Ever think about building your own house? Perhaps a cob house? I know that I certainly have. If you have as well, then you’ll probably be able to greatly appreciate the story below — one detailing how a retired art teacher from Oxfordshire, England was able to build a beautiful cob-house for only about £150 (USD $250).
Michael Buck, a 59-year-old British farmer and retired art teacher, apparently designed his dirt-cheap (but beautiful) house on the back of an envelope, and built the house largely from salvaged materials — just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need much to get started.
TreeHugger provides more:
According to Oddity Central, Buck designed the home on the back of an envelope, and spent over two years collecting local materials that he foraged or salvaged himself. The floorboards were from a neighbour’s derelict boat, while the glass for the windows were salvaged from a scrapped truck. The roof’s thatching came from straw that he gathered and hauled himself from adjacent fields.
For amenities, there is free water from a nearby creek, but the house has no electricity, no running water and is heated by a woodstove — which is more than enough to heat up a space warmly insulated by cob walls. A lovely spherical pile of stacked wood lies outside, while a nearby well serves as a refrigerator, complemented by a composting toilet in a separate outhouse. (And let’s not forget the chicken coop!) However, he ran into the unexpected cost of USD $250 when he ran out of straw and nails.
The project was in many ways intended to demonstrate that a quality living environment can built for next to nothing: “A house doesn’t have to cost the earth, you only need the earth to build it. I wanted to show that houses don’t have to cost anything. We live in a society where we spend our lives paying our mortgages, which many people don’t enjoy.”
You can find out more at Michael’s site.
Image Credit: Michael Buck
Coal produces the juice that powers electric cars. Don’t forget that.
Not necessarily. Coal is now less than 40% of US electricity supply. Furthermore, in California, about 40% of EV owners have rooftop solar panels.
http://evobsession.com/39-of-california-ev-owners-have-solar-panels/
And even when coal is a larger portion of a grid’s supply, electric motors are still about 3x more efficient than gasoline engines, so they create fewer emissions (and none where the car is actually driving).
http://cleantechnica.com/2012/04/18/electric-vehicles-greenhouse-gas-emissions-save-money/
86% of all electricity is produced via coal, nuclear and natural gas. Tree huggers hate coal and nuclear and push back on natural gas. Solar power is .2 % of power. Two-tenths of one percent.
Again, check the link I shared on how much greener EVs are.
I own solar pv +ev.while I donate for trees i don’t hug them.I resent that my taxes (6 figures)are on employment,income rather than on pollution.(carbon)
Plants exhale carbon dioxide. Kill all them damn trees!
Yeah right…….not here in the US! Just to get a building permit you have to go thru zoning and apply for permit for sewage and water which is between 4 and 6 hundred bucks…..what crock of NOT REALITY this article is……maybe on a deserted island without building codes, taxes and permits
Yeah right…….not here in the US! Just to get a building permit you have to go thru zoning and apply for permit for sewage and water which is between 4 and 6 hundred bucks…..what crock of NOT REALITY this article is……maybe on a deserted island without building codes, taxes and permits
“We live in a society where we spend our lives paying our mortgages, which many people don’t enjoy.”
Very true, but how much was the land that this gorgeous house was built on?
Even out here in rural west Wales land is very expensive, and unless it’s under 1m in height there would be planning permission to deal with.
Please explain how these issues were circumvented.
“We live in a society where we spend our lives paying our mortgages, which many people don’t enjoy.”
Very true, but how much was the land that this gorgeous house was built on?
Even out here in rural west Wales land is very expensive, and unless it’s under 1m in height there would be planning permission to deal with.
Please explain how these issues were circumvented.