It's All in the Details

A Zen Window (another Pattern) opens from the entry hall into the Run Room. To the right of this window is a "truth" window which is ...

A "truth" window reveals the truth that this house actually is made of straw. Unlike the straw home of the Three Little Pigs, the skeleton of the house is made of ridiculously-thick steel beams that will stand up to a ridiculously-high level of earth movement. So the straw inside the walls here is really just superb, 2-foot thick insulation, which lets fresh air move freely in and out of the house all year long, while maintaining a near-constant living temperature in the 60's and 70's. (The only place in California where you can build a structural straw bale home -- where the straw walls actually hold up the roof -- is in the high desert such as Joshua Tree.)

Extra terrestrials such as these are frequent visitors on weekends, drawn by the empty field on the east side of the house. Listen for the blasts of hot air from your bed ... then go investigate.

  Wall niches cut right into the straw bale show up in every room in the house. (Another fine Pattern.) What prized possession will you put inside? (Flowers are always good.)

Looking up Spirit Oak ... climbing her, and seeing what she sees, is a Bucket List item for sure.

Simple redwood beams and aluminum keep you dry in the winter and cool in the summer.

A Zen Window in the stairwell. Will you stop and see?

One day, from the top step you see into Vinegar Joe's vineyard.

Another angle, another step and it's Mt. St. Helens.

Another step, another angle and it's Vincent Arroyo's vineyards.

Top of the Stairs. Window seat (with storage), laundry room to the right (with pocket door), cabinet storage to the left.

A Sun Tube automatically (and remarkably) brightens the upstairs hallway even on cloudy days.

Spirit Oak catching her balance.

Kids did this. Smooth stones plucked from a San Clemente beach.

Here too. An outer sink room and an inner bath/lavatory allows different folks to do different things at the same time.

Storage everywhere. Here under the kitchen island. Games and cookbooks have slept here.

 Thick walls make great window seats. And window beds. And reading places.

And storage. (And hiding places, if you are brave, and have a helper put back the cushions.)

You may need a good mower. We got a Dr. Brush Mower which has horsepower (8) enough to handle knee-high grass and 1/2-inch oak saplings. (A tractor would be even nicer.)

Roses are pretty good.

Spirit Oak is pretty tall.