A ROUND HOUSE OF STRAW BALES
(Page 4 of 4)
At that point, the only drafts we felt came from odd chinks
in the wall and from between the wall and the roof. These
cracks we stuffed with straw . . . until the air inside the
house was perfectly still. The floor, still strewn with
straw from our work, was so pleasant to walk on that we
decided to leave it that way.
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Then—great moment!—we brought in the stove and
placed it in the center of the lodge on a little raised
platform of dirt inside a circle of rocks (to keep the fire
away from the straw).
To protect the roof poles from the heat of the stovepipe,
we wrapped each timber at its center-end in a little jacket
of asbestos and put a layer of aluminum foil around the
pipe where it went through the ceiling. Then we stapled a
big piece of asbestos (with a hole in its middle for the
pipe to pass through) to the underside of the roof to cut
heat loss.
And that was it. Except for the fact that we're so into
straw that we've kept several bales as furniture.
When you walk into our house the floors, wall, roof and all
are the golden color of a wheat field. The round floor plan
so of embraces you and the eye moves unhindered around is
one continuous wall. The total effect—if you'll
pardon my bias—is most relaxing.
If you build a lodge like ours, do write and tell me about
it.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Bob Doolittle's current address is
W1653 Water Avenue, Spokane, Washington 99201. He'll
probably get a lot of letters as a result of this article,
so remember to send along a stamped, self-addressed
envelope if you expect a reply).
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