The Dongducheon family had been living in an apartment in South Korea when their younger son’s eczema became severe enough to disrupt his daily life. They later noticed that his condition eased whenever the family spent time in the countryside and began considering a home made from natural materials. They had no architectural training and only a single book to guide them. Even so, the parents and their two sons began filling discarded rice sacks with earth and stacking them into walls.
Each bag weighed about 35 kilograms, or 77 pounds. The work became harder as the walls rose, forcing the father to wear a support belt to protect his back. Members of the family’s church eventually began arriving on weekends to help carry the load.
The house took shape slowly, but the family says changes in their son came sooner. His symptoms began to improve while he was spending his days outdoors, handling earth and working alongside his parents and brother. The project became as much about caring for him as it was about creating a place to live.
Natural materials were used wherever practical. The ceiling received a sprayed finish made from earth mixed with a small amount of cement, while the floors incorporated red clay and mineral stone powder. Three coats of glutinous rice paste formed a natural protective seal.
The marks of the long build remain part of the house. Its walls preserve not only the labor of the four family members but also the weekends given by friends who helped them finish what they could not have completed alone.
Built from roughly 8,000 earthbags, the finished home stays near 26 degrees Celsius, or 79 degrees Fahrenheit, even during the height of summer. They also have suffered fewer colds since moving in.
The mother makes traditional earthenware pottery. Looking at the rounded, earth-built walls around them, she calls the house “the world’s largest piece of pottery.”
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