natural

Tiny Straw Bale Cabins

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by Gabriella Morrison The options available with styles, building techniques, and materials used to create tiny houses are various (vive la différence!). Some tiny homes rest on solid foundations while others are on trailers. Some are modern in style and others more rustic. The list goes on and there is … Read more

Green Valley Natural Builders Tiny House

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For their first tiny house, Green Valley Natural Builders in Sebastopol, CA decided to build something very small, but beautiful, using only natural, unprocessed and re-used materials. What they came up with is a delightful tiny structure on wheels that cost only $1,500 to build. Because the small company is … Read more

Norwegian Koie (Little Cabin)

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Even if you don’t plan on making a back country trip to Norway any time soon, these tiny cabins may give you a few ideas on how to create a tiny house that melds nearly seamlessly with its natural surroundings. Koiene (pronounced koi-eh-n) are a system of tiny, convenient cabins … Read more

The ecoPerch

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Treehouses have been making the news lately with Deek Diedrickson’s “Wolfe’s Den” and Joel Allen’s HemLoft. Across the pond, the ecoPerch is a new tiny house design based on a treehouse from the Blue Forest company in the U.K. This beautiful structure is designed to fit into the natural surroundings … Read more

RVC Outdoor Destinations

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by Katie Breyer

I work with a company (RVC Outdoor Destinations) that has created & branded the concept of Outdoor Destinations. These are basically outdoor resorts for luxurious camping with upscale amenities and accommodations mixed with beautiful natural environments. I’d like to tell you a little bit about their unique lodging options…

Cottages
RVC worked with Athens Park Homes to create their own customized RVC Resort Cottages. They come fully furnished with lofts, flat screen TVs, washers/dryers, bathrooms, fully appointed kitchens, and fresh bed linens & towels. They also include a BBQ grill, picnic table, and fire ring for outdoor cooking and gathering. While RVC Resort Cottages are small, they can sleep up to four adults and two children with the bedroom, loft and fold-out sofa.

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Living in the Future

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According to the Lammas ecovillage in Wales, living in the future means looking to the past. This series of videos shows the baby ecovillage’s plans and struggles to develop a low impact village in the open countryside. The series also profiles several other successful ecovillages around Europe. The village is named after the pagan holiday that celebrates the abundance of the fall months.

Lammas is the United Kingdom’s first planned ecovillage and is sited on 76 acres of mixed pasture and woodland in Pembrokeshire. The houses use low-impact architecture which uses a combination of recycled and natural materials. The village will contain five detached buildings and one terrace of four dwellings. The homes will be built of straw bale, earth, timber frame and cob; they will have turf roofs and wool insulation and will blend into the landscape.

The videos (also available as podcasts) cover everything from searching for land, working with local codes, inspectors and design councils, examples of different types of natural building including straw bale and cob, surviving cold weather, self-sufficiency, growing your own food, and keeping community intact. The ecovillages profiled are Cae Mabon, The Village, Ireland and Findhorn. That Roundhouse by Tony Wrench is also featured.

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