Monday, January 25, 2010

you get what you pay for


handmade stair case, wood staircase, roundhouse stair case

We spent this past weekend with the hippies of western north carolina learning about Round houses made by
deltec, out of Asheville. The houses are very cool, all of the load bearing for the house is done by the outside walls, which allows you to do whatever you want inside. The entire outer shell comes shipped to you and in a few days they say that you can have the whole thing put up. Their suggestion is finding a local contractor to do the work for you, but what fun would that be?
round house,deltec homes, yurt, build your own house, hobbit, like a circle round house,deltec homes, yurt, build your own house, hobbit, like a circle
We are thinking that these houses because of their ease of construction and green friendly practices might be one option once we get some land to build on. The downside is that they are pricey, which makes sense, since they are so well crafted.

So i know what you are asking now, "why a round house?". Well first of all have you ever been in a round house? Picture a nice little hobbit house nestled into the side of a mountain, and then remember that nice feeling you get as you enter the door, of warmth the fire going in the back room, warming the whole house up, the earthy smell and semitry. There is something very similar when you enter a round house, although they are not built into the side of mountains and there are not any hobbits living in them. The circle just seems to make more sense all the way round. (pun intended)

here are some more pictures of the weekend.

round house,deltec homes, yurt, build your own house, hobbit, like a circle round house,deltec homes, yurt, build your own house, hobbit, like a circle handmade stair case, wood staircase, roundhouse stair case

In other news here is what we have found as far as getting land ready to live on. Do these numbers look right to you?

gravel for road- $10,000.
clearing land- $1700.0/acre or 1700.0 to rent a bulldozer for a week and do it yourself.( we want about 30acres done)
well dug- $1500.0-$5000.0 ( just depends how things go)
septic- $1500.0-$5000.0
power- might be free not sure yet...

getting a foundation prepped for a house $20,000

what else are we forgetting?...

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2 comments:

Melissa said...

Wow--it's scarier to see the breakdown of cost than an
mlS listing, huh? On a design note, one of my favorite designers did a beautiful yurt a few years ago-- I'll have to dig up a link for you! I love the concept-- but I imagine it is expensive!

Blue Harvest Mama said...

Greetings! I saw your post on a Waldorf list and found myself here :) We live in the Foothills of WNC and just wrapped up construction on our farm house in August. As you well know there are tons of variables the effect construction costs: location, economy - the price for many supplies fluctuates, especially wood and concrete, and then there are the unforeseen... our well had to go way deeper than budgeted - OUCH!

We went as green as we could afford in our homes construction (we still haven't completely finished) and I don't mind sharing our experience with you. We also have a blog that detailed a little of our process that you might want to check out: www.blueharvestfarm.net.

If you don't live far, you are welcome to come visit, chat a spell and the kids can play... we're always looking for similar minded Waldorf folk :)

Peace & Blessings!