Natural Homes reader's favourites for 2015

No.1 Tiny Bubble Shelters

With over 35,000 likes, this is one of the many tiny hemp and lime bubble shelters designed and built by Evelyne Adam of Kerterre. After making a simple geodesic type timber frame, hemp or straw is coated in a lime and sand mixture and moulded onto the frame.
More here...
 

No.2 Mud and Wood

With 31,000+ LIKEs is Colin and Féile's beautiful cob, straw bale and natural edge wood home in Skreen, County Sligo, Ireland. More pictures of their cob home here...
 

There is a long tradition of earthen buildings (cob) in Ireland. Most of them are at least 100 years old and some up to 300 years old.

No.3 Van Gogh's Olive Trees

Richard's dry stone wall trees take 3rd place with 30,000+ LIKEs. This impressive wall is built using granite and slate. The dry stone tree is built in the Tatra mountains, part of the Carpathian mountain chain between Slovakia and Poland. Read more here...

 

No.4 Built by Women (part 2)

With 26,000 LIKEs, this is one of the many beautiful buildings in the second collection of homes built by women. They are built using lime, hemp, straw bales, stone, clay, logs, thatch and cob.

 

No.5 Oak Play House

With 22.000 LIKEs this tiny play house was built by James O’Keefe. Being Scottish James referred to it as the 'wee dinky (small tiny) playhouse'. This is how to build a tiny oak house.

You can see a collection of tiny homes on our Pinterest collection 'Tiny Natural Homes'.
 

No.6 Homes Under 10K

The collection of homes built for less than 10,000 GBP (about $15,000) came in at 6th place with 17,000+ LIKEs. The homes are built using lime, straw, stone, roundwood, clay, reed and turf.

This home from the collection was built by Cassie and Nigel. It's a straw bale roundhouse in Lammas ecoVillage in Pembrokeshire, Wales built for £9,000 ($14,000).
 

No.7 Living Off-Grid

With over 15,000 LIKEs this is the story about Jill, an inspirational woman living on her own, off-grid, an hour from the nearest shop.

Jill built her off-grid home in East Gippsland, Australia where she has lived alone for over 30 years entirely off-grid with no mains power, water, mobile reception or television.

Living on around $80 a week, Jill has over sixty animals to keep her company and an abundant garden that serves as an organic supermarket right outside her doorstep.
 

No.8 Roundhouse, France

Not including the land Matthew's straw bale roundhouse only cost 3,500 Euro to build. The article showing the step-by-step construction of the home brought over 15,000 LIKEs.

It's not the only roundhouse he's built. In 2015 he built another in Cornwall, England. Find out how his home was built here...
 

No.9 Spiral House, Japan

This is the Shantikuthi earthbag spiral house, a garden playroom at the Peace Permaculture Garden in Nagano, Japan. It was built by Michi-kun, a permaculturist and carpenter with twenty volunteers. The roof is arranged in a spiral where different plants are grown for visitors to harvest seeds to take to their own gardens.

You gave the earthbag spiral house 13,000+ LIKEs putting it in 9th place.
 

No.10 Tiny Cob Cottage, USA

Sky Meadow is a small, independent, family run retreat and organic homestead set in quiet woodland. This is their cob hobbit house which won 10th place with over 13,000 LIKEs. You can read more here and see other cob homes in the selection below.