The straw bale house goes mainstream

Winding under the canopy of trees shading the long driveway, goats and sheep peered at the car as they grazed near an organic garden, planted in a circle of sunlight, before we found what appeared to be an old, sun-washed, well-tended farmhouse.

This is the home of Elise Lang and her husband, Michael Pierce, who invested a lot of time and sweat equity in their straw bale house to ensure it looked like an established home, full of memories, and with a colorful history. It is hard to believe it is only 15 years old.

Elise, a pharmacist, served as a human resources officer in the Army for 10 years and now works for the Veterans Administration. Michael is an adventuresome artist who has followed his muse from coast to coast and all over Europe and the Middle East to indulge in interests as diverse as tofu making. He opened the first tofu shop in Germany, and was known as the King of Tofu in Bavaria.

His mural on the Capricorn studio building has survived the elements for more than four decades; he recently repainted the walls of Paul Hornsby’s Muscadine Studio on Vineville Avenue and has designed album covers, among them Jupiter Coyote’s “Lucky Day.”

This unlikely pair, an Army officer and a free spirit, moved to a small community outside Athens after Elise retired in 1995 to live in a small cottage on 45 acres while they planned a uniquely designed house that would satisfy their diverse tastes. She had been in Sierra Vista, Arizona, where a straw bale house had piqued her interest.

Michael took her on a “six month backyard tour of Europe,” as he describes it, where non-conformist construction is not unusual. Because lime was not available, thatch-roofed houses were built with mud over straw, called “gumbo mud,” 400 years ago in England and in Asia, a trend that spread throughout Europe, where many of those houses still stand.

The pair did their homework when they returned from Europe, traveling to Summertown, Tennessee, to visit The Farm, a collective started in 1971 whose mission is sustainable, harmonious living. Elise and Michael had heard of Steve Gaskin, who left his position as professor at the University of California at Berkeley to co-found with his wife The Farm, the largest surviving collective in the United States.

The hippies who followed Gaskin in 60 hand-painted school buses were the disillusioned idealists from the Haight-Ashbury era that vowed to co-exist in a spiritual environment and to do meaningful things to make a difference in the world. Under Gaskin’s leadership, The Farm evolved from its naïve beginnings to a major center of learning that conducts research and workshops in organic agriculture and in ecologically compatible construction. It is known internationally for its philanthropic work in the United States and abroad, and sponsors retreats on the 3-square-mile compound for children and adults.

Gaskin, who died in 2014, was a guru of straw bale construction in this country, where the first such houses were built in dry western states. Armed with books, personal testimonies and some hands-on experience at The Farm, Elise and Michael hired architect Howard Schweitzer, whom they had met in Summertown, to design the house.

According to Michael, “Howard drew a contemporary house but Elise wanted the house to look older so she changed the outside.”

Finishing the plans was the least of their worries — the county had never permitted a straw bale house, their banker was less than enthusiastic about the project and insurance agents were leery.

“We had to jump through hoops, get data together from other states that allowed this construction and have engineers document the soundness of straw bale houses,” Michael said.

After finally securing permits and a mortgage, they broke ground in 1999 and moved into the finished house in 2001. Despite the advantages of living in a straw bale house, the journey to completion can be arduous.

First, the ideal bales are made of extremely compacted, long straw and preferably baled with an artificial filament that will not deteriorate. They have to be stored in a dry place until installation and even then cannot get wet before being covered by siding, stucco or other material.

There are many methods for building a straw bale house, some using only compacted straw as load bearing walls, others stick built with the straw acting as insulation and, in rustic buildings, as the interior wall surfaces.

Elise and Michael wanted windows and doors to access the surrounding views, but planned to use solar-generated energy more than conventional electricity and knew directional exposure impacted the efficiency of solar energy. Their house has stud walls and reinforcement for headers over windows and doors; the straw was stacked between the studs and around the openings.

Standard bales range in depth from 18 to 24 inches, deeper than the studs and frames of windows and doors.

“When we put the first coat of stucco on the straw, I thought, what have gotten ourselves into,” Michael said, laughing at the memory of straw and mortar on his hands that only got messier as he tried to apply the first coat.

He and Elise had a crew plus a lot of curious friends who were enthusiastically willing to help at the outset. That number dwindled after the newness wore off, but the crew persevered, the second coat was applied and the finished product is stunning.

The stucco, stained a soft coral, has no hard edges and is smoothly rolled into the heavily molded windows and doors. After 15 years, the sturdy construction reveals no wear or pressure cracks and the interior temperature stays consistently comfortable. Although the house has conventional heating and air conditioning, the latter is rarely used, and on cold days a Franklin stove efficiently takes away the chill.

Although slab floors are preferable in straw bale houses to prevent air leakage at the floor line, Elise and Michael live on a hillside where slab construction was not an option. Their honey colored heart pine floors, in planks as wide as 12 inches, were milled in Athens from old warehouse timbers.

Four tall doors, each almost 4 feet wide, purchased from the salvage of a Mississippi plantation, are now closet doors in the master bedroom. Surrounding the travertine shower in one bathroom is black slate Michael found when it was replaced by traditional roofing material on some of Athens’ historic houses.

Michael works with a solar energy system contractor but still has time for his artistic pursuits, including pottery, painting and collecting handmade musical instruments — all of which are accessories complementing the deceptively new house.

He advises anyone interested in this alternative construction to read “The Straw Bale House,” by Athena Swentzell Steen, Bill Steen, David Bainbridge, with David Eisenberg.

“(It’s) the bible for the beginner,” Michael said.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 9:09 PM with the headline "The straw bale house goes mainstream."