Green Homes
Natural Home features cutting-edge eco-friendly homes in each issue. Our wide variety of homes feature revolutionary green-building techniques and time-tested wisdom.
1/8/2009 3:20:16 PM
A Wedowee, Alabama, family hand-built their cabin using scraps they found onsite and in the surrounding counties. This is as local as it gets.
12/2/2008 3:27:51 PM
While creating a healthy home for her beloved parrots, a New Mexico eco-developer gets an education in green living.
12/2/2008 2:20:54 PM
Going green is sumptuous and simple in this suburban New York home that emits almost no carbon.
10/14/2008 10:35:48 AM
A couple’s dream of building a castle becomes a sustainable reality.
10/14/2008 10:08:02 AM
Looking at Meghan and Aaron Powers’ cozy cottage in the Idaho foothills, one would never imagine that 90 percent of the 836-square-foot, passive-solar straw bale home is made from materials salvaged from local landfills and demolition sites.
10/6/2008 10:48:00 AM
Island Press and USGBC create GreenWorks, a green building book club.
8/14/2008 4:39:38 PM
This spa-like bathroom pampers its owners—and the planet.
8/14/2008 4:12:53 PM
This Kansas City prefab, designed by architecture students, proves that green homes can be edgy and affordable.
8/14/2008 3:49:32 PM
With a few simple renovations, a historic New Jersey home can become energy-efficient while maintaining its charm.
8/14/2008 11:20:07 AM
This kitchen proves that enlightened doesn’t have to mean enlarged.
8/14/2008 10:29:03 AM
An alternative-energy home in Maine showcases a New Englander’s sense of beauty and self-reliance.
8/8/2008 3:21:45 PM
Designed around a large, people-friendly kitchen area, this passive solar home in Asheville, North Carolina, really shines.
8/8/2008 12:03:57 PM
A 19th-century orphan gets a new family and much-needed attention.
8/7/2008 2:27:09 PM
The best-kept secret in green building—a hybrid geothermal-solar energy system—puts a luxurious Lincoln Park home a step ahead.
8/7/2008 1:55:43 PM
Even an eco-savvy homeowner can use help fixing whole-house problems such as poor insulation and room design.
8/1/2008 12:01:07 PM
A Colorado woman seeks to improve air quality in her home.
8/1/2008 10:05:43 AM
A couple fuses Asian style and Southern tradition to create a cozy getaway in the heart of downtown Charleston.
7/25/2008 10:32:35 AM
Beneath this rough exterior, the Natural Home Show House in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, is taking shape.
7/24/2008 5:04:58 PM
Historic Craftsman homes are built to respond to climate and site. This California renovation marries this traditional wisdom with modern technology.
6/11/2008 3:17:00 PM
In construction, as in life, things don't always go as planned. But crews working on the Natural Home Show House in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, are making progress.
6/11/2008 2:24:47 PM
Finely crafted with solid cedar timbers, this retreat on British Columbia's Gambier Island proves that building a good home is a sacred act.
6/11/2008 12:29:07 PM
This gorgeous New Mexico home adds more than just elegance to its neighborhood--it also supplies renewable solar power to the neighbors.
6/11/2008 12:09:03 PM
Natural Home helps PBS television host Wanda Urbanska green her mid-century ranch house by focusing on energy efficiency and indoor air quality.
4/9/2008 10:32:04 AM
Daylight, fresh air and outdoor living space turn a dark, cramped Georgetown townhouse into a hospitable retreat.
4/7/2008 4:17:13 PM
In San Francisco, a tiny Earthquake Cottage grows up by going underground.
3/3/2008 10:09:23 AM
A modernist Seattle remodel—a risky speculation home—is a testament to integrity and intention.
3/3/2008 8:40:39 AM
Between the two of them, John Schaeffer and Nancy Hensley have forty years of experience researching green building, off-the-grid living, and permaculture. John founded Real Goods, the nation’s first solar retail business, in 1978 in Hopland, California. Nancy has lived off the grid since 1973 and joined Real Goods in 1989. The couple has realized their dream of employing their collective wisdom to create an energy-independent, nontoxic, environmentally gentle home that promotes sustainability—while also being tastefully beautiful and soul soothing.
2/29/2008 4:14:54 PM
A singer and a Broadway producer build a cutting-edge nontoxic home with Colonial and Shaker inspiration.
2/18/2008 10:21:48 AM
When the Flints outgrew their home, a green renovation featuring passive solar design gave them some much-needed space.
2/13/2008 10:48:22 AM
We could learn a thing or two from Mother Nature when we feather our own nests. From the concept by Janice Benyus, biomimicry, meaning literally to imitate life, Natural Home shows you that nature, imaginative by necessity, has solved many of the problems we grapple with in modern design. Read on to learn a thing or two about natural inspiration and incorporating it into your natural home.
2/11/2008 4:46:07 PM
Luxurious and self-sufficient, this northern California house takes advantage of the best of the old—and the new—in sustainable technology.
