PORT ANGELES — Michael and Spring Thomas want to demonstrate how strong a house built of straw can be. Straw bales, that is. Compressed and covered in plaster, straw bales stay dry, resist fire and ...

DANVERS — A group from the Maple Street Congregational Church is planning a trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota this summer to build two straw bale homes, in an effort to provide ...

Yvon Chouinard and the architect who designed his Ventura, California, home explain why the waste material is the next step in the fight against climate change. Photo by Tim Davis and landscaping by ...

A San Diego-based company is using old school materials like straw bales and clay to build homes that are more fire-resistant for Southern California residents who worry about wildfires season after ...

The Straw Bale in the City 3-part series walks readers through the codes, costs, and construction of a straw-bale build on a non-rural property. Part 1 covers issues with building codes and managing ...

HOVLAND -- A half-mile down a dirt driveway through woods, a stack of straw bales signals one's arrival at Chris and Cameron Norman's new home. Approach the house, and the scattering of straw on the ...

Maddison follows the adventures of ambitious families pursuing architectural dreams. Across 12 months — and sometimes longer — he charts the in-depth, sometimes catastrophic and always serendipitous ...

The idea of a straw building might bring to mind a medieval homestead, or perhaps the fairy-tale dwelling of The Three Little Pigs. Used since the 19th century—typically as a rural, rustic building ...

The straw bale home of Elise Lang and her husband, Michael Pierce, was finished in 2001. SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAPH Winding under the canopy of trees shading the long driveway, goats and sheep peered at ...

PORT ANGELES — Michael and Spring Thomas want to demonstrate how strong a house built of straw can be. Straw bales, that is. Compressed and covered in plaster, straw bales stay dry, resist fire and ...