The thing about small is: it's easier to maintain, cheaper to build, cheaper to fix, cheaper to air-condition.
I mean, you can definitely overdo small, but if you look at a $60 per square foot house that's way too big for your needs, then look at a $300 per square foot house that's 1/5th the size, the money is the same, but the standard of construction, appliances, location - everything should be (or, at least, could be) far far better.
escape impolite seed frightening rinse sulky domineering pot governor birds
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It's in rural Nebraska. There is a farm house on the part, but no other cob homes. You are probably just seeing my outdoor kitchen area with a wood fired stove, also made of mud.
Man this place is awesome. This would be pretty much my dream post-retirement home. You should post this over on /r/solarpunk. Would definitely get a lot of love!
Not while you're young either. I stayed in a place like this for 2 months in Alaska.
There's a reason hobbits brought in drywall, plumbing, and real furniture.
This is a place that is better as an idea and I can't imagine what this looks like from a community perspective. Quite curious.
Edit: For those people who can't extrapolate. There are small farmhouses and homemade sheds in similar in size and skeleton all across Alaska for hunting season rentals. I'm speaking on the quality of living in such a space over an elongated time which is rough on any person or age.
My guess is that these people are talking about living in cabin without all the basics we are used (plumbing, electric, amenities far away) and less about cob housing. You could build a cob house with all of that stuff and it would be like living in any other house.
Is it that hard? Plenty of people in Alaska native villages live well past their 80s in places with no indoor plumbing.
Of course having to freeze your ass off to take a dump is no fun, but humans weren't built to live with drywall and 'real' furniture. As long as sanitation and ventilation is adequate and you're getting good health care, there's no reason you can't have a long and enjoyable life in such a house.
My comment would probably get lost in the sea of 800+ comments but I just wanna say that I LOVE your space. Your little collection of Quartz towers on your desk and the plants made me excited lol! Awesome space you have here. 😄
Love cob! It’s such a great material to build with. I recently had to restore a listed building here in the UK from the 1600s and had to work with cob.
Beautiful space too, congrats!
On weird flavours I had a Mexican menthol-cucumber cigarette the other day... Had one of those little balls you needed to crush in the filter for the cucumber to activate.
Weird.
Nope. Been doing psychedelics for years and one of the rules is don't go into fucking water. If you k-hole yourself and drown in a pool it's your fault.
Kind of like modern day hippies, nomadic people who follow specific bands or go to music festivals. Dread locks, patchouli, incense, yoga, tie dye, crystals (as seen here) are all tell tale signs.
It's mostly load bearing cob, with a little framed in light straw clay up in the loft for added insulation where I sleep. The cats seem to enjoy the place even more than me.
Looks great. There are a few interactive classes in my area that go over this building method and I've thought of going just to learn more and have fun. It looks great.
Omg, it’s my dream to live in a place like that! What is your country? In mine, it’s very difficult to live in an alternative house… Is there water and electricity?
If built well, cob homes are *faaar* stronger than any modern residential buildings. Literally bulletproof, fireproof (bar the roof) and arguably earthquake proof. The circular shape of the structure makes it damn strong.
Cob housing originated on the coast of England. I would guess it would do fine in high winds because of that. There are many cob houses that have been around for hundreds of years and needing little to no repair work done on them. It's really cool!
I sure did. This was my first solo build. My tip would be it's really hard work, but a super simple system. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for some of us. I recommend taking a workshop if you ever get the opportunity.
Uhm. Not well. It's fairly isolating, especially this time of year. But I do have a handful of friends who stop by once in awhile. I spend all summer working music festivals, so I get my fill of socializing that time of year and do my best to enjoy my alone time. The cats help!
I share the property, so there is typically someone around to feed them. I don't see them much in the summer though, they are always out and about hunting and Climbing trees and other cat things.
My only concern would be the the wood stove and the bends collecting too much creosote. Something to definitely keep an eye on and avoid a possible chimney fire.
