Some places you just never want to leave. Recently, I stayed at some friends’ getaway home in Hopland, California (Mendocino County). Sitting on 90 acres of vineyards, the compound includes a main house with a kitchen, living and dining areas, office loft and den/media room.

Four separate casitas, accessed by herb-lined gravel paths leading from the main house, provide amazing sleeping quarters and views of the surrounding hills.

Most fascinating, all of the buildings were constructed from rammed earth. This ancient building method using raw earth materials is perfectly suited for the site and area (Hopland is fast becoming the wine country’s hub for sustainable and organic farming techniques).

In Utah, architect Hank Louis and his team of U of U architecture graduate students used this construction method to build a home in Bluff, Utah for resident Rosie Joe and her family. Check it out.

Posted: Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
Categories: At Home, In the Garden, Travel.
Tags: Bluff Utah, Hank Lewis, Hopland, Napa, rammed earth construction.