Straw Bale Construction - Fall 2008

StrawBaleHome
Construction-fr,&6
B U I L D I NMGO M E N T U M
b Y e i e e n q , : t , . r, r
PHOTOS
BYBLI]E
AiKER[4AN
I
c o l u m b i ag o r g e m a g a z i n e 7 1
H O M E
AndlomReid's
Fostefs
house
looks
nothirrg
likcTomReidt
home.
Brent
,,,#
living
roofis
house
iscompletely
fromRuth
0lin\(ottaqe.
Foster's
different
interi0r.
withanorgani(,
undulating
thegrcen
lidtoa Hobbit
likedwelling
great
andclean
Reid's
room
isa nodt0 m0dernrty
withsm00th,
flatwalls
look
toitsexterror.
But
lines,
while
0lin\diminutive
studio
hasa Iraftsman
These
literally
isthesame.
theheart
0fthese
buildings,
andfiguratively,
are(0nstrutted
three
[olumbla
Gorqe
homes,
built
within
thelastsixyears,
meth0d.
out0fstraw
bales
andrepresent
a national
trerdinthisbuilding
wilh
0ut0f strawbaeslayered
Straw
balehomes,
lvhich
areconstrLrrted
plaster,
a testament
t0 the
arenouibeing
created
in allstyles
andsizes,
"There
isroom
forallsorts
modern
evolution
ofanoldfashioned
tradition.
oftastes,"
Foster
says.
72
c o l u m b i ag o r g e m a g a z i n e
r
-{iHC.
.*.
.d
CUSTOM
HOMERiver& Mt.Adams
Views.3664
soft. 55'15k..
'i,
ti
01.t"
.oO/..r
I oLod
RIVER
VIEWCustomhome.4Bedroom.3
Bath.5415k..
loo. tor o
C.ippingef,rranaqingcdltof of "Tlre LastStfawl,ln in
tefridtofa journa ol 5trawbala.aonstfLtction
ba5ed n
" t! chanqinqand !lfowin!l .ind gaiftiIg
Nebr,l5ka,
say5.
acceptancel'
Th., tfaditionol straw ba c buidll1g in this country
datesb.r.k to Lhc l.te 1800swhen Nebraskitpofeers,
BRANDNEW3 Bedroomwith River& Mt.Views.
S250k.
,lccuSlomcdto bLrildiagsod honics,fitova,dwest and
had to adaptto a dr e1 tfeeessc imate.At the sam-.i m-o,
the stcalIrpoweredba er was inver]ted,
m.king ba ing
easer dnd faltef Strawbal...onslructiontdpercdoff in
the 1950s,I ke y due to .rvailabity of {h..aperbuildinq
pfoduct5altef Wor d W;r
Thc tfaditionweitthfoLtglr
. revlva ot lorls n tlre 1980s,and over th,. pnsLlhr,.e
decad-.sinsur.rnce,
lrnancinqand permiLL
r)q lr.rvcbc
coTr]ernoTemain5lream.
Coppirgef saysin Nebraska,
sfra!./bnc building has reachedtlrc (om[]eTci.t 5ec
tor and can bc 5een n churches,school5,w ncr cs,nnd
cven storaqelaalilies.
o(s41)
BeckySchertenleib,
GRI. NanWimmers,
CRSCRB H
296-5500| 7i4 West6th Street I TheDalles,OR97058
H O M E
Partof that evolutionis demonstrated
by the distinctiveaestheticsof thesethree localhomes.'lt is a reallyflexibleforrnof
buildingmaterial;'
Fostersays. He chosea rnoretypicalSouthwestern
lookwhenbuildinghisMosier,
Oregon,
housewithEmily
Platt.That look is reflectedin an archedwoodenfront door and
exteriorentryway,
whichboastsmatching,curved"nichoslcarved
directlyinto the strawwalls,a commonfeatureof adobebuildings.Fosterusedthis elementliberallyin the I ,600-square-foot
house,cuttingdeep window baysand window seatsas well as
small,curvednooksin the walls.The
floor,concretein somerooms
andtilein others,
complements
the neutralcolorof the earthen
plaster
andthe woodenplanked
ceiling.
