Speed Restrictions on Housing

Exit door of “Pipe Dreams” at Elefante, handcrafted home structures

I wish that I could claim that I thought of Slow Home first, what can I say?  I didn’t, but when I ran across the idea, I was like, “Well, yeeah.”  As a residential designer, who secretly (guess it’s no secret now) wants to design & build treehouses and garden rooms, I hope the Slow Home movement sweeps the nation.  I hope it brings a new era of building or deconstructing that encompasses environmental restorative design, reconnecting humans and nature, and is a celebration of the human spirit possessing both anima and animus traits.  That is all.

The 10 Steps to a Slow Home 

1. GO INDEPENDENT

Avoid homes by big developers and large production builders. They are designed for profit not people. Work with independent designers and building contractors instead.

2. GO LOCAL

Avoid home finishing products from big box retailers. The standardized solutions they provide cannot fit the unique conditions of your home. Use local retailers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to get a locally appropriate response and support your community.

3. GO GREEN

Stop the conversion of nature into sprawl. Don’t buy in a new suburb. The environmental cost can no longer be justified. Re-invest in existing communities and use sustainable materials and technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.

4. GO NEAR

Reduce your commute. Driving is a waste of time and the new roads and services required to support low density development is a big contributor to climate change. Live close to where you work and play.

5. GO SMALL

Avoid the real estate game of bigger is always better. A properly designed smaller home can feel larger AND work better than a poorly designed big one. Spend your money on quality instead of quantity.

6. GO OPEN

Stop living in houses filled with little rooms. They are dark, inefficient, and don’t fit the complexity of our daily lives. Live in a flexible and adaptive open plan living space with great light and a connection to outdoors.

7. GO SIMPLE

Don’t buy a home that has space you won’t use and things you don’t need. Good design can reduce the clutter and confusion in your life. Create a home that fits the way you really want to live.

8. GO MODERN

Avoid fake materials and the re-creation of false historical styles. They are like advertising images and have little real depth. Create a home in which character comes from the quality of space, natural light and the careful use of good, sustainable materials.

9. GO HEALTHY

Avoid living in a public health concern. Houses built with cheap materials off gas noxious chemicals. Suburbs promote obesity because driving is the only option. Use natural, healthy home materials and building techniques. Live where you can walk to shop, school and work.

10. GO FOR IT

Stop procrastinating. The most important, and difficult, step in the slow home process is the first one that you take. Get informed and then get involved with your home. Every change, no matter how small, is important.    

Filed under: Architecture, Embodied Energy, Environment, House Studies, Peak Oil, Relocalization, Sustainability, The Garden

Ah, the Emerald Coast

I just couldn’t help myself.  I saw this article and I was hysterical.  I was instantly inspired to write about it.  Upon further reflection, I thought JHK would do it better justice.  I ripped off an e-mail to JHK and was delighted this morning to see a reply.  Not that I didn’t think he read his e-mail, but I certainly had the impression he had quite a bit of it to wade through.  Because I read JHK every day, hope to see him in person at some point in my life and love his satirical, punchy and descriptive prose, I had to post our short correspondence…for the archives.

Dear Jim,
I am an avid reader of Cluster*uck Nation and thought you’d be interested in this article.  Well, not really interested, or surprised really, it’s just another absurdity of our times.  “Realtors Pray for Better Times” http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725, just a few short miles from Seaside, FL.  Huh??  I guess they haven’t read The Long Emergency or don’t connect the real estate bust with maybe someone upstairs is trying to tell us something.  Maybe instead of praying for a resurgance of house sales and well, let’s face it, more destruction of the planet, they should be praying for another way to feed themselves.  Hey, I’m in this growth industry as well and you better believe I’m working on some other skills to survive the long emergency.  The world and especially the Emerald Coast has too many realtors and designers (myself included) as it is.  The lull in the housing market isn’t hurting my feelings, Im spending more time in the garden and getting acquanted with my neighbors both human and otherwise.  When will these people get a clue and how can that preacher seriously lead a prayer asking God to allow these realtors to continue their profession by exploiting this planet some more.  It’s simply mind boggling.  Ta-ta and I hope you get to Seaside some day again soon.  I’ll be there!

His reply:

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/6725

Hey, thanks for this.  I just posted it on “The Daily Grunt” http://www.kunstler.com/ That part of Florida has just exploded beyond all limits. Seaside and Rosemary Beach were great things.  But all the wannabes and copycats maye have come to the party too late.I hope they don’t get whacked by storms on top of this.

Jim
“It’s All Good”
(“Va Tutto Bene“)

Fun stuff.

Filed under: Architecture, Collusive Insanity, Economics, Environment, Peak Oil, Relocalization, South Walton, Sustainability

Potluck

 

Events, daily happenings and course work  have spurred the blogging hiatus, which I’m briefly interrupting.

The graduation of the child and reuniting of all the various step, grand and parental “units” (as my sister likes to call the respective mother / father and their marital partner) went without a hitch.  Well, except the little one involving me making party arrangements at the wrong clubhouse.

Anyhow, there were other graduations to attend as well as a wedding, papers to write, books to read and projects to complete (still completing).

Among the projects is a Neighborhood Cooperative I’m constructing, loosely following a business plan model, with the intent of reuniting humans with nature and their communal roots.

The Blue Bag program is finally under way and there are talks of a CSA or community garden or farmers market???  I say “or” because it’s in the works and the specifics haven’t been revealed yet.

The Green Meets is attracting the attention of a sponsor, no specifics on this development yet either.

Today marked a culmination of these small events that represent a growing body of local, powerful, eco-conscious minded individuals.  The fringes of South Walton County are starting to infiltrate and with some hope and momentum this small corner of the coast may just prove itself in the green department.

Today a group of 14 of us came together for a potluck luncheon featuring local and regional foods.  The tables were set outside in the southern heat, under a canopy of pines, bound together with prayer flags.  The tables were covered with Sari’s and adorned with pickle jars filled with magnolias, produce props and beautifully mix-matched napkins, chairs, plates and glasses.  The representation of food was incredible: Gulf shrimp & fish ceviche, venison burgers, inkberry tea, blueberry-peach chutney over Mahi Mahi, watermelon water, spinach & duck egg quiche, pepper jelly, lima beans, pasta w/ local veggies, peach & basil tea, black bean & soy bean salsas, lemon balm & kaffir lime tea, zucchini bread,and cantelope & cucumber salad.  There were other samplings, though these were the staples.  Great food, great conversation with the majority of food coming from local gardens, farms, the Gulf, Alabama and Georgia.

 

Filed under: Environment, Peak Oil, Recycling, Relocalization, South Walton, Sustainability, The Garden