A House of Straw

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I thought we could build one of these houses slowly, over the years, somewhere out in the country, beyond the realm of building inspections—someday. However, my husband didn't really share my dream. We ultimately went our separate ways: I found myself suddenly divorced and without enough monthly income to pay all our bills plus a mortgage; the time was upon me to turn my dream into reality.

The fact that I had no building experience, only $25,000 in savings and very little free tune didn't bother me—at first. After all, I had a stack of how-to books on my coffee table and I would have the help of my two sons, Andrzej (pronounced "Andre") and J J. They were 15 and 17 when we began the construction of our straw bale home in the Sonoran desert near Tucson.

I was pretty sure I had an extreme challenge ahead of me, but I didn't realize I'd be leaving my former life behind. In building this house I found new muscles, new ways of thinking and, especially, new friends. What I really wanted from my house was a joyful, meaningful life—and I found one.

THE PLAN

Straw-bale building experts Bill and Athena Steen, and an architect, Wayne Bingham, gave me a sketch and floor plan. They had been working on small, efficient house designs that consume fewer resources and cost less to build.

The interior of my house is about 1,000 square feet of enclosed living space. The boys share the loft, and my bedroom and the bathroom are below. The west side of the house has a U-shaped kitchen and dining area. The enclosed porch is a passivesolar sunroom on the south side of the house that I can open up to the house when I want the warmth, or close off in the summer.

Through this house design, I teamed simplicity. In preparation for moving into a smaller house, the boys and I gave away our extra possessions, keeping only what we really used, from the pots and pans in the kitchen to the clothes in our closets. We haven't missed a single thing we gave away.

Although it was smaller than my original dream, the smaller house is easier to clean, less expensive to heat and cool, and it enabled me to complete the project. A larger house would have cost too much and been too much work.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

The foundation was a dusty, difficult process with days of labor laying out the footings, then building forms for the concrete. I also had to dig deep trenches and lay plumbing from the house to the septic tank. It was a time when reality came crashing into my dream, and fear and fatigue threatened to destroy the project. I might have given up, if that had been an option. I learned to toss out self-pity and my jealousy of people who were spending their weekends by the pool. I stayed focused on being grateful that I had a passion and was being given the opportunity to turn my dream into reality. I also learned to divide the huge project into small steps and not to let myself become overwhelmed by the work that lay ahead of me.

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