Last week I visited a friend Melina for snacks, tea, and to check out the status of her ever evolving home.
I have been here a few times over the years. The first time Melina was living in a motor home alongside the still a work in progress structure. A year ago the home was structuraly complete and made of adobe bricks but still without plaster. Now the home is fully habitatable and Melina lives inside and carries on a number of activities each day. There is so much left to complete but the home is very lovely as it is right now.
Would you like to have a tour of the front of this home made of Earth, lumber, and custom materials?
Even though the house is not entirely finished it is functional and beautiful. On hot days the thick walls keep the interior cool. The wood stove indoors is powerful enough to heat from inside and the walls hold the heat during cold winter nights.
One day Melina will hire a friend to paint the house with natural paint made of a colorful clay and lime wash. For now I love the color of the Earth found in the local environment.
The roof has a 70 centimeter overhang and protects the walls. And even as I spashed a bit of water while tending to these plants the plastering was just fine.
Full of onramental plants these little shelves outside the window take advantage of the suniest spots in this otherwise forested area. Inside the house the light from the windows dances on the rammed earth flour.
The next step is to create a protected entryway so that Melina's landscape of potted plants can spread out and multiply on the patio. She hasn't yet decide to make the roof transparent to create a green house or more like the roof of the rest of the house.
But, that is the beauty of molding a home. The process evolves over the years and is lovely to see in each of it's steps.
So perfectly, naturally gorgeous.... Imagine the peace of living in such a perfect home, crafted by oneself! I live in a handbuilt 'organic' architecture home also, and it has incredible power. 🪷👑
The wall is really beautiful and I like the color as it is you mentioned in the post. But also I look forward to seeing how it will be painted :) Thank you for sharing your visit.
Here in South Moravia, some houses made of bricks, which are made of clay and straw, have been standing for at least 100 years. Those houses, if their foundation insulation is repaired, are the best in terms of microclimate and insulation. They have walls about 80 cm thick. The tradition and art of building from these materials is preserved and can be seen, for example, in the open-air museum in Strážnice (48°54'15.5"N 17°18'44.0"E)
yap that's the dream come true right here.
do we all have the same vision? ahahahha
it's only logical right?
great post and pictures, this house is pretty much the ideal of the idea.
blessings
great ! :D