#1 ~ From January 2001 ~ a little snow

This is the west side of the house. The land is a gentle hill, so the west side is actually excavated and the house is somewhat earth-sheltered on the north and west sides. That's why the windows are so close to the ground. What you see in the center of the roof is the upper walls of the interior courtyard, which will be open to the sky. There will be a staircase in there for going out onto the roof for gazing at the incredibly beautiful Arizona skies.

#2 ~ Looking into NE corner

#3 ~ Looking South ~ future BR & LR

These two pictures are from April 2001.....this is the pouring of the papercrete insulating layer which is under the slab. The slab and floor are actually went in AFTER the walls, because this process is so watery. If the slab was in first it would have been more difficult for the water to drain out of the walls. The papercrete was made in a giant homemade mixer sort of like a food processor, and then pumped into forms, like a monolithic concrete pour. (It can also be made into blocks, like adobe, and then stacked and mortared.) It is a mixture of paper (mostly newspaper and our junk mail) and dirt (clay and sand) and Portland cement, resembling oatmeal when it is first poured. Then the water drains out and the small amount of concrete causes it to solidify into a sort of "fluffy" wall with good insulating qualities. It reminds me of a giant sponge turned to stone. After this layer dried pipes were laid for the in-floor radiant hot water heating system, and then approximately three and a half inches of concrete was poured over the pipes. We will stain the slab and live with it as our floor for awhile. Eventually we want to put in flagstones, and / or Mexican tiles.

#4 ~ Carved windows

Papercrete can be sculpted into nice rounded curves, as seen around these windows.

#5 ~ Our cat Paulina supervises Tim's work

I had to include this one for the *beauty* of it! This is our little buddy Paulina supervising Tim's work.....and you can see more closely how the walls look. The exterior walls are covered with stucco to make them waterproof. On the interior we will put plaster on the walls in areas where it is very humid, like bathrooms, but will decide on whether or not to plaster other walls when we see how they look. We want to keep some of them "as is."

#6 ~ Bear Walls

Papercrete poured into forms as we are doing settles in layers which vary in color according to the proportions of clay in the mix, etc. This Bear appeared in the wall of my office space. Now that the walls are dry in that area, the Bear can still be seen. Bear must be one of my totem animals.

Would you like a house tour? Click on the floor plan to enter....

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New Photos January 2002

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