Couple Builds Dream Straw-Clay Home

Ten years ago when Tim Kroeker’s last child finally graduated high school, he and his wife decided it was now or never to follow through on their dream of building a house…an alternative house…in “the country”. With their years of research they could see the advantages (and some of the downsides) to the various possible … Read more

Interview with Kelly Hart on Youtube

Rob Avis with Verge Permaculture interviewed me on his YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago, and it is now available for you to see at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGXrWnoviCw The program runs almost an hour and is primarily about earthbag building, partly to promote the book I wrote titled Essential Earthbag Construction, published by New Society Publishing.

Natural Building with Balecob

The current issue of Mother Earth News has this article written by Kyle Chandler-Isacksen with Conrad Rogue; photos by House Alive. What is shown here are excerpts; you can read the entire article at the above link. Balecob is an infill technique that uses straw bales and cob to quickly create highly insulating, roof-supporting, and … Read more

Earthbag Houses in Ecuador

I just got a nice update on what Ed Konderla has been up to in Ecuador, first building an earthbag house and then a guest house: The location is in the Andes Mountains, Southern Ecuador…  very seismically active which necessitated a robust construction technique. The earthbag construction has been the way to go for me. … Read more

Thank you Owen

Before Owen died, he got this email: Dear Owen, I just heard that you’re not so well. I just wanted to show you a pic of the Hyperadobe earthbag building that YOU inspired me to build. I will be forever grateful. It’s not finished yet…2 more layers of lime casein paint on the exterior, and finish … Read more