Not too long ago we
were watching PBS (it happens) and saw a short segment on a group
here in California building structures out of EARTH (don't call it
“dirt”). They had gracefully curved buildings that would remind a
person of a hobbit home. Cozy.
But other than
being intriguing I didn't learn too much, other than the name of the
organization being shown was “Cal-Earth”. And that's where things
stayed until the concept came up in a recent conversation. That sent
me to the Internet and a bit more was learned. In particular that
their facility was just over in Hesperia and that they had free tours
for the public every first Saturday of the month (well, except
August, but who would want to be in Hesperia in August?).
So as a New Year's
field trip we headed over to Hesperia. If you have a GPS, the address
will get you there, you just have to drive out onto a dirt road for a
couple hundred feet. The first surprise was how many people were
showing up to take the tour. There were a lot of cars with two or
three people per car. Some people even brought their kids.
The gates opened at
10 AM and they funneled us through a “gift shop” to sign the
guest book then let us wander the grounds looking over the
structures. They did start a guided tour through the facility a
little later but the crowd was so large we continued to just wander
about on our own.
Many of the
buildings were small and were probably just proof of concept
structures. Though there was one house there that people did live in.
There were a few more that were sufficiently developed to have
electricity and water. Other structures were large open spaces that
could (and obviously had) serve as rooms to have meetings and other
functions.
Cal-Earth primarily
operates as an educational facility. So there were several structures
that were in various states of construction. It is possible to sign
up for courses that run from one to twelve weeks (they do charge
tuition) to learn how to build structures made of earth. Some people
want to learn so they can build structures for themselves while
others and wanting to be able to help build inexpensive structure in
other parts of the world.
In addition to
large structures they have several garden beds and seating areas made
with the same techniques. And I'm serious thinking about learning how
to do it so I can add one of those seating areas to my back yard.
Cal-Earth is
located at 10177 Baldy Lane, Hesperia. Tours are the first Saturday
of each month (except August) at 10 AM. Their website is at
http://calearth.org/ .
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