Introducing… the Juniper House

The slideshow you’re about to see depicts the construction of the Juniper House from pouring the footers to flipping on the lights.  For those of you who have no prior knowledge of the Juniper House, it is a cedar round pole post and beam framed house with straw-bale insulated walls, natural plasters, and lots of other great features, and it is a new edition to the Ingram Ranch out on New Market, AL.  The pictures are fairly informative, but feel free to post any burgeoning questions about the building process.

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257 photographs — 13 minutes worth of slideshow!

When does a building actually become a built?

–Le Corbusier

On September 29th, the Juniper House passed its final inspection and received a real-life certificate of occupancy.  Justin Cook said it was the end of an era, and he is right.  The construction of that house became an all-pervading force in the lives of many people involved, myself thoroughly included.  Yet, like any house worth it’s terra firma, it is by no means finished.

After nearly two years of building work at the Ingram residence, I finally have something I can walk away from with my head held high.  Not only is there an astonishingly gorgeous house on that hillside, but there is a high density of newfound knowledge per square foot.  More friends than I can count on my fingers and toes have worked on that house and at times it felt more like a continuous party than a construction site.  There were also long periods of meditative work done alone with only the roaring sounds of the forest to accompany me.  Through it all, I have discovered just how dangerously intimate a builder can become with every little detail of the home he builds.  Like when you’re twenty feet up on a ladder cutting off the top of a post with a chainsaw or attempting to plaster in an acute corner behind a round post and a round beam.  These sort of details are the same ones that add both beautiful craftsmanship and higher cost to a design.  The Juniper house turned out to be full of tedious yet handsome touches.  From the custom coped tile and wood paneling against the contours of the round timbers to the plastered inside curves of the little niches speckled around the house.  The house also has a radiant heated floor and an incredibly small air conditioner that is disguised as an art deco piece hanging on the wall.  It will only be a matter of time before the landscaping outside has taken root and the house truly begins to become a living, breathing, harmonious part of the landscape.

If there were any lessons that need to be shared with potential strawbale/natural builders of the future, I will attempt to put it into a nutshell.  First thing, if one wishes to construct a natural house and keep the costs low, there are many things to know, such as: 1)design for expeditious construction with sparingly and functionally placed embellishment 2) find as many places in the construction process where you yourself can replace labor costs with your own sweat 3) recognize specifics where paying for quality components up front will save you money in the long run, and 4) recruit as many volunteers for the labor intensive aspects as you can muster. Another important take home lesson is not to be too hesitant to get a second opinion on important building decisions.  Let’s say something about your architectural rendering looks questionable, don’t just assume that an architect is omnipotent because he/she is an architect, find someone with a vast amount of experience pertaining to that detail and wring all the knowledge you can get out of them.  Make notes.  These small decisions add up to big expenses and a house that you want to last many generations.  Also, make yourself darn good and certain that you have a very robust design in your hands when it comes to important interface details, such as window and door flashing, plumbing and electric access, and any places where two different materials come together.  In my opinion, building an additional small detached room to house your mechanical components in is not a bad idea, both for your own health and well-being, and the feng-shui of the house.   Oh, and here’s another big one:  be assiduously critical of the base coat of a plastered wall.  The base coat is where the most important things must happen, such as building up the strength and stability for a plaster that lasts, making absolutely sure that there are no penetration routes for critters, and creating an easily plaster-able surface for the finish coat.  The difference in putting a finish plaster over a wonky, uneven base coat and a well-floated, flat surface can mean many days of extra trouble.  It is best to be critical from the beginning and enjoy it later.  All things considered, this blog is not the place to learn flashing details and plastering techniques, so before I get too carried away, let’s wrap this up.

As an effort to replace stupid pride with wholesome gratitude, I have a lot of people I want to thank for making this experience possible…  First and foremost, Daniel and Carol Ingram have been the most amazing people that anyone could hope to build for, what with their unending hospitality and generosity, their actual living wages, and their willingness to push on the accepted boundaries of the Madison County culture.  Carol, enjoy painting the walls and making that place shine with charm, and Daniel, don’t forget what Joel Salatin said about living out in the country, “You can be a nudist, and you can be a buddhist, but you can’t be a nudist buddhist!”  I salute you Doc.  All of the apprentices from the ecovillage training center who came to the site and put in their sweat, their time in the kitchen, and camped out in the yard: many hands made a delight of work.  To Carl, Dan, Cliff, Nathan, and Ron, and my cousin Colton who toughed out the cold cold winter chill when we were bustin’ our humps to get that roof up, three cheers.    To Pete, Byron, and Cody for staying on board long enough to make a very significant dent in the work load… Great big thank you… to Justin, John, and Jeremy for bringing in the gusto and getting the heavy lifting done when it was needed most.  And of course, Josh and Neil, the carpentry wizards and all around jacks of all trades, keep up the good work.  Scott, Dawn, Lisa, Darien, Katey, Eric, Krista, Ellie and Ellie’s dad, Kurt, Peewee… and so many others too numerous to name, thank you folks, it was a wild ride and I wouldn’t have had near as much fun doin’ it without you.  I would also like to thank the enchanted forest for providing so much for us, the sunset for being so dependable, the inspectors that proved more flexible than we expected, and most certainly, all of the musicians who unknowingly provided our soundtrack for countless hours of repetitive tasks.

I believe it was Goethe that said it truly with his quote, “Architecture is “frozen music”… Really there is something in this; the tone of mind produced by architecture approaches the effect of music.”  And with that I will say that as with many good buildings, you can’t just take my word for it, you must zoom out to New Market, Alabama and listen to this building ring.