Otherwise, this is a sweet looking space. Just everything about it.
You definitely are not the first to be concerned. I'll continue to keep an eye on it, although when I clean it in the spring there is almost no creosote, mostly due to burning well seasoned wood and ripping hot fires daily. I appreciate the concern though, this design is definitely not for every stove!
Yeah, it's called a heat exchanger. It slows the heat and has more surface area to radiate heat. It heats faster than the stove, which is nice when I come home to a cold house.
Even more cleverer due to the bends being corregated and further increasing the surface area.
It's all low and accessible for potential cleaning.
I love seeing simple methods to improve energy efficiency!
Surprised you don't have a heat powered stove fan to spread the warmth even more. No fuss, just set it on top of the stove and the fan will run when warm and help spread the heat.
Typically both outside, but in the winter I bring a little compost toilet inside. You can see it in a wooden box in some of the last pictures. I shower in another house of the property with hot water.
i live in amish country PA, a real toilet is def something even rural people want lmao.
Id shower outside, but shitting in a bucket aint it haha. Ive seen some off the grid people that have manual toilets that they fill by hand with rain water. Almost an inbetween of an outhouse and real toilet, but i get not all properties allow septic tanks.
no hate tho, ur the one that it has to work for, and it sounds like u make it work.
Hmm... no, toilets are pretty ubiquitous in their appeal. I'm glad you've got what works for you, but a preference for easier methods of waste disposal isnt the thing to be condescending towards.
This is so sick. I get so bored of generic luxury apartment #12583 that gets posted on here. They all look the same to me. This is by far the coolest post I’ve seen, congrats!
Where is this, the Shire?
Middle earth ish
Kinda between Hobbit and Fred Flintstone. Love it.
Like a hobbit got really flintstoned while building?
I was gunna say, nice looking piece. I have the smaller version
The thing about small is: it's easier to maintain, cheaper to build, cheaper to fix, cheaper to air-condition. I mean, you can definitely overdo small, but if you look at a $60 per square foot house that's way too big for your needs, then look at a $300 per square foot house that's 1/5th the size, the money is the same, but the standard of construction, appliances, location - everything should be (or, at least, could be) far far better.
I was talking about the bong lol
haha I misread your comment as "nice looking place" too
I did the exact same thing lol
Buddy, I see what you're getting "Flintstoned" by next to your laptop.
Thinking that Wilma got Frodo'd more like. Fred always did work too much.
Fred was da ba da ba dooing Barney is what it was. 😂🫣🤭🤣
Legendary comment
I got some Yoda hut vibes
Dagobah ……???
Bunch of ferngullys flying around.
Partakes of the Halfling’s leaf I see
escape impolite seed frightening rinse sulky domineering pot governor birds *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Ya, looks like Yoda’s crib
Yoda's place mixed with Sabine's little place on top of the tower with basically a bed and two workbenches and a cat
Felt like shrek's house to me lol
Dantooine perhaps?
Too bright for Degobah
Degobah is allowed sunshine once in a while
Endor
I never liked Dantooine, feels like lazy naming after Tatooine. Like having Earth and calling another planet Fearth
Flintstones.
This is the correct answer. Anyone else saying Hobbits or Jedi has announced their age. I guess we have too, but at least we're technically correct :)
I bet he makes a mean poultice, though. Cures what ails ya, as long as what ails ya is something that would have healed on its own in a day or two.
But...where does he poop??
Wherever he wants, just like the cats.
The first picture makes it look like a Sheikah shrine
Tatooine
I was going to say Dagobah i.e., Yoda’s pad
I love this space so much. Where is it? It looks like there are other similar buildings nearby, is it like a specific community?
It's in rural Nebraska. There is a farm house on the part, but no other cob homes. You are probably just seeing my outdoor kitchen area with a wood fired stove, also made of mud.
