The Last Straw: A Straw Bale Home Built With Native American Wisdom
(Page 2 of 4)
May/June 1999
By Laurel Lund
Information on the subject was scant, so Bennett and Wakeman applied for a National Endowment for the Arts grant to research the effect on land of low-impact housing. The approved grant set out four building criteria: “A structure in harmony with nature is designed to have minimum visual impact so it blends with its environment. It is designed to have minimum physical impact so it is pared to essentials and inlaid into native vegetation. It is designed to have minimum environmental impact so it is built of sustainable, recyclable materials. And such architecture is designed to open us to nature, not seal us off.”
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The couple also interviewed architects and builders throughout the country, who added their own knowledge and experience to the mix. In the process, they teamed up with Michael McGuire, AIA, a Minnesota architect considered a prominent expert on the natural design principles of the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “Michael is a master at employing architecture to blur the line between man and nature,” Bennett says. “He’s a master at expressing Wright’s concept of ‘continuous space,’ an idea that espouses that the inside and outside of a home are coherent, seamless, one.”
Together, the three collaborated to create the hideaway. In the process, grant criteria were met with each decision—a challenge in a region with an 8,000-foot elevation, little rainfall, and even less access to building materials. The challenge included installing two metal rails up the side of the mountain by which a tram cart transported all building materials, ensuring that no more land than necessary was disturbed or destroyed by the building process.
“This land, like all land, is fragile—a compact eco-structure,” says Bennett. “But in this high-mountain preserve where the growing and recovery season is short, the challenge of maintaining it was magnified. Jim and I wanted to discover just how sensitive to the environment humans as a species could be.”
Nature-inspired design
Once the hideaway in Tentrocks Canyon was complete, the couple realized how much they had enjoyed working together to build it. So they decided to apply their research and experience to building a primary residence nearby. After purchasing a site seven miles away, they again worked with McGuire to create the house that research—and respect for the environment—helped them build.
Geologically, the house echoes its site. Its U-shaped structure is inspired by the bowl shape of the land, a concave form that is reversed in the domed roof over the central upstairs office and reflects the mountains beyond. “The house is an outgrowth of the site’s natural land form,” says Bennett. “It’s organic in both its siting and design.”