Hand-Built Circular Stone House For Sale Part Two

Reader Contribution by Elesha Snyder
1 / 5
2 / 5
3 / 5
4 / 5
5 / 5

The construction of the Circle Stone house was well under way as wall after wall went up and the house started to take shape. After all of the interior walls were finished it was time to start on the exterior ones. This would be a considerably more difficult task because the rocks needed for these walls were much larger. In fact, the rocks on the bottom row of the exterior wall average over 2 tons each and even the smaller ones are over 500 pounds.

I

n order to build the exterior wall, Sheryl would use a chain on the back hoe and attach it around one of the colossal boulders. She would then drive the boulder over to Karen on site who would guide it into place. Once it was placed on the wall they would remove the chain, mortar it into place and start the process over again. After 2 years and 9 months, over 200 tons of sand and mortar and God only knows how many rocks, the skeleton of the house was finally done. The women rented a sandblaster to clean all of the excess sand and mortar from the stones, and then sealed the entire house with a special waterproofing product.

The next step would be to place the roof supports and for the first time since they began construction, the professionals were called in. The roof is supported by seventeen, thirty four foot wooden vigas set into a wagon wheel pattern. The vigas were set into special U-shaped niches built on top of the walls. After the vigas were in place, they rocked another one and a half feet up all the way around the house to make room for the roof. They were sure to leave three 6″ canals that allow for proper drainage of rainwater. These canals each drain into a 1500 gallon storage tank for a total of 4500 gallons of rainwater storage.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368