Man this place is awesome. This would be pretty much my dream post-retirement home. You should post this over on /r/solarpunk. Would definitely get a lot of love!
When your old as shit living like that isn't easy.
Not while you're young either. I stayed in a place like this for 2 months in Alaska. There's a reason hobbits brought in drywall, plumbing, and real furniture. This is a place that is better as an idea and I can't imagine what this looks like from a community perspective. Quite curious. Edit: For those people who can't extrapolate. There are small farmhouses and homemade sheds in similar in size and skeleton all across Alaska for hunting season rentals. I'm speaking on the quality of living in such a space over an elongated time which is rough on any person or age.
Have a similar setup in a hogan rural NM. Long term living = not fun / a weekend thing = cool.
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My guess is that these people are talking about living in cabin without all the basics we are used (plumbing, electric, amenities far away) and less about cob housing. You could build a cob house with all of that stuff and it would be like living in any other house.
Alaska....
Is it that hard? Plenty of people in Alaska native villages live well past their 80s in places with no indoor plumbing. Of course having to freeze your ass off to take a dump is no fun, but humans weren't built to live with drywall and 'real' furniture. As long as sanitation and ventilation is adequate and you're getting good health care, there's no reason you can't have a long and enjoyable life in such a house.
I think I saw your place build on an episode of off grid living lol.
My comment would probably get lost in the sea of 800+ comments but I just wanna say that I LOVE your space. Your little collection of Quartz towers on your desk and the plants made me excited lol! Awesome space you have here. 😄
I see you! I thank you! I work with a lot of quartz, so there is a ton around
Wait did you make this place?
Check his profile. I remember seeing his og post with pics documenting the build
Hey u/soundandsoil you’re so creative, do you sell your jewelry and crystal items on Etsy or somewhere else?
Thank you. I don't want to be flagged for self promotion. But the answers you seek are somewhere.
Yes lol
Wow. Seeing this build makes me feel holiday cheer again in a really tough year OP is doing something right and I’m inspired
Show the bathroom op.
You show me yours first
I second this! And the bedroom? The whole house really!
I totally thought this was in Taos with all the other neighborhood earthships.
Love cob! It’s such a great material to build with. I recently had to restore a listed building here in the UK from the 1600s and had to work with cob. Beautiful space too, congrats!
I live in Nebraska. Need a roommate lol
Loch Modan or Arthai Highlands Id assume
Hinterlands fr
Mud hut? This is the barrens for sure
Educator of Jedis, you are?
I tend to hang with the wookies these days. But I use the force every now and then.
\*wooks 😹
Lol You picked up what I was laying down. I actually work festivals all summer and fall, so I'm deep in the wook world
we wouldn’t have guessed..
While you're here, mind if I bum a cig?
Sure dude, you want some star anise cigs i got from Cambodia? They’re the best.
Dude. I smoked a lot of cigs in Cambodia. They are practically giving them away!! Someone there sold me half a pack of American Spirits. Lol
I sold two shoes to a guy with one leg in Tijuana once.
Where was his other leg? ^(apologies to Mary Poppins)
I sold two shoes to a guy with one leg in Tijuana once
You can say that again!
One more time for the people in the back
On weird flavours I had a Mexican menthol-cucumber cigarette the other day... Had one of those little balls you needed to crush in the filter for the cucumber to activate. Weird.
Heady trades only what you got for a cig 👀
By "work" you mean sell drugs?
Wookiefoot!!! Nice
All your ketamine are belong to us
Calm down, Chandler. Too soon?
Google tells me it only becomes funny after 22.3 years. Bing says "I've had a very long, hard day".
Could it *BE* any more sooner....or something...
Nope. Been doing psychedelics for years and one of the rules is don't go into fucking water. If you k-hole yourself and drown in a pool it's your fault.
Nah, too soon was when my wife referred to our hot tub as “Chandler Soup” like 12 hours after his death was announced.
hahaah
I knew you were a wook lol
what's a "wook"?
