Several years ago, I got an opportunity to work on a hempcrete house for a couple of days. By that time I’d heard quite a bit about the technique and was very excited to get a chance to try it out.
Here’s a modern hobbit home that uses some very sound design principles and has a decidedly organic feel to it. It was designed by Architect Javier Senosiain and was built in 1984. Javier mostly used cement with metal reinforcement to accomplish the sensual curviness of this structure. Much of the same feel could be achieved with less impact using natural building methods such as earthbag or cob.
I’ve been a proponent of earthbag building for well over a decade now. When I tell people what I teach, I’d say that at least 95% of folks haven’t heard of it. The premise is simple: put dirt (a mix of sand and clay) in sandbags and build walls with it. We built our first earthbag house in 2009 and I have been an avid spreader of the dirtbag gospel ever since.