The Bailey Berm House
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What is a Berm House? A true underground house is one that is completely under ground. It is the most efficient type of home for heating and cooling but needs extra planning for air quality. A berm house shares these concerns, but not to the extremes of a true underground. A berm house is one that is built and then the earth is mounded against the walls and sometimes over the roof. Ours is designed to be almost completely covered with the exception of a few windows and doors.
The main purpose of the project is to create a home that is as 'earth friendly' as I can muster and totally unique in every aspect. I would love to see a team from Extreme Homes on HGTV come to video tape the home for their show. (December 2003)
In the interim, it was decided in the summer of 2004 that we should build a smaller place to use as a 'headquarters' for the building of the berm house. We decided to build a 668 sq ft, eight-sided wood frame cabin. As with everything else on this property, I want to design it to withstand the ravages of time, so I will be incorporating heavier framing and trying to strengthen it when ever I can. This has been deemed the YURT. It is an adaptation of the Yurt style. To follow the progress of the building of this cabin, look for the section below that describes "The First Place". (October 19, 2004)

Take a tour of the development of the property. Use the index Below to navigate through the site. Bear in mind that this is designed by a non-professional. It may not look like the fancy stuff that an architect would design. There may be over kill or under kill in different places. If you have some knowledge that I am missing here, please feel free to add you comments to the bulletin board. All thoughts are welcome.

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Berm House # 1:
Property Layout (10-17-2003)
Index of Sketches (11-30-2003)
Exterior of the Home (12-02-2003)
The Lot (12-04-2004)
Tree Sizes (12-05-2003)
Cut Stone (12-07-2003)
The Floor Plan (12-04-2003)
A Look Inside (12-04-2003)		 Rafters and Beams (12-05-2003)
The Fireplace (12-06-2003)
The Trap Door (12-06-2003)
The Sifter (12-12-2003)
Solar Water Heater (12-19-2003)		 Berm House # 2:
Sketch of the Hallway (10-20-2003)
Hall Dimensions (10-20-2003)
Room Dimensions (10-20-2003)
Floor Plan (10-20-2003)
Sketch of the Front View placement of rooms (10-20-2003)
Sketch of the Back view placement of rooms (10-20-2003)
Solar lighting (11-09-2003)
Frozen Pipe problems (11-15-2003)

Site Index:
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How Much Did it Cost?
News and Progress (09-27-2004)
Recommended Reading and Book Reviews (3)
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Why?

Thoughts and Ponderances:
The Simple Life

 

The first place: (or The Yurt)
 Photos of the Progress (11-29-2004)
 Yurt? What is a Yurt? (09-27-2004)
 The Front View (09-28-2004)
Building Process - Part 1 (06-29-2005)
Building Process - Part 2 (06-29-2005)
Building Process - Part 3 (09-28-2004)
How Much is that Cabin? (03-12-2007)

Last Updated on
March 12, 2007

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