Shelter Publications has done it again! Lloyd Khan and his partner, Lesley Creed, have produced a gorgeous peek into their alternative lifestyle in the book The Half-Acre Homestead: 46 Years of Building & Gardening. As with all of Lloyd’s books, this one is full of hundreds of full color photos, arranged in delightful spreads. The … Read more
Katie Jones and Peter Schmitt’s Uptown Strawhouse will be built on the site of their current garage using straw bales for walls, which will not only make the home energy efficient but will actually sequester carbon. “Passive houses” meet a voluntary energy efficiency standard that drastically reduces the building’s carbon footprint and requires little energy … Read more
Valverde Commons is a co-housing community designed to foster connection. This means there is shared governance, resources, socializing and spaces. One resident, Bob Draper, was instrumental in its planning and development. Part of the idea was to encompass the realities of ageing in place. When a 14-acre property came on the market that fit their … Read more
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