Straw Bale Roundhouse in Taos, NM


We were just talking about strawbale roundhouses the other day. (See: Straw Bale Roundhouses Built in One Day.) This one is in New Mexico. I highly encourage people to try gravel bag foundations. (Polypropylene bags or tubes filled with gravel.) They could have saved a great deal of time, money and effort. A small, simple foundation like this one can be built in one day with two workers. Our free websites and articles explain the details.

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Straw Bale Roundhouses Built in One Day

Strawbale roundhouses like this can be built in as little as one day.
Strawbale roundhouses like this can be built in as little as one day.

A kindred spirit sent me a memorable letter about 10 years ago. They had read about the strawbale roundhouse I helped build with the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota. (I recently found out the roundhouse later got destroyed in a flood.)

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How Much Will My House Cost?

Learn how to save tens of thousands of dollars on your new home with these money saving tips.
Learn how to save tens of thousands of dollars on your new home with these money saving tips.

Lots of people ask us how much their earthbag or strawbale house will cost. Cost is a major consideration of any new home, and so it’s understandable why people want to learn more. However, many people don’t realize how many variables are involved. It’s the old “how long is a piece of string” question that makes it very difficult to answer. The following examples will help clarify what I mean.

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TreesWaterPeople Sustainable Homes

TreesWaterPeople Strawbale/Earthbag Homes at Pine Ridge, South Dakota
TreesWaterPeople Strawbale/Earthbag Homes at Pine Ridge, South Dakota

“Work on the third straw bale home at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center began on Monday last week and was nearly complete by Friday. Gathering materials for the building began a little earlier. Constructed mostly from locally available resources, straw bale homes are regionally very appropriate for Pine Ridge.”

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