Our strawbale home was three-and-a-half years in the making. We are comfortably moved in, but we're realizing that an owner-built house is never truly finished. There is landscaping to do and closets to finish. Oh yes, Kathy wants a garage (solar panels will be installed on its roof). The list goes on.
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Welcome to Arm of the Spiral. Arm of the Spiral is the name of our Animas River Valley ranch south of Durango, Colorado. The name also describes our location in the cosmos. Far from the center of the universe, we aren't even close to the center of our own galaxy. Among the billions of stars of the Milky Way, our Sol rides on a spiral arm on the outer reaches of the pinwheel-shaped system of stars, planets, dark matter and black holes. For Kathy and me, that notion makes us feel both humble and important at the same time.
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More than time, more than financing, our greatest need was the audacity to break ground and then see the job through. As first-time owner/builders, it was unnerving to visualize bringing all the steps together that would finally put us in the home of our dreams. But we did it, and so can you! We have developed a record of our challenges and accomplishments in DVD form, so that you can stand on our shoulders for a wonderful view of your own straw bale home. |
The living room features an adobe floor and fish pond. It is a live-in solarium equipped with low-e glass for efficiency and to save the upholstery and rugs from fading. December '05 was a cold one and the solar gain and super-insulation of a strawbale performed wonderfully. | ||
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| "Work done with the heart and hand is ultimately worship of life itself."
–Soetsu Yanagi, the Unknown Craftsman "And the day came when the risk it took to remain tightly closed in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom." -- Anais Nin "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." -- Nelson Mandela "In a world full of people only some want to fly. -- Seal Love your Mother, make smaller footprints. Embrace Life. Eat Aunt Mabel's Marvelous Pickled Beets! |
Our loft railing was made with Douglas fir and bleeding heart juniper. The juniper was gathered from the property, taking limbs but leaving a healthy tree. The flooring is recycled maple from an old machine shop in San Diego. Start combing the classified advertising in your local paper now for bargains and building treasures! We could not have afforded hardwood flooring throughout the second story if we had had to buy it new. |