Our Straw Bale Hybrid Home, El Rito, NM- in progress
See side paragraph (lower right), for details and specs on our home
.
An overview of our northern New Mexico home...
Our hybrid home brings together everything we desire in a home made of natural materials - beauty, organic flow and unique detailing. The materials we are bringing together are to maximize efficiency and comfort for living in this gorgeous place which can be extreme at times.
This 1,100 sq ft passive-solar designed home features a straw bale shell, with cob, adobe, and light-straw interior walls and insulated floors downstairs to represent the most efficient home we could create. The home is performing beyond our expectations with heating and cooling, even while still in progress.
Our heating systems consists of a custom masonry stove designed by Norbert as our main heat source, with solar radiant floor heat in the adobe floors on the first floor. European radiators will be used for back-up on those rare days when we need a spot of warmth.
We incorporate solar hot water and PV panels for our energy, Watson Wicks for septic, and water catchment from the large roof serving as our main water source. Long term plans include a greenhouses and a garden to grow as much food at 8,000 feet as the elements will allow.
We harvested 100% of the clay and sand from the land and surrounding area for the earthen plasters and mud use overall, and began milling our own lumber in 2009, both of which has reduced our carbon footprint dramatically. The timber milling has helped us a great deal toward managing ours and the surrounding forest.
Building our own home has been a slow process as we often lose months or and entire year helping create homes and spaces for others - but being a labor of love, we are thrilled to watch it grow and progress in any manner.
We could not have created such a wonderful house if not for the many many interns, helpers, friends and family who have come by to help and lend a strong back and hand. To you all, we thank you with deep, deep gratitude.
Our goal for 2011, moving into a completed home!
2006/2007 - The beginning
The rubble trench foundation and footprint grade-beam
of the house showing the first floor with sunroom in front
Later that summer, straw bale walls and bond beam in
place, just before plaster prep. Note the temporary roof
which will be lifted up to the second story
Detail of Norbert's curved custom bond beam design
on the first floor
The cob tromb wall in the sunroom created by Carolyn
with the help of many helpers for whom we give thanks
A heavy straw clay coat devised by Carolyn to replace
the clay slip and infill coats. It serves to both work clay
into the bales and level the walls in one pass
The first coat of plaster using our dark soil applied
during the Gemini Farms plastering party
A first lime coat and lime-wash on the first floor,
the house ready for the winter
Spring 2009 -
(Sadly we were not able to work on our home in 2008)
The second story goes up and roof moved into place
ready for framing
The roof in progress on both first and second floors
Framing for the first floor roof which will serve as a deck
off of the bedroom and his and her bookend rooms
Light straw-clay used for insulating the first floor roof
The finished roofs on both floors. The first floor roof
features a cloth/latex membrane roofing which is painted
Back to the first floor where Nobert and our friend
Kristopher a skilled fireplace mason, discuss how to
begin the masonry stove Norbert designed. (2009)
The stove in progress, made with firebrick and adobe
The finished shell of the stove which will be buried in
cob and adobe with large stones and a mantle. Tests
firings of the stove have resulted in wonderful success.
Late fall 2010
The view of dining room/kitchen showing the adobe wall
which houses the large pantry/root cellar. The sub-floor
is in place with 4 inches of pumice under a cement slurry
to stabilize it, ready for kitchen tiles and a poured adobe
floor with radiant floor heat
Progress upstairs shows completion of the adobe wall
which is mirrored downstairs to both hide the staircase
and serve as backdrop for the masonry stove
Opposite view of the adobe wall above are the floor-
to-ceiling windows in the main bedroom, handcrafted
by Norbert
A view of a window before installation, again,
handcrafted by Norbert
Framing for the light straw-clay walls for
"his and hers" private rooms
The light-straw clay walls stuffed. Note the straw
colored stuffing, an experiment with straw and
wheat paste
The roof in transition outside using wood harvested
from standing dead on our land, hand milled by Norbert
A current view of the house exterior with temporary
front door and sunroom windows temporarily closed
in awaiting the finished windows-soon to come. Work
in summer/spring of 2011 should bring us to
completion - fingers crossed!