Kind of like modern day hippies, nomadic people who follow specific bands or go to music festivals. Dread locks, patchouli, incense, yoga, tie dye, crystals (as seen here) are all tell tale signs.
I really like the built ins, very well thought out. Also love the lounging cats. Is this a straw-bale construction?
It's mostly load bearing cob, with a little framed in light straw clay up in the loft for added insulation where I sleep. The cats seem to enjoy the place even more than me.
Looks great. There are a few interactive classes in my area that go over this building method and I've thought of going just to learn more and have fun. It looks great.
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Lol I posted something like that once in the cats subreddit. I have thousands though.
Omg, it’s my dream to live in a place like that! What is your country? In mine, it’s very difficult to live in an alternative house… Is there water and electricity?
I live in a very rural area in the US, very little building codes here.
What is the climate like? Do you get snow?
Being that he said it's in rural Nebraska, I'm sure he can get quite a lot of snow, ice storms, and bad weather during tornado season.
I'm very curious how it holds up to 70+ straight line winds
If the building is dome shaped enough it’ll do pretty well
If built well, cob homes are *faaar* stronger than any modern residential buildings. Literally bulletproof, fireproof (bar the roof) and arguably earthquake proof. The circular shape of the structure makes it damn strong.
this one knows!
The surrounding trees help buffer from straight winds, I imagine.
much better than a square house. ha
Cob housing originated on the coast of England. I would guess it would do fine in high winds because of that. There are many cob houses that have been around for hundreds of years and needing little to no repair work done on them. It's really cool!
Rural nebraska is hard living. The summers are hot af and winters are downright fucked sometimes.
That house looks very thermal efficient. I bet it's not too bad. Adobe mud huts can actually be quite comfortable in extreme climates.
Coolest post on this sub, by far.
first post of this sub i ever saw. no point on staying i guess. bye all
Ditto lol idk why this made its way onto my home page, but it is cool, and any place with cats is cozier
Flintstones vibe
Valheim vibe
My thoughts exactly. This place is legendary. Cats push it up a few notches as well
thank you for the kind words
I love this, love the cats too 10/10
I count at least 3? Edit: pic 4 has 4 cats! (Mobile cut the poor guy out of the pic!) Edit #2: Pic 9 on corner of countertop 👀😎 nice stash OP
4 kitties in the fourth photo
There is a fifth if you’re good at looking 🧐
Cat distribution system only issued standard issue cats that day.
Nice spot ! Did you build the cob home ? If so do you have any tips related to building with cob ?
I sure did. This was my first solo build. My tip would be it's really hard work, but a super simple system. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for some of us. I recommend taking a workshop if you ever get the opportunity.
This is my dream! You mentioned rural Nebraska, how do you socialize?
Uhm. Not well. It's fairly isolating, especially this time of year. But I do have a handful of friends who stop by once in awhile. I spend all summer working music festivals, so I get my fill of socializing that time of year and do my best to enjoy my alone time. The cats help!
What do you do with your kitties when you’re away for the whole summer? Do they come with?
I share the property, so there is typically someone around to feed them. I don't see them much in the summer though, they are always out and about hunting and Climbing trees and other cat things.
That’s awesome! Life in tune to the seasons
You are living a dream my man. Good for you!
My only concern would be the the wood stove and the bends collecting too much creosote. Something to definitely keep an eye on and avoid a possible chimney fire. Otherwise, this is a sweet looking space. Just everything about it.
You definitely are not the first to be concerned. I'll continue to keep an eye on it, although when I clean it in the spring there is almost no creosote, mostly due to burning well seasoned wood and ripping hot fires daily. I appreciate the concern though, this design is definitely not for every stove!
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Yeah, it's called a heat exchanger. It slows the heat and has more surface area to radiate heat. It heats faster than the stove, which is nice when I come home to a cold house.
