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I did not build this, and it doesn't meet all your design criteria, but it's very interesting... A couple of months ago, I visited a friend and her fiance at t
by beat 8y ago
I did not build this, and it doesn't meet all your design criteria, but it's very interesting...
A couple of months ago, I visited a friend and her fiance at their home in the Colorado Rockies - way up in the mountains, not down on the front range. The architecture was very interesting, straightforward, and inexpensive. They simply cut a house-sized trench into the side of a mountain (about a 45 degree slope there), put a prefab quonset hut in the trench, and covered it with dirt/rocks. Then a poured concrete floor, and concrete-lined walls, and a brick facade with big airy windows. The interior was given a half-second story, and some rooms in the back.
Effectively, it's a cross between an A-frame cabin and a hobbit hole.
On the minus side, the back bedrooms have no windows/exits, and thus are not up to code as bedrooms. On the plus side, it's basically fireproof anyway (I'm sure it would survive even a forest fire). The other minus - or plus, depending - is that it's technically off grid, getting power from a generator and solar panels, and the only connectivity is satellite internet. This wouldn't be an issue in a more residential area.
Personally, I love this house. It's cozy, practically disappears into the gorgeous scenery, and was not difficult or expensive to build, even in the quite rugged terrain (almost a mile up a steep, switchbacked dirt road).
- alphabettsy 8y agoSounds cool, but the fire concern is very real and not so much flames as it is being unable to escape the smoke.
- beat 8y agoTrue. But like I said, there's not a lot to burn... just furniture and the kitchen cabinets. Everything else is concrete and metal. Of course, if there's a forest fire, you don't want to be on the mountain regardless.
- saltcured 8y agoPeople die in places like what you have described, and that's why there are codes against it. A bed or sofa on fire is enough to turn that place into a combination gas chamber and oven. Rooms need more than one egress for redundancy, since fire and smoke in another room may block your normal transit.
- i80and 8y agoModern furniture creates extremely toxic and hot fires. That's a pretty serious risk.
- TYPE_FASTER 8y agoOur neighbors growing up had a house built into the side of a hill like that. It is warmer in the winter, and cooler in the summer. It really seemed to work well, if you don't mind part of the house not getting light. They put a ton of windows/skylights in the front to mitigate that.