150 years ago people did it on the middle western plains, in the forests of the Oregon territory, and elsewhere in the THEN wonderful USA.  They built their homes out of sod, timber, bricks, even straw bales.

Fast forward to 21st Centrury America--housing is a nightmare of regulations, high priced materials, impossible building standards, and vastly inflated prices.  You sign your life away when you get (if you qualify) a 30 year mortgage, paying possibly up to 3 times the original purchase price in bank interest, taxes, and minimal improvements/maintenance.

No wonder people with any common sense want to skeedaddle out of the USA, for these reasons alone.  And no wonder so many are homeless, or threatened with being so.

When I tried to build my strawbale house in Washington state in 1995, I naively thought I could convince everyone it made sense.

But just as I would advise you to have an escape option from the U.S. today in the form of foreign real estate, I had a lease lot in a resort in Baja Mexico.  And they were starting to embrace strawbale building as eminently sensible in many ways--SO MANY ways that 100 plus such dwellings exist there today, from modest to luxury.

I got started with a foundation and storage building three months on my 80x80 lot after flopping in Washington.  The lot cost $1800 with septic in, the foundation was $1500, the storage building about $500.  There the project stood for three years while I tried to jump start my life again. 

After I remarried I put $6000 together and that was enough to hire a local Mexican contractor to raise walls, stucco the inside and outside, and instlall window and door frames. I was less than $10,000 into the project and was at roof level (see pix)!!

And it WASN't so complicated, though challenging in parts.  The plumbing was the biggest headache and I'm still without enough pressure for the toilet, or dependable hot water.  Sealing the entire house from dust, rodents, snakes and ants has been tricky, but they are mostly at bay now. 

Just building this house when you still spend 90% of your time stateside has been taxing and  frustrating, but what can I say--it's now basically done, and impressive with just a few rough edges.  My cost annually: $450 for dues to the resort!  That's it.

I never thought I'd ever have to keep up with the Joneses in Mexico, but the downside of this project is that the resort has almost been TOO successful, and salespeople are selling lots and houses to disenchanted Americans (and snowbiridng Canadians) at a brisk pace. Prices have doubled, easily. 

The sales guys cruise by my neighborhood regularly.  San Felipe may one day have the feel of Cabo North.

Building a house in fits and starts is messy (had a had the $$ I wouldn't have). It has been a challenging to keep the exterior, and grounds, attractive even though it has been an ongoing Construction Site.

There is a definite possibility I will be able to get clear title in the near future as the laws are changing.  (Right now I have a renewable 60 year lease).  Century 21 and Remax have offices here and, unless the Mexican government shoots itself in the foot, us "prosperous" gringos are here to stay.

I just can't wait to start living here at least a few months out of the year.

It all began about ten years ago -- though I’d once been to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez in my first marriage, it was only in late 1989 or 1990 that I bit on a invitation from an outfit called El Dorado Ranch Estates to get a “free” lot in a soon to be spectacular seaside resort just north of town.

I said, what the heck, for only $28 a year I could get the “free” lot plus a membership that entitled me to the amenities at a soon-to-be-built swimming pool, cantina, stables, on site campground, etc.  If the lot actually existed, and was buildable, well, at the age of 43, it was more than I owned at the time, having recently gone through a divorce.

Ten years later I have to tell you I may have lucked into the deal of a lifetime -- and those deals don’t come along very often.  I’ve owned real estate since, and presently live in a very amiable part of the California right now, but if you’re nearing retirement age and love the idea of residing inexpensively and well -- at least part-time -- in coastal Mexico,  read further.

El Dorado Ranch Estates did, as promised, build a pretty spectacular resort (and is still abuilding, with a hotel planned).  The “free” lots were there, but as you may have guessed they were pretty UNspectacular -- ten miles from the main highway off a dirt road, totally impractical for all but the kinds of folks enamored of a “Survivor” type lifestyle. 

BUT I, among a few hundred others, eventually “traded up” to some lots, at $425 a year and $1500 initial price, which were close to the resort (and town), and which eventually had a paved road to them, with a water view.  And it was on these lots where many of us over the years began our casas--out of block, brick, wood or stone; from as lowly a start as a trailer on a pad. 

And then there were those folks, I among them, who around 1996 or so heard about the burgeoning interest in Straw Bale Construction at El Dorado Ranch Estates.

