Several years ago Kirsten Dirksen’s family embarked on a project where they found a derelict (and affordable) country home located in a tiny, well-maintained castle hamlet 1 hour outside Barcelona, Spain. They began renovation with the help of a young architecture studio. Can a home remodel celebrate the layers of past, present, and future? Do … Read more
Pedro Pedrosa and his wife Sofia left city life over a decade ago to live in a mostly-abandoned farming village in Central Portugal. After creating their home from several small outbuildings, they continued to experiment with local building materials- cork, pine, lime, and slate- by transforming three stone storage sheds into “Nature Houses.” Their town, … Read more
Some birds’ nests are cup-shaped, some have domes, others have been likened to apartment complexes. How do birds build their nurseries? Captain Cook collected a hummingbird nest during his trip to Brazil. That nest, just 6 cm (2.4 inches) high was in the fork of two branches, camouflaged with lichen, lined with fluffy seeds and … Read more
“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 … Read more
Matts Myhrman, co-founder of The Last Straw Journal and a natural building legend, passed away peacefully on October 15th 2024. I first met Matts and his wife Judy Knox at the 2000 Natural Building Colloquium in New Mexico and was immediately captivated by the sparkle in their eyes. Matts is an elder statesman in the … Read more
Ross and Kristin Ulibarri live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Valverde Commons, a senior co-housing community within walking distance of historic Taos Plaza in New Mexico. Its sculpted adobe-style exterior makes it look like a traditional Southwestern dwelling. The house has triple-glazed windows and air-tight insulation, so it rarely needs any heating beyond the … Read more