by Suzann Thompson | Dec 11, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Slabs are tricky. Because you don’t have the usual points of reference, it’s difficult to tell how big (or small) the rooms are. But by the time the daffodils peeked out of the ground at the end of January 2013, our builder Callon provided those points of...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 10, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
I love this picture of the library arch, shot from high up on a scaffold in January 2013. The frame for the bond beam was still in place over the arch, but our builder had already closed in the gable and part of the north and south walls. We were still working on the...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 9, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Last year about this time, the extremely efficient, thorough, and excellent builder, Callon Ratliff, agreed to finish the inside of our earthen house. Before Callon could start installing windows and framing inside walls, my efficient, thorough, and excellent family...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 8, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
The southern wall is the longest earthen wall in our house, so my friend Rachel and I were happy to lay its last brick in September 2012. My brother Van and our cousin Jerry came as quickly as they could, to begin work on the bond beam. They set up frame boards and...
by Suzann Thompson | Oct 24, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
After Charles and the kids built the arched window for our well-house, they pulled the wooden arch form out of the opening. We had ourselves a window! Here they are, posing in a totally (or should I say “toats?”) teenager fashion for the photo. So with...
by Suzann Thompson | Oct 23, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Building a house can play games with your mind. It’s about space and defining space. It’s about seeing the trees over the wall one week, and barely seeing the tops of the trees over the much taller wall a couple of weeks later. I like the game of opening...
