Has anyone heard of earth sheltered living?

[knitnmom]

I recently stumbled onto this idea and I really like the idea!! I was just wondering if anyone else here was familiar with it?

[lparker]

Yup

[Syn D]

Never heard of it..

[MomToTwoBoys]

I've heard of people using caves to live in, if that's what you mean.

[Judi Dial]

I know of it. My long-term, dream house is one with a partially earth-sheltered basement/root cellar! on the north end of the house!

Judi

[KeithBC]

I was just reading an article about in in Mother Earth News today.

Someone in our community lives in an earth-sheltered house. It has big windows facing south, and south-facing clerestory windows to illuminate the bedrooms on the north side. Outside, from the south, it looks like a normal house with grass on the roof. From the north side, it looks like a slight hill with a curiously straight edge.

[sunshine]

Dh and I had plans to build a 2 story, opened ended, underground dome home - had the land cleared, etc. . . then life happened.

Several people in our area have "underground" homes and lots more have earth sheltered homes (where the roof is traditional, not earth covered, but 2 or 3 sides are earth bermed)

[knitnmom]

Yeah, I'm really liking the idea so far. I like that we would save on heating and cooling and keeps us safe from tornados!

When I Googled it, I was surprised at how nice they can be.

[Westinsmom]

I love these homes and have one planned in our future..just not sure when I have started a blog to help me follow the handful of online builds going on right now. You can check them out at earthsheltered dot org

[mslolsalot]

I used to live in a small community with an earth sheltered home- though that's not the term the owner used. His was basically dug into a hill- like a hobbit house. It looked normal from the front, but the back of the house was in the hill. I always wondered about the lighting issues in that one, but it was neat and very inexpensive to build and live in year round. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be approved for development these days

[Bachelor]

Rob Roy, primarily known for cordwood masonry, covers earth sheltered living spaces in his new book.

Earthwood Building School E A R T H S H E L T E R

Hope this helps.

PS I have taken a cordwood masonry workshop led by Rob and he is a true gentleman and scholar. If you get the chance to take one of his workshops, it will be a great investment.

[sinopa27]

my neighbor lives in one. we have so much land in between us that I never see them.

[nadine64]

not yet, will try later..

You're going to try "earth sheltered living" later? That's ambitious.