What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
Charlie Laurel and Margaret Spilker's Cinder Hills Earthship has set the standard for green building in Northern Arizona for the past eight years. It is the most energy efficient and materials efficient home in the region. The systems include solar electric power, solar hot water, indoor greywater filtration jungleî planters, roof rainwater harvesting, high thermal mass passive solar heating and earth-bermed cooling. It is truly amazing how this house stays comfortable year around without any mechanical or fossil fuel inputs. Early summer can get quite hot, sometimes over 100 degrees, but inside it stays around 76 degrees. In the winter we can get a few days close to zero, but even on those cold pre-dawn mornings the house doesnít dip below 60 degrees, then as soon as the sun pops up you can take off your sweater. We have a small wood stove that we toss a few scraps of wood into now and then during December and January. Finally,curved spaces must be healthier to live in than square spaces. How can we learn to "think outside the box" while living in boxes? Living in an Earthship, one feels embraced by the earth and yet the space is still light and airy. At night you can turn off the power so the house is electromagnetically silent (except when the fridge cycles on or you turn on a light). The house and surrounds are very quiet. It is a wonderfully healing environment, conducive for creative endeavors (for those who enjoy semi-desert living).Property Description
Charlie Laurel and Margaret Spilker's Cinder Hills Earthship is an earthy work of art built with mostly local, natural, and recycled materials. Graceful curved adobe walls, creative stone and tile work, and hand made solid (recycled) wood cabinets compliment the greenery of the indoor garden planters planters. The east side covered garden patio is a great place to hang out on summer evenings to watch the lightning shows with nary a mosquito about. The 20 acres also has a large tool shed, a unique can-dome straw bale outbuilding, and a fenced garden area. And the site comes with a Permaculture Master Plan that may help to continue the site's journey toward sustainable living. Itís also worth mentioning that Charlie Laurel is a licensed General Contractor. The building quality is excellent. The house is fully permitted and code compliant. We use a composting toilet system, but the house is plumbed for flushing if someone wants to install a septic system.
Neighborhood Description
The Cinder Hills Earthship blends into 20 acres of peaceful juniper grassland, 25 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona with broad mountain and desert views. Undeveloped State Trust land borders us on the West. The private lands East and South are also vacant of human structures. The northern property line skirts across a 400 ft. tall volcanic cinder cone (long extinct!) The air is clean; the night sky is spectacular. At 5650 ft. elevation we get less snow than does Flagstaff, so we get the beauty of light snows, but rarely the inconvenience of heavy snows. The two miles of dirt roads donít get muddy (volcanic soils with no clay); two wheel drive passenger cars do just fine. Our nearest neighbors live a quarter mile to the East and they are nice folks. There's quite a mix of people out here--some are gardeners, some are hunters, some are both. There's a certain off-the-grid commradary that unites us all, although some folks just want to be left alone. Some folks like getting together for cook outs and pot lucks and music making and these people are easy to meet. We see a lot of wildlife Antelope, coyotes, birds of all sorts, snakes, rabbits, and an occasional porcupine. Itís open range, so if you donít want cattle wandering through during certain times of the year youíll want to put up a fence.Market Area
Flagstaff, Arizona is a great town--small enough to feel a part of yet big enough to stay interesting. Northern Arizona University is a dynamic part of the community and Coconino Community College has a great program of sustainable building classes and specialties. Lots of varied outdoor activities and a hoppin' night life, contra dancing, etc. Lots of holistic healing practitioners, spiritual groups, churches, political action (left and right).Location of Home or Land
Rural
Elevation of Home
Mountain
Air Quality
| Agriculture in Area | no |
| Industry in Area | no |
| Air Pollution in Area | no |
| Pesticide Free | yes |
| Fragrance Free | no |
| 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 | Photovoltaic (PV) |
| Water System | Rain Water Collection |
| Wastewater System | Composting Toilet |
Construction Information
| Exterior Finish | Stucco |
| Interior Finish | Earthen Plaster |
| Interior Paint | Low VOC |
| Floor Material | Other |
| Roof Material | Metal |
| Window Material | Metal Dual Glazed |
| Insulation Material | Fiberglass |
Garage / Car Port
| Garage / Carport | no |
| Garage Type | |
| Number of Cars | 1 |
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