Sun Ray Kelley Hobbit Houses

[archerships]

(yes, this is a repost, but this time with pictures)

http://www.potkettleblack.com/natbild/sunray2.html

All of these buildings were designed and/or built by Oregon architect Sun Ray Kelley. This first one is a picture of Kelley's yoga studio, "the Yogurt".

Sun Ray College of Natural Living
1356 Janicki Rd.
Sedro Wooley, WA 98284 USA
(360) 854-0413

Comments

[kimber.livejournal.com]

These are all really cool...

[squamous.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks for posting these.

[mindwalker.livejournal.com]

I would love to have a hobbit house.

[slit.livejournal.com]

Those first few are cob, aren't they? I want to know how they did the rooftops. Cob is load-bearing but I'm always curious what kind of roof could survive Midwestern winters. Most cob builders in the U.S. are in the Pacific Northwest and mainly worry about rain, not snow. I like that second roof in particular but can't tell if it's finished.

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Yes, "the Yogurt" is cob, with a wooden roof. I would imagine that properly built cob houses would do well in the Midwest--I seem to recall reading about some 100-year old cob structures in Nebraska. I would imagine that heavy rains are a more demanding environment for cob than snow, as rainstorms would strike the side of the building, whereas, melting snow would drip off the roof, away from the building. Thermal strain caused by temperature differentials may be an issue though...

[slit.livejournal.com]

I'm not so much worried about the cob enduring winter so much as how to design a roof that would have enough of a slant so that snow wouldn't accumulate and weigh it down, have enough of an overhang that the runoff wouldn't pool around the cob, AND look decent. (Most cob houses I've seen look really dark and small -- I like whitewashed Spanish/Mediterranean architecture, but can't do a flat roof in the Midwest. I still want to use cob, though, because I like the rounded corners and it's cheaper than straw bales. I have land with a south-facing slope. The roof is the only problem.)

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Cob is cheaper than strawbales? I presume that doesn't take into account labor/time costs? I like cob's organic feel too, but it seems like it takes long time and hard labor to build anything of an appreciable size (probably explains the small size of many cob houses). Have you considered superadobe (e.g. earthbags)?

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthbag.htm#Details

Pictures

[(Anonymous)]

I've been looking at hobbit houses. I really like the Yoga house, but it is the only picture that shows up. The rest of the pictures are inactive. Wish I could see them all! :(