"Straw Bale Houses"

Growing up in southern Idaho where extinct volcanoes with their ancient lava flows dot the landscape, I never thought it odd that I lived in a lava rock farm house that had two-foot thick perimeter walls. These houses—many of them on farms—were built by the early immigrants, mostly Mormon, who had settled in that area in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The builders had to have been real craftsmen as the walls consisted of two courses of rock with the interior wall plastered over and the exterior showing the rock and mortar.

The last time I talked to someone in Idaho about lava rock houses, I learned that the lava flows are now under federal protection. The old volcanoes—we called them cinder buttes--are also protected. No longer do the county highway departments use crushed cinders on the icy highways in the winter.

I liked the warmth of that lava rock house in the winter. In the summers, my mother would make certain that in the early morning, the doors and windows were open to let in the coolness of the night. By 11 AM, the house was closed up against the heat of the afternoon.

Since moving from Idaho, I’ve often dreamed of living in a thick-walled house. What kind of house would that be in Nebraska? The pioneers used prairie grass sod to build their “starter” homes. Some substantial sod homes are still standing in our state. Trucking stone from Colorado to build a house would be too expensive.

But what about a straw bale house? That’s a possibility. There’s plenty of straw in Nebraska and there are a few straw bale houses in the state. Besides being cheap, clean, and lightweight, straw also provides advantages like energy efficiency and resistance to seismic stresses.

The Library has several new books on building with straw. Nathaniel Corum’s colorful book, “Building a Straw Bale House: The Red Feather Construction Handbook” takes the reader from the foundation up to the shingles. The photographs illustrate the major, yet simple, techniques used to build a straw bale home.

In “More Straw Bale Buildings, a Complete Guide to Designing and Building with Straw”, author Chris Magwood includes many chapters on the construction of a bale house as well as covering critical considerations such as the costs of such buildings, how to finance such a venture and how to secure a building permit.

Either book would be an essential starting point for anyone looking into the straw bale home concept.

Recent donations to the Columbus Library Foundation include those in memory of Irene Wurdeman from Mary Alyce Krohnke, Lucille and Burns Ellison, and Jini Washburn.