A shady, beautiful balcony with climbing plants
Our new straw bale house plan features a balcony design on the west side of the building. The purpose of this balcony is two, if not three-fold. Not only is it a place to sit and watch the sunset, but it provides other more functional purposes, too. Here are some good tips about how to plan a successful balcony design for your new home. Take note!
An impressive hammer beam timber frame
I’ve spent a lot of time searching for beautiful timber frame house images for inspiration for our new home. There are many unique frames out there, each with their own personality and style. Here’s a few I love looking at.
A handmade cob staircase
Oliver of Natural Homes posted this nice shot of a cob staircase in Meka’s cob cottage, one of my favorite cob home interiors. I’ve often wondered what it is like to traverse these particular steps.
One thing is for sure: they are at least nice to look at!
Our timber frame house plans are complete, and now we are prepared to proceed with acquiring our timber. We are providing the plans free for download for folks interested in viewing the 3D drawings and floor plans. Read ahead for more!
Small Strawbale is not a book that will prepare you to construct your own straw bale house, in the sense that it will not give you all the gory building details that go into straw bale home construction. Instead, it will provide a nice bit of juice in the inspiration department for those folks intrigued by building with bales, or hoping to break ground on one of their own houses in the future. Read More
The newly tiled (and styled) cob house
We’re finally back in Gobcobatron! The tile floor is done…. for now. (Yea, we still have to seal it with linseed oil, but April and I are waiting until next spring to be 100% certain the floor is dry… we’re not taking any chances.) The difference in the house is dramatic, especially when you combine the look of the terracotta tile with the newly lime plastered walls. I am really liking it.
In this post I’ll provide a simple explanation of how we laid the tile using clay and sand grout and clay adhesive. Read More
It’s spring, and the building season has officially begun. I’ve been a bit consumed with thinking about building lately — between doing some work around the house, planning for the next building season for the cooperative kitchen, thinking about a new home design, and serving on Dancing Rabbit’s new Common House design committee (we are a group of five tasked with designing a new common house intended to serve a population of 150 people), I have plenty to think about in the building arena. Sometimes it’s exhausting.
But as soon as I am able to actually do work, and not just think about it, it feels a lot better.
You might be wondering what’s next for the house, for my living situation, for this website. Gobcobatron needs some help, and it’s clear that a cob house in northeast Missouri is probably not the best idea for a four seasons dwelling. I love my house, but it’s become apparent that this is not the house I am meant to live in for the long haul.
But what will become of it?
The new front door (that will soon receive a new coat of paint to cover up that blase beige)
The cob walls of the mud room addition are finally complete and all that remains now is to plaster the walls once the cob has fully dried. I’m very happy with how the addition process went and the end result. We’ve now got a great (tiny) little space for storing shoes and hanging coats, and it gives us an extra bit of buffer against exterior temperatures. Here’s a few pictures of the new front entryway of the house…
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.
