Touring across Douglas, Ozark and Howell counties to view successful completion of Straw Bale Homes with the Straw Bale Construction Initiative with Top of the Ozarks, RC&D.

On December 10 the Straw Bale Construction Initiative promoted a tour of the straw bale houses completed during the program.  There were

• three  homes in Douglas,
• two homes in Ozark and
• one home in Howell County.

The houses range in size from a little over 500sq.ft. one bedroom floor plant  to a design encompassing almost 3000sq.ft. with four bedrooms.

All have several things in common,

• non-load bearing post and beam construction,
• passive solar,
• built through a HUD grant program and
• a lot of enjoyable hard work on the part of the owners.

I said enjoyable because yes, building something for yourself, especially a house, can be very gratifying. The project gives the builder pride in their  home. Several of the folks are very artistic and put their talent to work.

Considering the cold weather we still had about 30 folks on the tour. The tour was self-guided through the open houses.  People who wished to visit the homes stopped at the Extension office in the Douglas County Court House to pick up a map and brochure.  After receiving the brochure and map which marked routes to the individual homes, they were able to decide which and how many they wanted to see.

Most of the folks had never seen a straw bale house but were pleasantly surprised after actually being in one. The cold weather may have helped some because it sure felt good to get inside and then to learn how little heat was required to make a house so comfortable.

One high point of the tour was in Howell County, where Tom Arth’s solar electric system which produces over 80% of his power needs even in the winter.

When I checked in with the home owners to see how they felt about the tour all said they enjoyed the friendly folks and the common interest in building a little greener and energy efficiency which helps everyone.

Top of the Ozarks RC&D has participated in this program promoting straw bale construction in Missouri in partnership with HUD and the University of Missouri Extension for the past few years. I’ve been honored to work with all aspects of this construction initiative and very pleased to see six of the houses come to completion. Not only are these six homes making their owners proud and comfortable into the New Year, but the $15,000 grant from HUD for each of them has been a big boost as well

This initiative may be completed, but I’m hooked on straw bale as an alternative building resource and intend to stay active in information and discussion.