Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.

...

In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves; that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day.

...from Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Common Sense was said to have inspired a turning point in American independence.  It is our hope that in some small way the ideas we share here will challenge the reader to consider everyday happenings in a different way – to ask questions, to take less for granted, and, like raindrops filling an ocean, bit by bit take us all closer to energy independence and sustainable lifestyles.

We built a new house in 2004/2005.  When we built, we didn't base our decisions on the latest trends, or what looked "cool" or what our former neighbors in suburbia would have said about the end result.  We built what made sense to us.  Strong, thick walls, to shelter us from the freezing cold and some of the strongest winds in the state.  Level floors and wide doors, so as we live and love and grow old together we can stay in our home even if we need a wheelchair or walker.  Natural flooring, like cork and bamboo, and wheatboard cabinets, to avoid outgassing from synthetic materials and "sick house syndrome".  Passive solar design and a masonry stove, to take advantage of our most abundant energy resource, sunlight.  All these things and much, much more became a part of our home. 

We read a lot and asked a lot of questions, but we never found one source that had everything we wanted - not even close.  Since what we were looking for didn't seem to exist, we started to build it ourselves.  At first the goal was to write a book (and we still may), but then we decided that a website would be more user friendly and easier to update as we learned more about our home and homesteading.  Thus began our online discussion of our environmentally friendly/energy efficient/accessible/new fangled/old fashioned home.

***************************************************************************************************************************

COME VISIT US ON OCTOBER 6TH!

Once again our home will be featured on the National Solar Tour.  Our home will be a part of the Wisconsin Public Service guided tour and we will be hosting an Open House from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  Paul Yeager of Cosmic Walker Cabinetry will be joining us for the day to answer all your green cabinetry questions.  We will also have a variety of heirloom tomatoes available for tasting from our garden.  Pick your favorite - try something new!

***************************************************************************************************************************

The site is divided into Building/Remodeling, Daily Living, Discussions, Reviews, References and About Us/Contact Us.

If you are considering building or remodeling that is most likely the link to click on.  Daily living contains information about homesteading, organic gardening and self sufficiency.  Discussions contains a wide variety of information and we hope at some point a home construction/remodeling discussion board.  Reviews is exactly that, either reviews of books or reviews that would not fit in the categories of other websites. 

Our goal is a single place to go to, to find a bulk of renewable, green and practical construction information.  These things made "common sense" to us, and hopefully they'll make sense to you, too, and maybe one day they'll be the default way to build/rebuild a home rather than the exception.  If your experience with a particular option has been very different from ours, let us know.  Our walls may be set in concrete, but other odds and ends are a "work in progress" and we learn a little something new every day.

Here are some of the topics covered on this site:

Building/Remodeling § Energy Efficiency § Renewable Energy § Green Design and Construction  § Accessibility/Universal Design§ Water Conservation

Self-Sufficiency §  Modern Homesteading § Sustainability § Organic Gardening and Orcharding § Heirloom Vegetables and Fruit § Soil Conservation

Slow Food USA/RAFT § Feng Shui § Homeschooling § Book and Product Reviews § References § Stone Soup

Page Hits: