Ben Law’s Woodland Home

This new video shows Ben’s addition for the children, his new workshop and, in the closing image, the finished interior of his woodland home. Stunning! “Ben Law lives and works at Prickly Nut Woods in West Sussex, UK, where apart from making a living from coppicing he trains apprentices and runs courses on sustainable woodland … Read more

The Arts Center Hastings

The Arts Centre Hastings was designed by Chris Magwood and Ingrid Cryns, and built by the students of the 2007 Sustainable Building and Design program at Fleming College, under the direction of Chris Magwood and Ali Lam. Located in the Madoc Skate Park in downtown Madoc, Ontario, the project was funded by the Municipality of … Read more

Rustic Wood Trim

We’ve recently explored rustic furniture 1 and 2, pallet craft, wood flooring, wood ceilings 1 and 2, box beams, and wood cladding 1 and 2. There’s also a blog post on Wood Siding on Earthbag Houses. This seems like a good time to look at some low cost alternatives to manufactured trim. The main idea … Read more

Simple Survival Model Earthship

Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture has lots of great ideas. Even though he uses tires (which take more time and effort) instead of earthbags, his books and videos are highly recommended. This particular video has excellent 3D modeling showing how the structure is built. Note the insulation around the perimeter of the home to create … Read more

Exploring Natural Plasters on Pine Ridge Pallet House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDT16crY6sc In this video, David Reed of Texas Natural Builders kindly shows us his work with developing the right plaster mix for the pallet house near Pine Ridge. This is his first full-house pallet build and his first in a severe hot-and-cold-weather climate like ours. Critics of natural building often say that natural building is … Read more

Sears Catalog Homes

It looks like prices have changed a little bit in the last 100 years. In case you haven’t priced homes lately, the cost has gone up. Here are some quotes from Metafilter.com about catalog homes from companies such as Sears. Here’s the first sentence from the house description: “For $1,273 we will furnish all the … Read more