Deep Roots, Strong Branches

(Page 3 of 3)

November/December 2007
By Lori Tobias 
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Straw bales and solar power

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Gundersen built three of the home’s walls using straw bales and finished them with a coating colored with green sand from  the cliffs of a nearby river. The south-facing wall has passive-solar windows and a greenhouse where the soil and plants clean exhaust from the bathroom, kitchen and laundry. 

The sun, a woodstove and in-floor heating supplied by an on-demand water heater warm the home. The couple relies primarily on solar-electric power, with grid-supplied backup. They plan to be completely off the grid in the future.

Marcia and Steven’s unique home garners interest and attention from just about everyone who sees it. Recently, Marcia stopped by the post office and the clerk inquired about her house, confessing that she’d found it very strange during construction and couldn’t imagine what the result might be. But as the house grew, so did her opinion of it, and she became, in Marcia’s words, “Favorably impressed.”

It’s a sentiment Marcia and Steven hear often. “People come to visit and they never want to leave,” Marcia says. “We have open houses, and people just hang around.”  

The good stuff

Straw bale insulation walls and roof

Solar electric system

Passive-solar window wall with black-locust shade balconies

Locally harvested wood, stone, sand and straw

Recycled windows, doors and wood

Natural linoleum floors (Marmoleum)

Living Machine greenhouse technology to clean exhaust from the bathroom, kitchen and laundry

Sawmill powered by recycled vegetable oil

Logs and trees pulled by farm horses

Finish wood dried and milled on site

AFM Safecoat low-VOC, water-based paint and urethane seal

Ecosolutions hemb fabric ceiling used to create superinsulated straw bale roof

Energy-efficient, water-saving appliances

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Comments

  • dmvaneycke 11/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

    What are the paint colors used in the Deep Roots, Strong
    Branches Wisconson home? Thank you

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