Finding your home away from home
Called The Windcatcher House, this home on the Navajo reservation was designed by University of Colorado Denver graduate students. Made from local clay (for bricks) and rammed earth on two other walls, the home is completely off-grid and also captures all rainwater. Plus it looks quite nice.
There’s something about rammed earth homes that I like, I don’t know what it is.
Read more at Inhabitat
The website is excruciating to navigate to I wasn’t able to glean a lot of information from the site, but the Otro Mundo Eco Domes are built in Sierra del Segura and were built using a ferro-cement technique that I admittedly don’t understand. It apparently has something to do with cement, chicken wire, and a of hard work.
But the domes are cute and much roomier than they look. And they are available for rent!
Read more at Otro Mundo
A treehouse for grownups! This beautiful treehouse in Toscany, Italy has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, running water, electricity, and almost hides in the canopy among olive, cyprus and pines trees. It’s used as a guest house and retreat, but I could see moving in full time!
Made from mostly recycled materials, including a lot of steel, the treehouse has taken on an earthy, rusty tone that melts beautifully with the Italian countryside. I love it.
Read more at CubeMe.com
Made from repurposed concrete tubes, the TuboHotel south of Mexico City came about in an attempt to quickly and cheaply build budget hotel-style accommodations. Each tube has enough space for a bed and storage, and in 3 months they completed 20 tubes. I like them, and it seems like it’d be a cheap way to have sleeping space at rural property.
In the end, as cute as these are, it seems as though using a recycled shipping container seems like a better bet. Cheaper, easier to work with, more space, easier to move to the location… Still, I like the idea.
Read more at Arch Daily
I love the exterior of this small rustic house, built in a garden in Spain. I’m normally not a fan of rustic, but if this is what rustic looks like, I’m all for it! Full sliding doors plus the solidity of thick wood crossbeams, it’s just awesome.
They even have a swing!
View more pics at DigsDigs
Made in the remains of an old tree near Sugar Creek Township, Wisconsin, the Cabin in the Sky is a wonderful home-built treehouse that’s part of Camp Wandawega, a cabin rental place owned by a group of Chicago friends. As a memorial to one of the owner’s father, the Cabin in the Sky was built on a majestic Elm tree in the middle of the camp. When you throw a group of people together with crazy ideas, design skills, and enough carpentry prowess to build what’s in their head, you get the Cabin in the Sky. And it’s awesome!
Read more at Chicago Home
This place is impressive. Dubbed the Pretty Beach House, it’s an all-inclusive retreat set just north of Sydney, Australia. And it is amazing. It appears to have at least 3 different pools, handmade artwork throughout, and a spectacular view of the ocean. This house makes me run out of superlatives to describe it!
Read more at Pretty Beach House (via Freshome)
We’ve featured a few towers before, and with good reason – they tend to be quite striking and unique, but still livable. And right up that alley is this new tower restoration in Spain.
Seemingly only accessible from an external enclosed staircase, the tower has a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. My only reservation is with the interior. While it’s beautiful, it’s a little too austere for my tastes. It looks more like an art gallery than a relaxing cabin or home. But it still works!
Read more a gessato
We just featured a cave home last week, but I wasn’t expecting to find a cave house for sale! And the asking price only $1,500,000. Sweet!
Located on 37+ acres of the Arizona high desert, the Chulo Cave House is 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2980 sq. ft. The property features natural spring fed pools, tons of wildlife, and really striking scenery.
View more pics at TheCaveHouse.com
There’s definitely something to be said for building a small, nearby getaway. The owners of this cozy 150 sq. ft. home decided that instead of packing and driving 2+ hours to a weekend getaway, they would just build a smaller home a lot closer. How much closer? A ten minute bike ride away! Granted, they live in Helsinki, which is likely a little bit different than Seattle (for me, at least). But it’s definitely food for thought. It’d be much more fun to drive less than 30 minutes than 2+ hours!
Read more at the NY Times
