The Ranch House

We will break ground next spring (May 2025) on the Ranch House.  It will be a one story version of the picture we have on the site.  This is actually the Sanford Winery tasting room in Lompoc CA.  The reason I have this picture is because ours will look very similar.  15 foot ceilings with the overhangs to allow for outdoor seating out of the strong sun.  The other reason for this image is that this structure is built with Compressed Earth Bricks (CEB) which is the same material we will use for our house.  CEB is a technique where you use your own clay and sand to create bricks using a hydraulic press.  It is very eco friendly and all natural.  We will use no synthetic materials in our build.  The other benefit of this type of construction is that is it fire proof and very energy efficient.  We are told we will not need air conditioning nor a force air heating system.  We will have a back up heating system, likely geothermal.  

We will not have a traditional septic system.  Instead we will use composting toilets for our solid waste and reuse all water from showers, dishwashing, and laundry to water our flower beds around the house and for our gardens and green house.  

The lumber for the house will primarily come from our own property.  We will mill the lumber ourselves and make our mantelpieces and trip and shelving units from our own deadfall trees.  

When we finish with our design and architectural drawings, we will post them for you to look at.  Keep coming back for updates!