This is a 2674
square foot strawbale house with a master suite above the
kitchen and dining area and a two room bedroom suite on the
other side (west) of the house. It was designed both as a
home for the owners and a bed and breakfast when in season.
Each of the bedroom areas have their own outside access so
privacy is ensured.The owners did
all the work themselves. They harvested 45 tons of earth to
form the adobe interior mass walls, the earthen floors and
the several inch thick stucco plaster. While they didn’t
harvest the straw off their property, all the stone in the
house was from their land, as is the wood for doors, trim,
countertops, furniture, bookcases, and all flooring.
Windows, lighting fixtures and other materials for the house
were salvaged and reused throughout the house.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The house was designed and built with a great awareness of
chemical sensitivities – the house is allergen and
chemically free. They have had several guests who have been
“chemically injured” and were able to feel safe in the house
and its environment. Doctors are now sending their MCS
(Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) patients there for a stay
in a place where they can heal.
In
order to be able to have people in the house who are so
sensitive, all materials had to be in their ‘natural’ state.
There was no concrete in the home except for the shallow
foundation, lumber was harvested from beetle-kill pine on
site for columns or beams, and all trim, floors, interior
doors and cabinets. Recycled cellulose insulation was used
for ceiling insulation. All windows reused from other
buildings, many of the light fixtures were also reused from
other buildings. There was virtually no construction waste.
The items
with the largest embedded energy were the steel roof, the
wind turbine, PV panels and hot water collectors. Virtually
everything else was salvaged or reused.
AESTHETICS
Other than the domestic hot water panel on the front by the
kitchen, the pv and even the wind turbine are hidden away in
the trees and one has to go looking for them in order to
find the source of electricity.
PUBLIC AWARENESS
The owners, since they started building the house, have
regularly had people in to teach them about strawbale and
renewable energy. Since the house was finished, they also
regularly hold fundraisers there, to benefit the local arts
league. People are invited to troop through the house (with
appointments) to learn about how to build a house that is
not connected to the local utility, how to build with
renewables and houses made of straw can and will stand up.
The owners are now extremely well know in the Valley for
promoting renewables, and are often sough after for their
advice. So much so, that William is thinking of becoming
LEED certified because he is often giving advice he might as
well get a few credentials behind him.
REPLICABILITY
Strawbale continues to catch the
eyes of the public and of a few production builders.
One of
their guests went back to California and built their own
strawbale B and B just outside of Joshua Tree National
Monument. They said that they were inspired by what they
found at Las Manos.
The
owners are still very committed to renewable energy and we
are currently designing two strawbale cottages connected by
a working greenhouse. William also says that he will be
working with a “pair of vacuum solar collectors, add an 80
gallon tank that will get the heat and redirect it to the
infloor radiant in the winter”.
