Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects & Designs

Small Strawbale is a meditative exploration of the innumerable reasons to consider strawbale as a viable building material. Environmentally friendly, super insulative, economical, and natural, strawbale can be used to build everything from garden walls to small homes. Small Strawbale tells the stories of people who have successfully created structures out of this easily replenishable building material, reminding us that our human roots are ultimately grounded and dependent upon the earth and its bounties.

This practical guide is filled with rich photos of homes, greenhouses, studios, sheds, open-air structures and more, each pulsating with unique yet subtle creativity. Both a pragmatic construction manual and a philosophical, artistic guidebook, Small Strawbale is an inspirational starting point for a strawbale dreamer, and a great source of information for those who are ready to get bailing.

Bill and Athena Steen are the authors of Built by Hand, The Straw Bale House, and The Beauty of Straw Bale Houses. They are heavily involved in their nonprofit organization, The Canelo Project. Committed to developing and educating others about simple and sustainable living, they regularly teach workshops on straw bale building and artistry with clay and lime. They live in Arizona. Wayne Bingham has worked as building program director for the state of Utah for ten years and has been in private architectural practice for twenty years. He was instrumental in developing and building the AIA Habitat for Humanity house, and served as chairperson of the AIA Committee on the Environment. His work has been published in Architectural Digest and Popular Science, among others. Bill is building a straw bale home in Teton Valley, Idaho.