building and living my original school bus back the early 1970’s. That was … Read more