An innovative timber-frame, straw-bale house rises

SHARON — Jane Strong and John Brett have nearly completed the first timber frame-house built with straw-bale panel siding in the United States. They started the project, on property they own on Drum Road, last winter. They are almost completely done, with a certificate of occupancy expected by the end of the week of Nov. 21.

In 2006, a timber-frame home in Vermont caught Strong’s attention, and she began to wonder how they were built.  

After researching online, she found plenty of information — and a school called Heartwood in Washington, Mass., where she could learn how to build one.

Strong and her son, Heilyn Jordan, enrolled.  After spending four days at the school building a 16-by-22-foot frame, the class loaded it on a truck and drove it to Salisbury, where it was raised at someone’s family camp on Mount Riga.

When Strong returned home, she knew that this was the way she wanted to build her next home.  She told her friend (and now her partner in life) Brett about this, and shared with him her newfound understanding about living more in harmony with nature as well as living more efficiently. They began looking in the Northwest Corner for a piece of land that had woodland, pasture and water.  

Brett, who has a background in finance, saw it as both a good long-term investment and to be a good steward of the land. 

The two began looking in 2007 and before long found just the place, on Drum Road, near Mudge Pond.

 Strong came up with the idea of building a timber frame home that would use straw bales for insulation.  It’s a technique that is used in the southwest; it’s less popular in the Northeast because of the amount of rainfall.  

Again, she looked online and learned that this is certainly possible if the builder “details” for New England weather.  

Strong returned to Heartwood, hoping to learn more. But the plan solidified when a friend told her about someone, named Milan Markovic, who had built a straw-bale house in Lanesboro, Mass.  

Brett and Strong took a trip to Lanesboro and were impressed by the difference that the thick walls and plaster interior made to the sense of quiet inside and to the quality of the air. They were convinced. They decided they were willing to face the reality of the labor-intensive process that’s entailed in straw-bale construction.

Markovic signed on as the project manager. Strong began to design the frame with Brendan Matthews of The Barn Raisers in East Haddam, Conn., and she started looking for straw in the area. 

Sometime during the process she received an e-mail from a friend in Sharon who works with organic materials, suggesting that she look into straw-bale panels.  Markovic and Matthews approved, and the project began to gain momentum. 

The panels turned out to be a great idea. They act like structural insulating panels so the house gets the benefit of a high R-factor, but without using toxic or non-green materials.  

When the panels arrived, general contractor Ian Hochstetter and his crew, along with a special  timber-frame crew, got the panels up in a single day.

The house is oriented toward the solar south. The oversized roof is covered with solar panels that power the entire house and the adjacent barn.  

Evacuated hot water solar tubes are used to heat the water.

The appliances and some of the fixtures and cabinets were bought from Green Demolitions in Fairfield, N.J., which purchases them from estate sales and resells them. The company donates a portion of the proceeds to help support an addiction treatment center nearby.

Brett and Strong believe that every choice they made has made a difference.  The path they took was not a traditional one, but  they believe it’s important for people to know that it’s possible, and that if it matters to you, you can do it. 

Strong warned that it takes a lot of homework and that there is a big learning curve for builders and subcontractors. It requires  that they break out of their comfort zone professionally and try new techniques and materials. 

The project definitely had some pretty good “discussions” along the way, but Strong believed that everyone involved understood the spirit of what the two were trying to do with the house. They listened to and respected their input.

Brett and Strong weren’t always sure they were going to get there, but they did. They will move in at the end of this week if all goes well. And they have entered the house in the CT-Zero Energy Challenge.