Beth & Bill's Straw Bale Addition

Project Details

The back, garden-facing straw bale addition to the house - soft and flowing, into the regenerative garden.

Kitchen as the heart of the home - views towards the main entrance and recycled steel staircase.

The main entrance into the kitchen and recycled steel staircase leading to the bedrooms.

The new Kitchen and family dining table.

The depth - physical and psychic - of the straw bale walls, with the texture of the ceiling rafters, and the bay window, reaching out to the garden and light.

Stair railing flowing down, from salvaged steel, made by Pat at Salvaging Creativity.

The stair railing, from salvaged steel, by Salvaging Creativity.

The Gallery, the luminous, lofty counterpoint to the materiality and intimacy of the rest of the home.

Front gallery with views to the addition.

The opened-up front Gallery, with a passage back to the addition.

Deep window given by the straw bale walls, creating a window seat and a kind of 3-D framed view.

The back, intimate sitting room - straw bale walls and tree column.

A cheerful entrance full of humor and warmth - green architecture

The original house - on left, in yellow - is met by the addition with a series of colors and forms.

Another intimate space - a sleeping/resting porch, overlooking the garden, soothed by the waterfall in the pond below.

Beth & Bill's Straw Bale Addition

Project Details

Beth & Bill’s family home was part of a whole house renovation in the Takoma Park, MD community built with and for their family in 2006. They offer it for tours and events (meetings, art openings, parties). Come see straw bale and natural plaster construction, green roofs, creative building with salvaged materials and locally milled wood, heating with a corn stove, and a storm water management plan integrated with beautiful native plantings and a retention pond. All these practices were considered as they worked towards creating an enlivening and soulful home.

As you’re considering which architect to work with, you are welcome to come see Beth & Bill’s straw bale addition and whole-house renovation – just drop them an email at bill@heliconworks.com. Although each of our home designs differ in response to an individual client and place, their home embodies the ideas and practices we explore on all projects.

Please download a PDF for a list of Beth & Bill’s Ecological Features.