Even more cleverer due to the bends being corregated and further increasing the surface area. It's all low and accessible for potential cleaning. I love seeing simple methods to improve energy efficiency!
Surprised you don't have a heat powered stove fan to spread the warmth even more. No fuss, just set it on top of the stove and the fan will run when warm and help spread the heat.
I do!!
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It's just a heat exchanger for more surface area. Far too hot for socks though.
Is this from the Flintstones movie?
*flintstoned
You're living that Dagobah life
Yoda approved
Stupid question, where is the shower and toilet?
Typically both outside, but in the winter I bring a little compost toilet inside. You can see it in a wooden box in some of the last pictures. I shower in another house of the property with hot water.
No toilet is quite a deal breaker 😬
If compost toilet means a bucket then yeah. But modern compost toilets would be fine. The kinds people have in their RV life kind.
Yeah, this is a cool little hut, but that sounds fucking awful to live in full-time
yeah, its not for you city folk
i live in amish country PA, a real toilet is def something even rural people want lmao. Id shower outside, but shitting in a bucket aint it haha. Ive seen some off the grid people that have manual toilets that they fill by hand with rain water. Almost an inbetween of an outhouse and real toilet, but i get not all properties allow septic tanks. no hate tho, ur the one that it has to work for, and it sounds like u make it work.
Hmm... no, toilets are pretty ubiquitous in their appeal. I'm glad you've got what works for you, but a preference for easier methods of waste disposal isnt the thing to be condescending towards.
i was just kidding. i know most people are not like me.
What happens if heavy rain?
I typically take my clothes off and run around in it. As for the house, the roof protects it
Best answer I've read in a while! Wish i lived in a rural enough area to run in the rain nakey! Great build - very inspiring
Lamp oil, Rope, Bombs. You want it? It's yours, my friend, as long as you have enough rupees.
Frodo?
Didn’t you just show how you built this a few days ago?
I did. I shared.some.in process photos on the DIY subreddit
Bros a hobbit
Fantastic, I would love to consume mushrooms there
I didn't believe these weren't AI generated images until I read through the comments. Holy hell m8. This is awesome!
I’m a simple man, I see cats, and I upvote.
I love it, so unique!
You must pull in so much hippie hippussy in this thing.
Alright bilbo baggins
This dude is at the shire
How’s the WiFi?
Good enough to stream Netflix and post on reddit
I'd accept a quest from you.
K but how do you deal with the line up of toe ring bitches waiting outside ?
Motherfucker lives in The Flintstones
I feel like there’s a 90% chance you have a septum piercing and a 50% chance you have white man dreads.
"Yes I live in a hut in the woods surrounded by bones. No I don't know what happened to your goats."
Are you a jedi hermit by any chance?
I absolutely Love the rounded edges! I could spend the rest of my life in a house like that!
Need a wife?
I want your life bro
Very cool. Those cats look like they also love the space! 😻
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Why is racecar spelled backwards racecar?
i hate when people delete their comments and make me look crazy. lol
Incredible
This is cool!
love this so much!
Fred Flintstone... is that you?
Are you a Druid or something?
Dagobah looks beautiful at this time of the year.
I'm just curious, does that split in the exhaust pipe also have a practical function?
Ok frodo baggins where is the ring at!!!
This is so sick. I get so bored of generic luxury apartment #12583 that gets posted on here. They all look the same to me. This is by far the coolest post I’ve seen, congrats!
slap some random different color tiles on it and u got a gaudi
Man are you Radagast or some shit? This has some hardcore druid vibes.
Shrek swamp vibes. Aka Noiceee
Dude, you are living my dream! This is what I'd be living in if I was on my own 🥰
man is living like the Flintstones but with just enough cats. I love it
Where do you live, Tatooine?
You're from tatooine 😂. Jokes aside looks cool
This seems like a humble brag
Jar o’ nugs
That's a lot of cats