by Suzann Thompson | Jan 6, 2014 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
With Mud Daubers Fred and Art working full-time on the east and north walls of our earthen home, they rose amazingly fast! Rachel and I helped at first, then left all the sifting and lifting, mixing and mudding to Fred, Art, and the rest of Callon’s crew. They...
by Suzann Thompson | Jan 5, 2014 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Once the rooms of our earthen house were defined by walls, I labeled the girls’ rooms, hoping to make more real to them the possibility of having their own spaces. Inspired by my work, Eva added her artistry to the master bedroom floor. There’s something...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 11, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Slabs are tricky. Because you don’t have the usual points of reference, it’s difficult to tell how big (or small) the rooms are. But by the time the daffodils peeked out of the ground at the end of January 2013, our builder Callon provided those points of...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 10, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
I love this picture of the library arch, shot from high up on a scaffold in January 2013. The frame for the bond beam was still in place over the arch, but our builder had already closed in the gable and part of the north and south walls. We were still working on the...
by Suzann Thompson | Dec 9, 2013 | Earthen House, Life, Retro Blog Post
Last year about this time, the extremely efficient, thorough, and excellent builder, Callon Ratliff, agreed to finish the inside of our earthen house. Before Callon could start installing windows and framing inside walls, my efficient, thorough, and excellent family...
