Doesn’t this home look like something straight out of The Hobbit?

The “low impact woodland home” exists in Wales. It was built by the owner with regard for the environment. It’s dug into the hillside, which means it’s probably energy efficient too. The foundation and retaining walls are made with mud and stone. Straw bales in the floor, walls, and roof help insulate the home. Reclaimed wood was used for the floor and fittings.

This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives. For example this house was made to house our family whilst we worked in the woodland surrounding the house doing ecological woodland management and setting up a forest garden, things that would have been impossible had we had to pay a regular rent or mortgage. This is an excerpt from Alternative Housing