“This farmhouse in Avalanche, Wisconsin, was built almost entirely from trees taken from within 500 yards of the house.
The house features a slab on grade foundation with in-floor heating tubes to take advantage of the solar gain in the winter from its large southern exposure.
The envelope is straw bale, but the structure is entirely “whole tree” with branching columns supporting it and framed with round wood poles under the second floor and roof.
The attached solar greenhouse on the south side of the house adds heat in the winter and serves as a gray water recycling system to treat water from the kitchen and shower.
The trees for this structure were skidded out with the farm draft horse…”
