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Strawbale Alternative Homes Northern Arizona

By
Real Estate Agent with Dirt Road Real Estate

Thunderbird Ranch on 10 Acs for sale in Kingman ArizonaCould You Live in a Strawbale Home on Rural Land?  When you have found that perfect piece of Rural Land in Northern Arizona in Willow Creek Ranch or at Spring Valley Ranches or in Cedar Hills Ranches for your retirement, your vacation spot, or your homestead and you’ve signed on the dotted line, you’ve put in your septic system and you’ve drilled your well, what next?  You could build aLuxury Strawbale Home Kingman Arizona frame home, buy a mobile, bring in a re-possessed modular home or an affordable alternative is to build or buy a cob or strawbale home, we have 2 for sale at the moment Thunderbird Ranch above and Living Rock to the right.

Cob is a mixture of straw, sand, and clay (similar to adobe but with more straw).  These homes have been built in England for hundreds of years and once dried they are incredibly durable.

In the mid 1800’s when there was free land to be homesteaded in the U.S., these homes were the best choice in the treeless Nebraska sandhills. The advantages include cost, availability of building materials, and high insulation value. Disadvantages include susceptibility to rot and high space requirements for the straw itself. Rural Homes in Northern Arizona

These days to build a straw home on rural land consists of stacking rows of bales on a raised footing with a moisture barrier between the bales and their supporting platform. Bale walls are tied together and then plastered.

The picture to the right is an interior shot of a completed strawbale home.  Curves are much easier to achieve than with framed homes.   Rural Land in Northern Arizona

 

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Comments (2)

Anonymous
Anne Hart

I'm searching for a week long cob construction workshop. I'm considering living near Prescott. So we can get permits to build cob & straw bale here? I am a sculptor with ideas for a cob sculpture park. The 1st I want to plan is a desert tortoise I can live in. I'm still 6 mo or more away from being able to purchase property. Working w/ Bloomtree.

Oct 27, 2019 08:44 AM
#1
Judith Ritter
Dirt Road Real Estate - Prescott, AZ
Rural Land & Homes Specialist

Good morning, There are all sorts of alternative homes in our area including strawbale and earthships. In Mohave County, I don't think that there are any restrictions other than needing to have a permitted septic system and the number of dwellings on one parcel of vacant land. 

Yavapai County, where Prescott is, I believe has stricter rules. You can research the building codes for rural areas on the two country sites. 

Oct 27, 2019 10:18 AM