The Cob House; Futuristic, Ironic, Elegent.

What if I told you there was a way you could own your own home, without the mounting cost of buying one and the credentials required to even get approved for a mortgage? What if I told you that it's completely possible to build one yourself? The Cob house, not surprisingly, is made from a material named Cob, it is a building material similar to Adobe consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive. Lately I have been delving into the world of Cob and must say, this looks like a promising way out of needless dept brought on by mortgages and the incredible cost of houses. 

A Cob house in Devon, England built in 1539

There are Cob houses in England that were built hundreds of years ago and are inhabited to this day. They prove the incredible strength and longevity of this material.

First I'd like to tell you that I plan on building my own Cob house and will totally blog about it when that time comes, but alas due diligence is a must when considering the building of your future family home. With that said I don't expect to build one the size of the house pictured above, and neither should you if it is of interest to you. I say this because building your house out of cob is time consuming, personal, and sort of rides on the sustainability train, so having a large, extravagant cob house would just be uncanny, for lack of a better word. You should get to know each and every crevice, nail, curve, and so on. Build within your means, you know what I means?

Can you say, "Banjo solo"?

But seriously, jokes aside if you are looking for something a little more country, you got it! This is a much more reasonable expectation when thinking of Cob houses. You may think, "I could only dream of creating such an artistically astounding place like that." but you'd be wrong. I have total faith that with some research you could build something like the above picture. With that said let's move on.

Building a Cob house could cost you anywhere from $500 to $15,000, Maybe even more if you wanted. Some basics for it would be; A water heater, solar panels, electrical equipment, stove (preferably wood burning), some raw or treated timber, windows and doors, roof stuff (not shingles, I need to look into this, so do you), plus the land required to build it, of course.

Use Recycled Materials!

Building a Cob house isn't just a housing decision, it's a lifestyle choice, and it's not for everyone. Building a Cob home can take a lot of time and work, but will provide you with a home that you own indefinitely. My cousin and his wife have just finished there Cob house in P.E.I and are loving every penny saved, "Deciding to build your own home out of Cob will create a more sentimental place to live than you can ever purchase, and I'm sure it will save you loads of time and money down the road."

So go on, look it up.

A good place to start is by reading, "The Hand-Sculpted House". It goes over everything from building permits to "...a good hat and boots", you can buy it here. Again, if you are seriously interested in eliminating the seemingly unsurmountable inheritance of a mortgage, then I advise you to let Cob take you in, love it, learn it, and eventually, you can build it.