This Hobbit house is a part of a variety of stays offered at Silver Oaks Nature Retreat in Kerala, India. It offers modern-day conveniences and facilities while also incorporating a mystical vibe commonly featured in fantasy novels. This Hobbit House has a tree within it, an indoor fireplace, and an artificial waterfall. You can read … Read more
Joe Lyth and his family live in a passive house near Auckland, New Zealand, which is a big change from their former home in London. The ethos that made this architect design such an eco-friendly home for his own family applies to all aspects of their life. “We hardly ever buy anything new,” architect Joe … Read more
Seventeen years ago Dave Fennell found a house in Co Meath that represented three different centuries in Irish building. It comprised a traditional period country cottage with fresh thatch on top and a more modern 20th-century wing alongside. Careful restoration work revealed that the oldest part of the house was actually made of cob. The … Read more
The five men who created Terran Robotics believe their adobe construction process offers a viable and cost-effective solution to the soaring cost of owning a home. They make thick walls with a mixture of clay-rich mud, shredded straw and limestone slurry. Terra’s mission statement is: Turning dirt into affordable, sustainable, comfortable, beautiful homes. During an … Read more
The Last Straw recently published this Oral History of The Straw Building Revival with Matts Myhrman The Last Straw: So, Matts, when you were younger did you have any sense that you would end up building with bales? Matts Myhrman: Not in the slightest. My dad was quite a good carpenter and he started me … Read more
On the island of Sumu Yakushima, Japan, designer Tsukasa Ono turned to regenerative architecture as his primary concept. An experimental housing cooperative jointly created by eight owners, this project in the woods was adapted to fit the surrounding landscape without cutting down large trees or leveling the ground; they raised the wooden buildings off from … Read more