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Offbeat Homes

Tranquility House

by Jennifer Chait on December 15th, 2007

Remember yesterday when I said I liked two cool homes from Cheryl Heinrichs Architecture yet, only showed the Twisted House? Or maybe you remember my straw bale promise. Well…

The Tranquility House is a great straw bale home designed by Cheryl Heinrichs Architecture. I really like this house. Although to be honest it had to grow on me. I’d look at it. Consider it; go back, look, and finally, I realized I liked it. It was a subtle growth.

This is a great shot of an unfinished straw bale walls if you haven’t seen them in process (especially this large) before. Most straw bale structures I’ve seen in process are much smaller.

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Also, there’s a surprise in store because you don’t expect the finished home to look unique. The style and frame is so standard looking in the older photo. But look at the completed home.

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cedars-favorite-movie.jpgGreat look, right. Very nice. Super colors. I think it had to grow on me due to the exterior panels. I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

I sided with yes because this home has some nice features that make it fairly easy to adore like the hand-applied plaster walls, recycled timber frames, cork and concrete flooring, passive solar design, solar hot water charged radiant floors and more. This home is non-toxic all around and even earned PGE’s Earth Advantage certification. Plus the bridge reminds me of my son’s favorite movie.

See the nice touches in the curve of the flooring (by the door):

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Oh, and did I mention my bathtub is in this house…

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I’m trying to tell if that’s water or stones at the edge of the tub. I’m hoping that it’s stone because that would be slick. Visit Cheryl Heinrichs Architecture to see many more nice examples of their work.

You want the tub too; don’t you?

POSTED IN: Eco Style, Green Building, Green Style, Recycled Materials, Straw Bale

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