Cob House in Arizona

I ran across this whimsical little cob house on YouTube the other night and was really impressed with the organic nature of the home. Here’s what they say about the home in the notes at YouTube:

Construction took about 2 years. Inside area is about 230 sq. ft. (22 sq. meters), plus a sleeping loft bringing the total to about 325 sq. ft. (30 sq. meters). The foundation is rubble trench, about 4 ft. deep (below frost line). The stem wall is about 2ft. high, made of urbanite (recycled concrete chunks) and earth bags (polypropylene feed bags rammed with lime-stabilized earth). Walls are cob, about 2ft. thick at the base, tapering to 18 inches.

The outside walls are plastered with lime. The inside are plastered with an earth plaster (kaolin clay, manure, sand, wheat paste), and painted with a home made milk-protein (casein) paint. Floor is poured adobe (well, basically the same stuff the walls are made of), sealed with boiled linseed oil and beeswax. Solar electric, wood stove for heat, gas (propane) refrigerator, hot water and cook stove. We hired someone to do the roof, but the rest of the house was done by us, with some help from friends.

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