Comments on: A Living Home

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:10:22 +0000

Hi Peter,

I guess there are quite a lot of cob houses in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. A lot of cob houses in the U.S. are in rainy Oregon and Washington. I have read that you do have to take precautions with the walls and have good roof/overhang coverage and good plastering. I heard that a good cob house starts out life with an excellent hat and pair of shoes (foundation).

By: Peter Holland

Peter Holland — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:50:08 +0000

WOW! This is a totally new concept to me, but very appealing, for obvious reasons. What happens when it rains? I live in England. I want to build my studio our of this.

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:12:40 +0000

Hi Julie,

Cob houses have been built in Great Britain and Ireland for more than 500 years and cob has been used as a material since pre-historic times. Most new cob homes have been built in CA, OR, WA and NM, so it seems to work in different climates.

I did find this cob/straw bale home in Mayetta, Kansas.
http://naturalhomes.org/cob-usa-mayetta.htm

I think the best resource for this kind of information is the Natural Building Network: http://www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org/cold_climate_cob.htm

The book, The Hand Sculpted House by the Cob Cottage Company is also one of the best resources I have found.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:10:05 +0000

These houses are so beautiful. I have a question: I read a lot that they aren’t meant for cold climates, because the earth isn’t insulating enough against cold. What about someplace like Kansas or Missouri, where it gets very cold in the winter and very hot and humid in the summer?

By: cheritycall

cheritycall — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:18:27 +0000

Hello, Do something for help those hungry people from Africa or India,
I added this blog about this subject:
in http://tinyurl.com/6kv7fu

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:14:36 +0000

Thanks Craig for more information on cohousing. I know it is a much wider subject than I mentioned above and I’m fascinated with the way cohousing works. I’m from Denmark, which is known for its collective type villages, so this way of life is very interesting to me.

By: Craig Ragland

Craig Ragland — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:54:04 +0000

Thanks so much for the link to the Coho/US National Conference!

I did want to share that cohousing is actually a bit more diverse than suggested by your statement that “Cohousing communities attempt to be as self-sufficient as possible, by building their own homes from sustainable materials like cob and straw bales and by growing their own food.”

I believe that this is true for a great many, if not most, cohousing communities, but not all. If you check out the cohousing directory in depth, link provided, you may more insight into the diversity that is cohousing. I promote cohousing as a way that you can increase sustainability, but this is not a universal value that is held in common by all cohousing communities. Cohousing is, generally, more sustainable just because the model requires that a community have common spaces, that are shared by all. This, generally, results in smaller private spaces, which is certainly more sustainable.

By the way, a very interesting blog entry!

Craig Ragland
Coho/US Exec. Dir.