Here’s an interesting house inspired by a book at DVD set, The $50 and up Underground House, by Mike Oehler. It’s a cob, log, and mostly natural material house being built by Glenn and Kathy Kangiser in central California. You can follow the construction process on this online forum.

The most interesting part of the project to me is the unusual building technique. Unlike a portable tiny house this is a very permanent green building, built right into the land. Underground houses have a lot of advantages, thermal mass being the most obvious, but they also raise a lot of questions and issues, like water infiltration, insect infestations, and code compliance. Using cob and timber below grade seem to invite more trouble which makes this project even more interesting. How in the world are they going to account for all these issues? Anyway I thought I’d share this recent finding in case anyone thought it was worth investigation as I did. Photo credit Glenn and Kathy Kangiser.

Ross Chapin Architects has been designing scaled and richly detailed buildings and gardens since 1982. They focus on custom residential design and neighborhood development. But they also sell plans for tiny and small houses through their GoodFit house plans division.

Pictured here is one of the more recent designs available on their website. This little house is called the Lizzie Cottage and it’s 540 square feet. The plans cost about $950 and include the following: foundation plan, floor plans, framing plans, sections, building systems, elevations, electrical plans, details, specifications, and window and door schedules. Buying a set of plans buys you a license to build it once. The cottage plans range from about 300 to 1300 square feet.