What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
The house structure is supremely strong as it's built with deeply embedded stone and all framed using re bar and poured concrete. Yet it is interleaved with 15" adobe walls making it extremely energy efficient. It maintains constant indoor temperatures and even during the hottest weather the inside feels air cooled. Built on a hillside it captures breezes. The bathroom is compost and there are two water systems with one for human use which is cleaned and recycled for agriculture with about a kilometer of irrigation pipe. There are 2120 watts of solar panels. There is an outside bathroom also compost which uses solar hot water and an inside bathroom which is hybrid with an on-demand gas water heater. With a commercial kitchen the house was designed to support large group gatherings though not for overnight stayProperty Description
This adobe house is part of what was operated as an organic vegetable ranch. In addition to the house there are two other adobe cabins - one of which is used for guests. The other is for the solar system and storage. There is a palapa which was an outdoor kitchen but is now used as a garden work space. There is also a bath house with a missing palapa roof but still used. There are no utility costs. But the site required I put something so I put the price of a bank of batteries amortized for 5 years which is the useful life for the cheap solar batteries that I purchase here.Neighborhood Description
This is the last property to the northeast of the village of Lachigoló and perched high on the hillside. The property backs into mountains with the nearest village in the back inaccessible and 20 kilometers away. There is one neighbor who owns a chain of optical shops and she simply uses her house as a weekend getaway. The next nearest neighbor is more than a mile away. The main highway to Oaxaca City is about 2 kilometers from the house on a poorly maintained dirt road.Market Area
The nearest village is San Francisco Lachigoló at about 4 kilometers from the house. The best nearby market and restaurant is in the tourist town of Santa María del Tule (famous for the 2000 year old tree) at about 6 kilometers. The large tourist city of Oaxaca is about 35 minutes by car. In the other direction is the city of Tlacolula which is famous for it's Sunday farmers market.School District
If you have kids you should home school them or take them to one of the private schools in Oaxaca City. There are a couple of good ones.Community
Lachigoló is a mixed residential/agricultural community. It's probably now considered a residential gateway to Oaxaca City. It, however, pertains to the still mixed Zapotec indigenous city of Tlacolula and most towns to the south still maintain a strong Zapotec heritage. But Lachigoló now consists mostly of local Mexican town and city workers with a couple of expats here and there and a few still working farms. The large expat areas of Oaxaca are in the northern Etla valley far from here.Location of Home or Land
Rural
Elevation of Home
Mountain
Air Quality
Agriculture in Area | yes |
Industry in Area | no |
Air Pollution in Area | no |
Pesticide Free | yes |
Fragrance Free | yes |
Cleaned with Green Products | yes |
Interior Environment
Heating System | Solar - Passive |
Cooling System | Passive Cooling |
Ventilation System | Other |
Whole House Filtration | None |
Whole House Vacuum | no |
Energy & Water
Energy System | Solar - Photovoltaic |
Water System | Well Rain Water Collection Other |
Wastewater System | Composting Toilet Other |
Construction Information
Construction Type | Adobe |
Exterior Finish | Stucco Other |
Interior Finish | Earthen Plaster Other |
Interior Paint | Other |
Floor Material | Tile |
Roof Material | Other |
Window Material | Metal Single Glazed |
Insulation Material | Other |
Garage / Car Port
Garage / Carport | no |
Garage Type | attached |
Number of Cars | 1 |