Our Little Blue Home

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Firsthand: Reports from the Field

I've always loved the San Luis Valley in Colorado, and when I happened upon an ad in the Denver paper about acreage for sale on La Jara Creek, about 15 miles southwest of La Jara, Colorado, my wife Rita and I had to see it. On a cold February morning we drove 250 miles from Denver to the site. We fell in love with the land and bought it on the spot. Three years later, after a lot of labor on our part, we have our little blue home; it and the land cost us approximately $50,000.

The 760-square-foot, off-the-grid home was designed and framed by Heartland industries, but we installed its electrical wiring, plumbing, interior walls, insulation, drywall, painting, wood trim and floor tile.

We enveloped the house with 4-mil poly sheeting before we sided and insulated the exterior walls and the roof. The windows are small, double-paned and efficient, and still provide adequate light. I later added a hexagon window above the dining area to bring in additional light and ventilation.

The home is two stories with a gambrel (barn-style) roof and a covered porch we enjoy year-round. An exterior door opens into the living room, which is small, but cozy. A ventless, propane heater offers ambience and all the heat we need, even at 20 below zero. The stairwell wall allows space for some of our photography. Underneath the front windows, we placed a futon that opens to a bed for guests to use.

Left of the living room as you enter the house is the efficient kitchen, which contains a 7-cubic-foot propane refrigerator (more than adequate for our needs), a microwave, an apartment-sized four burner propane stove and oven, a 7-foot countertop with a single sink, base and wall cabinets, and numerous electrical outlets for small appliances. To the right of the kitchen we built floor-to-ceiling shelf walls for storage and to separate the kitchen and bathroom.

The bathroom has a stool, sink and undersized bathtub I scrounged that is perfectly sized for the shower. We laid the ceramic floor tile ourselves. For now, a Zodi camp shower provides hot water for showering, but later I plan to hook up a propane AquaStar tankless water heater.