Straw Bale Construction: A House of Straw

Aired March 29, 2000

This two-story strawbale cottage in Medina County is one structure that is wolf-proof. This structure was built by Mark Hoberecht in Columbia Station.

Despite our multi-cultural heritage, America is remarkably homogeneous in its architecture. With few exceptions, you can travel through most U.S. towns, cities and suburbs and see the same strip malls, schools, office buildings, and housing developments. This sameness of architecture grew out of our post-war ability to pre-fabricate many building materials and to ship them across the country. But recent concerns about urban sprawl, efficient use of energy, and the aesthetics of so-called cookie-cutter design have sparked new interest in alternative forms of building. As 90.3's Karen Schaefer reports, one of these is straw bale construction, a method of building proponents say is not only weather-proof and wolf-proof, but offers lessons about the environment, local heritage, and creating a sense of community.

The second-story loft/bedroom is a fairy tale eerie with sweeping curves in walls and ceiling.

Mark Hoberecht: It took two summers, working part-time on it. Mostly friends and family...Recycled barn beams and barn siding for the second floor. Those came from a barn in Strongsville. And a friend of mine and I did all the mortise and tenon joinery, which is a traditional timber-framing technique...

You could huff and you could puff, but this two-story straw cottage is a house no wolf could blow down. It's built of straw bales instead of bricks and plastered inside and out with a mixture of clay, sand and straw. Owner Mark Hoberecht demonstrates the strength and versatility of the materials

Mark Hoberecht: knocking on wall It's hard like stone...Some of the posts are exposed, I crafted a windowsill there to sit on...We have a niche over in the wall here, putting stone shelves in the wall that are supported by the earth wall...There's a lot of freedom in design that you can have with it. Want to go upstairs?

Sure!

Mark Hoberecht:Now does this feel cozy or...?

Oh!

Mark Hoberecht:These curved walls just give you an incredible feeling. They just kind of nestle you.

Wide roof overhangs protect clay walls from rain.

With its wide eaves, gently undulating walls, and complete lack of 90 degree angles, this little straw bale house looks like something out of a fairy tale. Hoberecht built the cottage four years ago on his property in Medina County. But he says the technology has something more to offer than pleasing aesthetics. It's incredibly energy efficient.

Mark Hoberecht:A typical 2-by-4 wall is around R13, 2-by-6 wall is around R19, these straw bale walls can be as high as R40. It makes it very warm in the winter and cool in the summer...And you can tell how quiet it is.

It's also completely fire-proof. The cottage was built almost entirely of local, natural materials and cost about $6-thousand dollars for 400 square feet of space. Without donated labor, Hoberecht admits that the final costs for his straw bale house would probably exceed those of conventional construction. But he's not the only one to see real promise in the technology, which has its roots in traditions centuries old. Last year Hoberecht assisted students and faculty from Oberlin College's Environmental Studies Program to build a straw bale tool shed behind an Oberlin elementary school.

Brad Masi: It's only recently, since fossil fuels have been available, that we've abandoned local materials for use in our building. And I think there are consequences.

Brad Masi is coordinator for the college's sustainable agriculture projects. He says using local, natural materials reduces energy costs and environmental damage, including the problem of what to do with construction and demolition debris.

The spiral staircase features natural and finished lumber, glass block lighting and plaster Kokopelii motif.

Brad Masi: Not only are you saving by using local materials, there's no fossil fuel costs attached to that. There's not as many hidden environmental costs as you might get with other types of construction....And I think it's bio-regional in a lot of ways, which really means understanding, appreciating and feeling connected to your local environment...And also just on your local culture...So we want to reveal a lot of that through the tool shed and the stories that we tell about it.

The Oberlin tool shed project will be documented in a book for school children. It has already served as an educational tool for the local community. Nearly two hundred local residents, teachers, parents and children took part in its making, among them Pat Ives, a third-generation Oberlin slate roofer who donated his skills and materials

Pat Ives: They told me what they were doing and I said, you know - I've got a whole garage full of slate - and I said we'd go ahead and take care of the whole thing for him...I went to school at Eastwood here and both my daughters have gone here, so it just makes it kind of neat. You know what I mean?

Both the straw bale tool shed and Mark Hoberecht's cottage were built as outbuildings, but Ohio building codes do permit the use of alternative construction methods, provided the builder can meet or exceed local building code requirements. While the technique is new to the Midwest, straw bale construction is well known in other parts of the United States, in climates as diverse as Arizona and Vermont. And while Mark Hoberecht admits it isn't for everyone, he says houses of straw can last for centuries - even with a wolf at the door. For 90.3, I'm Karen Schaefer in Northeast Ohio.

The ground floor features a packed-earth floor, wood-burning stove and recycled lumber. Inset decorations follow flowing lines of six-inch thick walls. It's whisper quiet inside.