2/11/2008 4:03:51 PM
When Mary Laud and James Boyes tucked their home into a sliver of cliff overlooking northwest Montana’s Flathead Lake, they did their best not to disturb any of their neighbors—including the area’s local birds, deer and black bears. They created a house that could settle into its surroundings thanks to local stone and a living roof that blends into the mountainous terrain near Glacier National Park.
2/11/2008 11:53:51 AM
To build an energy-efficient, solar- and geo-thermal powered, water-saving home on the Seattle coast, Dave and Anna Porter reused materials from a deconstructed cabin, diverting 80 percent of materials from the landfill.
1/10/2008 9:54:31 AM
From its fairytale tower to its onion-shaped colored-glass windows, the Starek home is a magical place featuring dozens of artists’ creations.
12/11/2007 9:22:05 AM
The Natural Home Show House in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill shows off sustainable design.
12/10/2007 4:56:10 PM
This earth-honoring home on a South Carolina barrier island is sustainable and sensible, luxurious and livable.
12/10/2007 1:58:06 PM
A contemporary Lake Michigan home relies on good old-fashioned design—with a twist
11/5/2007 5:27:50 PM
Six months before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Grace Wilson bought her first home—a newly refurbished, raised shotgun-style house (a long, narrow home with doors on each end). The weekend before the hurricane, her mother and grandmother came to help put finishing touches on the décor. Two days later, the three headed north to flee the massive storm. Hurricane floods left 5 feet of water in Grace’s mid-city neighborhood; for two weeks, her home sat in 18 inches of water.
11/5/2007 5:08:09 PM
A year ago, we began chronicling construction of the Natural Home Show House, a former pharmacy and Laundromat in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, that will be transformed into two super-green townhomes. The project—also set to be the first American Lung Association Health House in New York—is progressing nicely.
11/5/2007 9:33:01 AM
Salvaged Soul Willie Drake's family retreat in the West Virginia mountains exemplifies his life's work salvaging and reusing beautiful old lumber. November December Judy Ostrow Made entirely of salvaged wood rescued from across the country, Willie Drake’s unique home
10/31/2007 2:21:19 PM
Roald Gundersen's Whole Tree Architecture may revolutionize the green building industry.
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
Nearly a decade ago, a Washington, D.C., family set out to build a sustainable home for around the same price as a conventional one. Think it can't be done? Here's how they succeeded.
7/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
For Steve Glenn of LivingHomes, enjoying a beautiful green modular home is all part of the job.
5/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
A land conservation specialist and her husband walk the talk as they green their California home, quite literally, from the roots up.
3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
A little love and tenderness—and a lot of hard work—turn a dilapidated Creole cottage into a soulful, sustainable retreat.
7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
This Martha's Vineyard vacation home was designed to fit into its surroundings, create the smallest possible footprint and accommodate several families at once. Its clever design means this luxury is sustainable for its owners and the environment.
1/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
With no contracting experience, Glenda Alm took on building her dream home, a playful retreat based on 1930s fire lookout towers. The result is an off-the-grid tribute to historic architecture, a rich medley of recycled materials, and a dedication to simple living.
1/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
A New Jersey couple decides to give their home a green renovation instead of moving.
3/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
By emptying the garage the Forestieris began their quest to green their home. Their son, Peter, has extreme allergies and their home was weakening his health.
1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
The LA Eco-Village, an intentional community in the heart of Los Angeles, encompasses a two-block area of older apartment buildings. Recently, Eco-Villager Lois Arkin asked for Natural Home's input on the eco-rehab of a building that Eco-Village recently purchased.
1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
Whimsical and wonderful, this Austin eco-remodel is a playful expression of two highly creative minds.
1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
This Palo Alto, California home is the product of personal touches, modern design and reflects homeowner’s environmental beliefs.
9/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
A new settler to Colorado sets her sights on gardening and remodeling her new home.
7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
A Puerto Rican man builds a sustainable tree house using bamboo construction.
7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
A Minnesota cabin renovation inspired by indigenous cultures, creates an eco-friendly, sustainable home.
7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
This sustainable three-story straw bale house on the banks of Lake Travis doubles as a Bed and Breakfast and day spa.
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
Natural Home returns to past homes to ask natural homeowners what they’d change and if they’d build the same way again.
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
Physically and metaphorically, Charlottesville, Virginia, lies somewhere between Italy and Japan, Vermont and South Carolina. It proved to be the perfect spot for a pair of well-traveled environmental architects to play with form and function.
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
A couple of California retirees lift bales and mix up plaster for a home so warm and nurturing that they rarely want to leave.
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
From diving into their own dumpster to providing water-based adhesives to the construction crew, an Austin couple takes a hands-on approach to making sure their bungalow renovation is as green as possible.
1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
Using steel, foam, concrete and a whole lot of ingenuity, old buildings are turned into ecological renovations in New York. Tapping into the constant temperature 1,200 feet underground, a Tribeca architect pioneers the use of geothermal technology to heat and cool his rock solid, energy efficient family home.