A curvedstaircase
rises
up to the secondfloor with the exposedfleshof a peeledtree
trunk at its center.The interiorwalls,revealingthe shapeof the
bales,havea warmandsensuallook.Fosterchosethis lookpartly
for practicalreasons.
"lf you are happywith an organiclook and
you don't mind seeingthe naturalvariationofthe strawbales,it
just takesa wholelot lessworkandenergy,'Foster
says.
Reid,who built his A,4osier
houseand is co-ownerof Green
HomeConstruction
Inc.,sayspeopleshouldknowthat strawbaie
homesarenot lirnitedto onestyle."People
can'tenvisionanything
but the Southwestmode.Theyget stuckon it,'Reidsays.l\4ost
peoplewould not readilyidenti6/his2,300-square-foot,
L shaped
houseasa strawbaiehome.Reidlivestherewith hiswife,Monica,
and two children,
Skylerand Arden,and describes
the styleas
modifiedpostand beamwith a'mountainhome'look.
Theceilingsof hisgreatroomriseto a heightof I B feet,andthe interior
wallshaveclean,sharpcorners,accentedby differentco ors of
clay-powder
bluein the bathroomand sagegreenin the stairwell-thatwastroweledon by handin placeof paint.Paperstone
counters
in softgleamingb ackcomplement
the stainless
steel
appliances.
Localblacksmith
VanKeliems'custom
workisvisibiein
the mudroomcoathooks,
a diningroomchandelier
anda hefty
banister
madefroma salvaged
railroad
rail.Reidalsotookadvantageof skylights
positioned
and carefully
windowsto bringin
naturallightingon bothfloors.
" Ou cr o u n try
w a sfo u n d ed
b y ru g g e di n d i v i d u awl sho
h a p p i lm
y a d ed u ew i ththe
resources
in their
orovided
naturalenvironment;
waste
wasnotanoptionl'
cofumbia gorge magazine 75
H O M E
sF.
l;i:r;.;-,
thatano d househas,andI
betweentheseothertwo."l lovethequalities
assomewhere
Olin's
desiqnmightbestbedescribed
homehaswhatshecals a'tountry
in says.
Asa resut, her730squarefootWhiteSalmon
wantedto builda sustainab
e house,"O
exterior
whie the meta roofandplaster
conveythe shapeof a smaI Craftsman,
cottage"
design.
Thepeakedroofandexterior
al its
houseon the property
andreused
andgreenbuildettoredownan existing
hintat the sustainable
ethic.Olin,an architect
the exterior
doorsandsaivaged
the interiordoorsfromthe Gorge
Shehandmade
Douglas
Firin the beams,
trimandcabinets.
Thefloorisadobe,
radiators,
doorjarnbs
andhardware.
cabinet,
it Center
sink,toi et,medicine
Rebuild
a onqwlththe bathroom
paintismi k based
andthe interior
Herrooflnsuationismadeof old bluejeans,
mixedbVhandfromMosier
clay,sandandstraw.
" t takesa lotof energy;'she
says
oljn notesthatthe DIYnatureof the routeshechoseisnotforeveryone.
andbreathable.
Forone
fromthelrhouses.
Foster,
ReidandO ina I enjoysimlarbenefits
verydifferent,
Whilethelrhomesmightbeaesthetically
(reported
y up
providesuperor insulation
of p aster,
coatedwith layers
The1Binchbales,
thing,strawbae homesaredurable.
Theaverage
temperature
wlthina strawbalehomewillstayat about65
of traditlonal
construction).
to threetimesthe insulation
76
columbiagorgemagazine
yearroundwithoutanyheating
degrees
(For
or cooling.
backupheat,FosterandReidusewood stovesand radi
antheatin thefloors.
