green building

Plan-it Earth Roundhouse Holidays

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Strawbale Roundhouse -- the reciprocal frame roof and roof light express beauty and clever design
Strawbale Roundhouse — the reciprocal frame roof and roof light express beauty and clever design

It’s grueling hard work surfing the Internet for beautiful natural homes, but someone’s got to do it! Today’s website features two stunning roundhouses that can be rented out for vacations.

“Staying in our Roundhouses in Cornwall is a truly magical experience. It offers the perfect combination: back-to-nature living, without compromising on all the luxuries you would dream of for a perfect Green Holiday. Roomy, with comfortable beds, cosy wood burners and beautiful lanterns, this is luxurious Eco Living! This year we have two Roundhouses, situated in the orchard and large vegetable garden. The Roundhouses provide a unique family holiday or honeymoon destination.

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Low Cost, Beautiful Water Features

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Small ponds and other water features for any budget (this one was made with a plastic watering trough)
Small ponds and other water features for any budget (this one was made with a plastic watering trough)

These luxurious fountains can be added to your home at extremely low cost if you use natural materials such as stone, driftwood and plants, and do the work yourself (DIY). Get creative with recycled materials such as chipped pots from yard sales and you could slash the cost to almost free.

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Wigwam, Wikiup, Bender Tents/Shelters

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Improvised shelters made of branches or saplings and covered with tarps provide emergency shelter as well as a place to live while your home is being built.
Improvised shelters made of branches or saplings and covered with tarps provide emergency shelter as well as a place to live while your home is being built.

“A wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by many different Native American cultures. The curved surfaces make it an ideal shelter for all kinds of conditions. These structures are formed with a frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are covered with some sort of roofing material. Details of construction vary with the culture and local availability of materials. Some of the roofing materials used include grass, brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides or cloth.”

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Open-air Bathrooms

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Open-air bathroom in luxury villa. You can actually do some star gazing from the sunken tub.
Open-air bathroom in luxury villa. You can actually do some star gazing from the sunken tub.

Is your bathroom small, dark and smelly, and a place where you spend as little time as possible? Consider surrounding yourself in nature with an open-air or partially open-air bathroom. They’re ideal in tropical climates, because odors and moisture are rapidly vented away. Open-air bathrooms are often used in luxury resorts and eco resorts so patrons can be close to nature. Using natural materials such as stone, pebbles, coral, pottery, wood and plants creates a unique environment with inviting ambience. Scented flowers are a wonderful touch. You can build extremely beautiful bathrooms like the ones shown here at very low cost by using locally available natural materials and doing the work yourself.

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Earthbag Dome Material Cost Calculator

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“Use this free online strategic planning tool to help plan for your earthbag (superadobe) dome. This calculator will generate a row-by-row estimation of the required materials to build your dome.” Source: Terra Form Related: How Many Bags Does it Take?