Earth Sheltered Links
Here are a few new links to look at. There have actually been a few in Houzz lately, but I lost the specific links… Maybe I will find them again another time.
Kentfield House from Houzz.com
Messy Nessy Blogs about offbeat and unique things, including Earth Sheltered Homes. Here are two articles that were shared recently on the Malcolm Wells Yahoo group, but I think you can find more on the site if you dig around a bit..
This first one is about Englands abandoned Rock Houses. It appears that these homes were abandoned after hundreds of years of continuous use due to shutdown of the local industry. Many believe this underground villiage inspired Tolkein to include them in The Hobbit. The very old homes are still in great shape, although some are inhabited by endangered bats.
And this second one is about a hand-dug underground home and garden in California known as the Forestiere Gardens. The owner dug subway tunnels in NY at the end of the 19th century. He found the surface of Fresno to harsh (this was before air conditioning), so he started digging in his spare time. On his own, and without power tools, he dug out an estate of nearly 100 rooms, passageways and courtyards covering 10 acres.
This one is for a partially built earth sheltered home in California… This typical Terra-dome home is more bunker than beauty (to each his own), but the site is still interesting for seeing the construction process. Its also for sale, if you want to live in that area.