We Built Our Texas Home Out of Sand and Straw-and We Rarely Need AC

Key Points:

• Arielle Crawford, previously focused on sustainability and holistic living, shifted her attention to natural construction during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading her to move to Texas and co-found Texas Cob with Simon Gonzalez, a former conventional builder turned natural building advocate.
• Texas Cob specializes in designing and constructing homes using traditional, nontoxic materials like adobe, lime plaster, limewash, and cob—a mixture of clay, sand, straw, and water—promoting healthier, eco-friendly living environments.
• The couple built their own 500-square-foot cob home on a 5-acre plot in Kingsbury, TX, overcoming challenges such as extensive land cleanup and navigating building codes, with the project costing $160,000 primarily in labor and offering superior energy efficiency with thick earthen walls.
• Their home features unique rounded interiors with fluted ceilings and custom furnishings, creating a calming atmosphere that defies common misconceptions about natural homes looking like "hobbit houses"; the couple also offers cob-building courses to educate others.
• For those hesitant to fully commit to cob construction, Crawford recommends lime plaster or limewash finishes as accessible, breathable, and mold-resistant alternatives to conventional paints, highlighting the long history and nostalgic feel of earthen homes.