Cool houses

I am watching Grand Designs season 3. It has some outstanding episodes in it. For example one of the coolest houses I've ever heard of, the Woodman's Cottage. It's hand-built in the middle of the woods for under 30,000 pounds sterling, virtually all out of natural materials, and it's virtually self-sufficient with energy and food, and yet it's beautiful, modern, warm and comfortable. Awesome.

One of the remarkable things about this cottage is that the wood was not cut to squares, the whole frame is made from whole tree trunks, which even can be seen in the final house from the outside. And the house does not have any straight lines or square corners, it's so organic in shape. 

Another outstanding project is the Water Works house, a huge old industrial building in the utmost state of disrepair, which a young couple restored from the ground up on a shoe-string budget, with their own labor, over ten months after hours. An astounding effort. And the result is just breathtaking.

The text and tiny web pictures don't do these projects and houses justice, I warmly recommend getting your hands on the DVDs. (It doesn't seem they are for sale in the US. If you have a region-free DVD player, get them from Amazon UK. Or maybe they can be found for download somewhere.)

One of my friends in Canada also built his own house, from scrap wood. Cost him next to nothing, only had to buy the electricals and such.
I'm full of admiration and a bit of envy over people who are that practical. I am not, if I try to vacuum my floor myself, I get a nervous breakdown. I'm proud of my mind, but if anybody were to depend on my practical abilities, they better cut their wrists. (OK, I can if I have to. In my youth I was a sandblaster, and a very successful one.) It must be really wonderful to build your house with your hands.