Part Two - Written some time earlier than above
The road that led to El Dorado is described in some detail in my book, People's Guide to Basic Solar Power, available at powerfromsun.com  I first became acquainted with strawbale  in Washington state, where I planned a home for my then wife

Nearly out of money after the fiasco in Washington state, I still was able to get plans approved for about 900 sq. ft. at El Dorado, and put in a foundation and 10x12 storage building.

My marriage collapsed over the failure in Washington state, and over the next two years or so I could do little more, but it was a start.  I could still visit, camp on the land, and use the resort.  Which I did, maybe a dozen times.  When I met Eleanor I wooed her partly on the promise of a regular Mexican vacation--fortunately she loved the place, at least for a week or so at a time.  I hired local contractors -- sometimes on an hourly basis, sometimes on a job basis, to keep the house project moving.  But it was hard doing this from the states, for a variety of reasons.

Why Strawbale?  Even for those who have heard of it, this is a very misunderstood technique.  As in the Three Little Pigs story, a house CAN be made out of straw--but as in the story, it’s the first to be blown down by the Big Bad Wolf.  NOT strawbale, however.  Basically, the walls of the house are made of stacked  2’x3’ rectangular thick tightly wound bales.  Each weigh 50 to 80 pounds or so, so no wind--even a hurricane--is going to move them very far.  They are stacked on a wide concrete foundation, pinned together (with rebar), further stabilized by chicken wire, and heavily stuccoed over.  The finished wall looks much like the walls of an adobe house.

Walls go up so fast using this method that whole houses have gone up from foundation to roof level in a day with a few workers toiling away in a cooperative manner.  This was how I PLANNED to do my house in Washington state.

You can imagine that a straw bale doesn’t cost very much considering how large a building block it is (mine were about $3.50 each).  Insulation value is R50-60, excellent for places with extremes in temperatures.

Baja can get into the 100’s in the summer.   As long as cool air can be brought into the building at night, it is likely to stay relatively cool during the day.   This, however, is something you have to experiment with.  My not quite completed house has a basement from which I plan to draw cool air--Baja nights don’t always cool down. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t run air conditioning --my community is not electrically powered and my planned for solar electric system doesn’t have the capacity to do more than run lights, pumps, electronics and possibly a very small refrigerator.

Building this house has been a great adventure.  Whenever I go down I try to work on it, and I know a Mexican family that has helped out steadily under my supervision.  Many have hired contractors to just get a house up in a couple months or less--I couldn’t afford to to that.  If I spend $25,000 on the entire house, well, I’m going to have a rustic but very comfortable getaway.  Comparable homes are costing maybe $50,000 to $75,000 at present. Some luxury, two-story strawbale houses have even been built, and they are in the $100,000-$150,000 range. 

I once had the dream to live in the Baja during the mild months, maybe even seven or eight months out of the year. I don’t think that will happen anymore, but I do feel a couple weeks two to three times a year, and maybe a month at a time every so often, is possible.  I see the place as somewhere I can go if I can no longer afford to live in the U.S., and/or want to be away from various pressures and threats.  I would certainly consider living here as my primary residence if and when my life changes after I truly become a senior citizen.  There is excellent dental care locally, and a responsive medical community targeted to the aged--in fact, a hospital and clinics are being built just for us gringos. Hopefully, the management at El Dorado won’t change radically, and the land, under a bank trust called a fidiecomiso (and with title insurance now available) will legally stay mine for the 60 years promised (and beyond).

Over the years I’ve tried to lure people down here to see for themselves.  It’s usually a waste of time.  Then again, there was the couple who came--the husband needed dental work ($10,000 estimate in the states) which he got locally for $2000.  He was delighted, and fell instantly in love with the area. When my sons were teenagers they loved to come down to party--at our expense--but most adults have irrational fears of Mexicans, the border, a foreign language, the water, etc.  Believe me, most are simply unfounded. 

For a couple of years  I ran one week informal tours down here for people just interested in getting the lay of the land and having some fun.  Everyone loved them and they were cheap, around $100 a person with accommodations(!) I could possibly be enticed to do them again if you have a ready-made group that is looking for an adventure --testimonials on file. (A Boy Scout group once arranged to do this). Contact me at seavey@powerfromsun.com or (805) 924-1719.

But don’t bother to call me to ask a lot of detailed questions, please.  The proof is in the pudding.  I’m not trying to sell anything.  I just get satisfaction showing people around, and sipping margaritas together in the hot tub or at the cantina...