2nd act, fresh start: couple builds 4-generation mud-&-clay family village by Kirsten Dirksen on September 24, 2026 Athena Steen learned to build with earth as a kid on her mother’s pueblo in New Mexico, where if someone …
Harvest by the old calendar: a July vintage, a Roman aqueduct & an ancient vineyard by Nicolás Boullosa on September 19, 2026 One hour south of Barcelona, the grapes come in before the proverbs say to pick, and the ruins along the …
Steelworker quits at 50, builds $50K cordwood home lit by colorful bottles by Kirsten Dirksen on September 13, 2026 At 50, Jason Fine walked away from his union boilermaker job and cashed out his retirement to buy 29 acres …
Scandinavian Naturhus: a house inside a house as a fractal for the future by Nicolás Boullosa on September 9, 2026 What kids’ forts, Ron Eglash’s fractal villages, and a Swedish A-frame have in common. “All happy families are alike; each …
He dreamed of self-feeding solar house. So he built A-frame greenhouse home by Kirsten Dirksen on September 6, 2026 Twenty years ago, Anders Solvarm put up a greenhouse just to keep the rain off a log home he was …
Wendell Berry’s 5 generations of lumber: one’s own long-legged home by Nicolás Boullosa on September 3, 2026 Wendell Berry died on Monday at ninety-two, the age he gave the old farmer he invented at thirty-nine. In a …
After NYC, she moved to village dug underground: fixing 4 caves in 15 years by Kirsten Dirksen on August 30, 2026 After growing up in Manhattan, Thea Carini landed in Bourré – a tiny French stone-mining town with dozens of homes …
The first 5 feet: California fire rules around houses face reality by Nicolás Boullosa on August 27, 2026 I went for a run with a friend affected by the fire rules, and this is what I learned while …
He built dirt-cheap homestead in off-grid village. Sharing tips 20 years on by Kirsten Dirksen on August 23, 2026 He built his off-grid straw bale home for just $15,000, including solar panels and batteries, and 20 years later he’s …
A boat Elvis bought, a suitcase of negatives, & the price of memory by Nicolás Boullosa on August 20, 2026 As we accumulate things, analog and digital, it gets easier to lose the battle against entropy. Some things survive anyway, …
