Alternative Building Methods (Boise, Kamiah, Hope: houses, construction, school)

[free-man22]

How flexible are local building codes/enforcers on allowing alternative construction for homes? Have you built a cordwood, cob, stackbale, or earthship style home without too much difficulty?

I am looking for a small (5-10) acre parcel in a rural area to build an off-grid, cordwood home. I currently live in Upstate NY and there are homes in the Adirondack Mountain area that are made from cordwood masonry (like a stone wall but using cordwood instead of rocks).

I have a few books and plan to attend a seminar at the Earthwood School on how to build the houses but all reading material suggest looking to local code enforcement for guidance before going to an architect.

The areas where I am looking to relocate are either Wyoming, the Wind River area or Buffalo; or the area between Boise and Kamiah, Idaho. (Other recommendations would be appreciated, good fishing/hunting is a must)

[millagerobert]

If you are wanting no building codes, then here in Idaho county is where you want to move. You will still have to meet the electrical standards and health for your septic, but you can build your home out of pretty much whatever you want as long as you are not in a subdivision with its own set of regs. You will be looking at from 40,000 to 100,000 for a 5 to 10 acre parcel, price will depend on location, view, etc....

Check with the Idaho county website, there are links to it on my site.

Hope this helps,

Robert Millage

[free-man22]

Thanks Robert, that does help. I'm taking a long look at Idaho county, seems to have all the criteria I am looking for.

[ksbrandon]

I am not sure that I am ready to build a cob home, but I do want to work on smaller projects to get a feel for the durability of cob. Hopefully this summer I can build a cob oven. Hosting outdoor pizza parties should be fun, and the cost of the project is pretty minimal. Here is an article I found about building a cob oven.