This year they will begin to build a larger house of straw bales and cob on the site. The house is simply very comfortable, both in mood and materials. Maintenance is minimal and inexpensive.

The couple made an off-the-grid house using straw bales covered in cob on a 34×17-foot concrete slab. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, straw, and water, and it's fireproof. The house features ...

The team also considered straw-bale building, but that wasn't feasible. One of the contractors, Gene Power, deserves the credit for suggesting cob in the first place. The Globe and Mail noted that ...