Olinusesoid-fashioned
radiators.)
Homeowners
notea certainintangible
comfortlevel
AtyqrRtcAN
Cuv
'Naturally
*
-.'
BeautifulWalls
that comesfrom livingwithina strawbalehometoo.
"People
whohavelivedina strawbalehousewouldfind
it verydifficut to livein a non-strawbalehoL-tse;'Foster
says.
And Reidpointsout the healthfactor.In hiscase
thatmeantusingnatural
primers
c ayandnontoxic
and
seaants,which,in combination
with an aircirculation
system,
rnakes
forgoodairqualityin the house.
C earlya spiritof conservation
comesnaturally
with
strawbaleconstruction."lt
hasto do witha sustainable
'i[e.lvle-iv:rg Igl-rlv
o'1 tl"e edrr'l;Coopi^ge sdy\
To beginwith, strawis a wasteproductleft overafter
grainharvesting.
In addition,
strawbalehornebuilders,
asdemonstrated
by Olin's
loyalty
to the GorgeRebuiidIt Center,often buy other suppliesfrom secondhand
sources.
Fostersaysmorethan 95 percentofthe wood
in his homewassavaged.Reidsalvaged
an od rail
E N G L A N OC O .
t:
H O M E
Hls
roadoadingplatform
tfimanda stairway
to bulldcabinets,
paper.solar
paperstone
countertops
aremadeout of recycled
alsocontlibute
to
watefheaters
andon demandwaterheaters
soar design,
a keypart
the conservation
eftort.50 doespassive
wh ch lncludes
of the insulation
andtemperature
consstency,
houseorentationand wlndow
adequateexteroroverhangs,
posltlonlng
andcuslomg azng
sttaw
Whetherbu t by ownersor professional
contraclors,
bd-
o1.l
o
.-F-r
bJo/ad b, . .o i o '1 hL d "''lo1d
par
andp astering
communty A I speakfondy oFbae raislng
tiesduringwhichfrlendsand fam y joln ln to help "Thereis
y a community
Betore
her nterlor
definite
aspect
to it,"Reidsays.
^ d l. \ - e p d
--d.O.d
d o rr - p . '
1ooq. i-o
o
l.
to hideaway n a wai . Butshedoesn'texpecther houseto revea
'
. _ 5 " r
r b - . r . r o d
lean 200yeafsl
HOUSES
TOURFEATURES'ENVIRO'
Portlandconslstentlygarnersacclaimfor its culture of environmentalbuilding,but
the ColumbiaGorge boastsits own collectionof homesthat can stackup against
will
any'green"hou5ethe city hasto offeL The ColumbiaGorgeEarthCenter(CGEC)
presentits seventhannualGorgeEnviroHouseTouron October4 showcasinghomes
tour will includestate
locatedin HoodRiverandWhiteSalmonand MosietOregon.The
aswellasa hostofthe
ofthe aft examplesofsolarsystemsand strawbaleconstruction,
buildingproducts,designsand methods.
Iatestsustainable
is expandingthe eventto includeseveralnew opportunitiesfor
Thisyear,the CGEC
will host a specialsessionofGreenDrinksfeaturing
visitorsto learnand mingle.CGEC
a talk given by a nationallyrecognizedgreenbuilderon Frida, October3. Throughout the next morning,therewill be four one-hourworkshopsduringwhich attendees
will havethe opportunityto learnabout variouselementsofsustainablebuildingand
develoomentfrom expertsin thefield.
Ticketsfor Green Drinkswill be sold at the door, and ticketsfor the tour and
workshopscan be purchasedatthe GorgeRebuild-ltCenterat 995TuckerRoad,Hood
River
Furtherinformationabout the GreenDrinksevent may be obtained by contactand detailsabolt the tour and
ing lared Fuscaldoat gorgegreendrinks@gmail.com,
workshopsareavailablefromTaraKearnsat tour@cgec.or9.
78
columbia gorge magazine