Saturday, December 3, 2011

Extraordinary Off-Grid Hobbit Home in Wales Only Cost £3,000 to Build

http://inhabitat.com/extraordinary-off-grid-hobbit-home-in-wales-only-cost-3000-to-build
Simon Dale proves that you don't have to be an architect to design and build a beautiful, cozy, low-energy home. With £3,000, a few simple tools, and a little help from his father-in-law and friends, Simon constructed an extraordinary hobbit home that has virtually no visual or environmental impact on the surrounding landscape.
...
We’ve noticed a surge in hobbit homes as more people throughout the world seek alternatives to the bigger is better model of living. For example, in Switzerland, one family buried their home but opted for more luxurious finishings instead of turning to natural materials as the Dale family has done. The hobbit house’s framing consists of locally-gathered oak thinnings, the retaining walls and foundations were made from stone and mud, and straw bales were used to insulate the floor, walls, and roof.

The interior walls were finished off with breathable lime plaster which has a much lower embodied-energy footprint than cement, while all of the flooring, finishings, windows, plumbing – virtually everything inside – was re-purposed from discarded scrap materials. A wood burner heats the home, and an ingenious system that pipes cool air in from underground keeps the family refrigerator at an optimum temperature. A skylight fills the small home with natural light, water is sourced from a nearby spring, and solar panels provide all of the electricity the Dales need to power their musical, computing and lighting equipment....

Posted By Tafline Laylin
Inhabitat http://inhabitat.com
October 5, 2011
FOR FULL STORY GO TO: http://inhabitat.com/extraordinary-off-grid-hobbit-home-in-wales-only-cost-3000-to-build

No comments:

Post a Comment