Our clients wanted a home that would allow them to sustain themselves from the land. To fulfill their vision, we created a modern homestead whose centerpiece is a 2,600-square-foot house tucked into a south-facing slope, with earthen walls and a roof that collects rainwater. Other buildings include a three-car garage above a 50,000-gallon rainwater cistern, an earth-covered studio, a 10-kilowatt solar electric system, and a geothermal heat pump for domestic hot water and radiant space heat. On the land itself we used permaculture principles to establish areas for growing food, raising animals, and restoring communities of native plants and wildlife.
The house is built with shot-earth wall construction, similar in thickness and performance to a rammed earth wall construction but applied with a gunnite (shotcrete) machine. We integrated passive heating and cooling strategies to keep the house cool during the hot summer days and warm on sunny winter days without using fossil fuels for back-up heat or air-conditioning. Other sustainable building practices include the use of nontoxic paints and finishes, earth plasters, certified lumber and wood products, and a front gate and fence custom made from recycled steel.
Read more about owners Karen and Mark's home at Modern Homestead: A California Home Creates Self-Sufficient Green Dream, Natural Home, March/April 2008 .
Visit their permaculture education website at http://www.kenwoodpermaculture.com/.