Citation

Steen, A. S., Steen, B., Bainbridge, D., and D. Eisenberg, The straw bale house. Chelsea Green, White River Junction, Vermont, 1994.

Abstract

Introduction

The idea of building anything out of straw can seem laughable, but traditional cultures throughout the world have long recognized the value of straw, grasses, and reeds as building materials, and have used them effectively in combination with earth and timber to create shelter for thousands of years. Once the development of modern baling equipment in the late 1800s made it possible to compress straw and hay into bales, it wasn't long before pioneers in the Sand Hills of west Nebraska stated using bales of meadow hay like giant building blocks, to build everything from churches to houses. The pioneers' motivation to build with bales came from a shortage of locally available building materials, but baled hay proved to be equal if not superior to the standard building materials of the time. This book is about how the traditions of building with baled materials have continued into our present time and are now beginning to spread the world over.

Country, State, District, etc.

United States

Language

English

Material

straw, general

Use category

construction materials