My small house is a labor of love. It belonged to my mother’s parents who bought it in 1969, when I was 4 years old. My dad was renovating it when he passed away in 2006. I inherited it in 2012 and my journey began. I spent the first few years cleaning up the yard, mowing grass and dreaming about living in this little old house. It is 864 square feet, was built in the 1930s and sits on five acres of farmland in Castle Hayne, North Carolina…
It took Greg Ryan two months to build this cabin for $3,500.
The December/January issue of Mother Earth News has a 5-page article on our book, Small Homes.
Note: We are offering a 50% discount on our books Small Homes, Tiny Homes, and Shelter for the rest of November, with free shipping.
Christmas gifts?
Details at: www.shelterpub.com/building
Mike boarding from his cabin Photo by Mike Basich
…He dug out an area of about 120 sq. ft. in the bank, leaving the space open to the sky. His aim was to create a cave-type dwelling that was stable, dry, and free of moisture seepage through the clay walls — and to use all natural materials in the process…
Photo by Lloyd Kahn
Kitchen, dinning, and living room.
…Lobelia is the name of our 864-square-foot, two-bedroom, straw bale home. Named after a native wildflower, Lobelia was built with many reclaimed materials, including all framing lumber, most doors and windows, and even the kitchen cabinet.
The straw bale exterior walls are protected by earthen plaster inside and out. Outside, the hip roof and wood shingle skirt, made from pallet wood scraps, along with a coat or two or raw linseed oil help protect the exterior plaster from the elements…
We bought Shelter, Homework, and Builders of the Pacific Coast near the beginning of the design process. They were an inspiration and provided many ideas…
For an additional level of protection, the house was clad with cedar boards.
Sophie Belisle and Mark Boutin’s living room. The home was built with recycled materials in Quebec, Canada.
…I felled trees on my site and had them milled on a portable sawmill. Last year, a friend and I started to prepare the timbers. We did 95 percent of the cutting with Japanese handsaws…
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