Living The Earth Home Lifestyle: Underground Home Living Experiences

Never in a million years did I think I would ever be living in an earth sheltered home - especially one that had previously been featured in Better Homes and Gardens. Yet, here I was with my realtor and slightly claustrophobic wife heading out to look at the recently-listed earth home several miles south of downtown Minneapolis. Oh, and I brought along a camera since I never thought I would see the inside of the house again.

As things turned out, a few months later this became our "new" home for the next several years. Snug in the winter regardless of how cold it was outside, mostly cool in the summer and a safe place to be during nasty storms - and we had our share. 

Living in this house was not without its challenges. Initially it needed some care as it had fallen into a state of some disrepair. And there was the typical maintenance that any home requires. But this was no horror story. There were many design features which made living and entertaining in this earth sheltered home a pleasurable experience. 

Various terms were used (by various people) to describe this house...
EARTH HOME: Not exactly an earth home since it was not made of earth materials. But when people in the area asked where I lived, my answer prompted many to say "Oh you mean the earth home".
UNDERGROUND HOME: While not technically an underground home since it wasn't completely underground (but it was mostly underground. With dirt on three sides plus a few more feet on the top), I didn't correct people that wanted to call it that.
EARTH-SHELTERED HOME: The correct description of the home since it was built into the side of a hill and sheltered by a good amount of earth with just the south-facing front exposed.

The home enjoyed a certain amount fame based on the number of letters asking for more information on this unique house - even 20 years after it was built. Evidently, the house was written up in more books/magazines that we weren't aware of. Letters came from several U.S. States and one from as far away as Abu Dhabi. We answered them all as best we could but had no detailed construction plans or blueprints to share with them.

This book describes the home as it was first built based on my research (from the Better Homes & Gardens article plus other sources of information) as well as the features that remained when we bought the house (which were most of the original features). That will be followed by the major and minor changes we made to make living here a pleasurable experience. You will find a good amount of pictures also so you can get a good idea of what this house was all about. Detailed plans are not 
included but a detailed layout is in the book plus insights into what makes an earth sheltered home a success story. I hope you enjoy the book.