1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
A pair of architects designed their own familys dream home-an open, airy abode made of recycled polystyrene and cement blocks that takes full advantage of an idyllic urban setting.
1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
An architect and corporate refugee helped his neighbors build community using nothing more than mud and paint. Now, many other Portland, Oregon, neighborhoods are following suit.
1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
From the big picture to the small details, make every room a sensual experience.
1/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
This Los Angeles eco-community pulses with diversity and is surrounded by rich organic gardens.
11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
A rural Arizona family lives out their dreams in a hand-built house made of adobe, stone, straw bale and native timbers.
11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Casey Coates Danson believes in saving the planet, one photovoltaic panel at a time. Her own home—the largest residential solar installation in Los Angeles—is just one more example of how chic and easy solar living can be.
9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
More than anything else, the use of local materials—many lifted directly from the site—lend this exquisitely designed Vermont home a solid, organic beauty.
9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Crafting a home and garden out of mud, an Oregon couple live a sustainable lifestyle in a cob cottage.
9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
The concrete walls without thier interior seem to have an Alice in Wonderland effect for Linda Ligon.
7/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
That old analogy about little pigs and houses of straw is timeworn and weary. So a Colorado couple broke it wide open by building their house of ... well, trash. Recycled paper bales, to be exact.
7/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
With natural pools, you can swim chemical-free while creating a thriving habitat for plants and animals.
7/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Natural Home publisher Linda Ligon wonders if buying energy-efficient appliances will pay off.
5/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Straw bale and clay homes give a low-income area in Mexico a sense of community.
5/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Following centuries-old building techniques using timber frame, straw, clay and earth, a mother designs a home for herself and her daughter that’s healthy, ecologically sensitive and naturally nurturing.
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
A husband-wife designer-builder team relies on natural materials and a tradition of craftsmanship to create their healthy New Mexico home.
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Suffering from chemical sensitivities brought on when she helped build a log home, Linda Mellen and her husband, Peter, take an early twentieth-century farmhouse back to its nontoxic roots.
1/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
A straw bale home that marries several green building techniques brings its owner-builders closer together as well.
9/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
This off-the-grid Idaho sanctuary proves that natural, healthy building can be as grand as your dreams (and your pocketbook) will allow.
9/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
In Cortez, Colorado, the ultimate natural home incorporates a cliffside and celebrates a view of archeological significance.
7/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
A green building pioneer’s straw-clay home proves life-changing for its creator and life-giving to its residents.
5/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
A well-traveled homeowner lends personality to a home built using the cutting-edge technology known as cast earth.
5/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Inspired by legendary back-to-the-landers Scott and Helen Nearing, Kate NaDeau lives simply and seasonally in a handbuilt stone house on a twenty-six-acre Maine hillside.
3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Hanuman Bertschy trod where no Virginian had gone before when she built a straw bale home on an ashram just outside of Charlottesville.
3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
A snug straw bale home abutting the foothills northwest of Charlottesville, Virginia, provides protection from the heat, light, cold, and humidity as well as a peaceful haven for its owner-builders.
11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Natural, local materials and a design that echoes an ancient meditation tool bring a sense of peace to this deceptively simple home in British Columbia.
11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Looking toward retirement, a couple builds an adobe home they can share with the birds and other creatures that inhabit the high desert ecosystem of Colorado's Western Slope.
11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
How two people live happily in an 800-square-foot space. For Giles Blunden, an architect who’s been designing solar homes for a quarter-century, living in an 800-square-foot cohousing unit powered entirely by the sun is just another step in pushing his sustainable agenda forward. The winning entry in the 2000 Natural Home of the Year contest is also a beautiful, comfortable, and efficient dwelling.
11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
By putting his tiny home, Tumbleweed, on a flatbed utility trailer, artist Jay Shafer circumvented an Iowa town?s minimum-size standards and created a moving masterpiece
7/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
One couple in Lyons, Colorado, figures out how to make their home energy-efficient without all the added costs.
5/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
One Texas homeowner learns he can build a natural home on a budget.
5/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Despite the rules and regulations the location of their house made for them, these homeowners learned how to make it work while renovating their Austin, Texas 1950s wood-frame house.
3/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
The use of bamboo is increasingly getting more popular. Learn more about the uses of this natural product.
3/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
With a historical base, Gary Zuker built his hobbit house with a clay and straw mix.
1/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
A nonprofit organization teaches others how to use the power of the sun.
11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Devastation gives way to healing for survivors of Colorado's Sugarloaf Mountain fire.
9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
One homeowner uses pisé de terre, a 2,000-year-old building method, to make his sustainable home.
9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
A short lesson on building with earthen materials.
9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Give your baby her best foot forward with an eco-nursery that's natural and nontoxic.
7/1/1999 12:00:00 AM
Architect Ted Montgomery keeps his earth-bermed home in the sun.