HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-05-16, Page 15•
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Serving over 24,000 homes in-Listowelo WitIghere,
Mount Forest, Milyerton, Arias, Arthur, proton,.
Harriston, Moorefield, Palmerston, 1310Orniegciettk
Breslau, celestPg9, Elmira, Heidelberg,, U'ood
Maryhill, St Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein,
Wellesley and West Montrose. •
Wednesday, May 16, 1984
It
ooks like we're returning to the earth
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0'01'
ATRIUM DESIGN—The Tunkl residence
has an atrium feature which allows more
daylight in the home.
'It's very
quiet. Nothing
creaks or
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by Maurice Pifher
•
'1•,-.4,..".41„,••••••••••
••••-••••• • ""
1.• •
A HOME UNDERGROUND—Viewed
from the front. the Stacey house looks
almost like a ranch house with a flat roof.
The difference is that this wall is the only
one exposed: the rest of the 60 by
30 -foot house is covered with earth and
sand. Properly called. an earth shelter,
the house takes advantage of the earth
to shield it from the weather and ex-
treme temperatures. while the large win-
dows admit the sun for light and heat
Earth shelter
home combines
conomy,
om.fort and
It's a little difficult to spot the Farlow
residence as you enter the driveway, but
knowing what to look for helps — it's the one
with the chimney rising out of a grassy hill.
For Stuart and Joyce Farlow decided
• some years ago to try something different.
The result: they went underground.
• "In these days of energy, you just never
know when prices are going to go up," ,says
Mrs. Farlow of the decision reached hy she
f and her husband to build an earth home, an
experience in energy-saving residences that
is attracting more and more attention.
Living underground is nothing new, as our
cave7dwelling predecessors would attest..
But transferring all the amenities of com-
fortable, modern living underground, into
several rooms which are cleverly .and
tastefully laid out,. that is an added touch
brought about by boldness in architectural
and engineering strategy.
"Is it cold? Is it warm? What holds the
ceiling up there? How much heat do ydu
save? .Is it light? Is it dark?"
These are the questions posed by curious
and maybe unconvinced visitors, and there
have been many according to the pioneers of
18th century underground living.
A first glance just after walking through
the front door indeed clears up the big
misconception about earth homes. There is
an abundance of natural light, just as much
as in a conventional home, and with certain
added features, there can even be more.
"People think you're going into a dark,
dark home, but it isn't that way at all," says
• Mrs. Farlow.
The Farlows have been living in their
home, located about five miles north of
Mount Forest, for over three years and they
have no regrets about the move under.
"Actually, there aren't any bad points
about it," says Mrs. Farlow
In nearby Ayton, a village between Mount
Forest and Hanover, Adi Tunkl and his
family have been living in their huge un- •
derground home since December, and
they're loving every minute of it.
"People think an underground home is a
dingy place. But there are is morelight here
than anywhere else we've had before,"
states Mrs. Tunkl. "They wonder if It's dark
and damp, but anybody who comes in is
very surprised."
In Allan Park, a community just east of
Hanover, Carl and Nancy Wideman have
had their earth home since Thanksgiving of
1980, and they'd probably never return to a
conventional home.
• "Simply, when you go down under, it's
warmer," says Mrs. Farlow. "And it's very
quiet. Nothing creaks or groans."
The temperature inside never goes below
50 degrees Fahrenheit, even when it is zero
Fahrenheit outside, observes Mrs. Farlow
Adi and Ann Tunkl note that the force of
north, east and west winds (since their
windows face south), can only be measured
by looking outside at the sway of trees, so
protected is their home against the
elements• .
The underground dwellers all did eon-
A VIEW of the atrium from inside.
siderable research on theirhomes before
deciding to, go ahead. The Farlows,
originally from Toronto, moved to Mount
Forest about 10 years ago. They later
decided to move into a new home in the
country. Architect David McCauley hap-
pened to ask if they had ever seen an
inground home. They were intrigued.
"We read a fair amount about it ... we both
worked on plans," relates Mrs. Farlow. She
had earlier purchased their country building
site, 50 acres of picturesque property in
Normanby Township. The site itself was a
gravel hill, good for drainage and ideal for
what they had in mind. • .
The result is a 1200 sq. ft. home with two
sides which have windows, the other two
sides in the ground. One side has windows
for the kitchen and livingroom, the other
side with a sunroom that wasn't part of the
original plans. It was an added feature,,one
however, that has lent beauty and probably
even more saving in energy in the home.
"I like light," says Mrs., Farlow, pouring
tea and serving cookies in 'her sunroom.
Nearby, running water makes a quiet gurgle
over a stone layout in the corner of this roan
with windows 20 feet high.
Mrs. Farlow points out that the windows
are at an angle of 69 degrees, so as to catch
the most heat from the 's**. Together with
all the other specific designs for passive
solar heat as well as the airtight con-
struction, she says, "It's quite scientific
and it does work."
Energy conservation was also themajo;
reason the Tunkls and the Widemans chose
inground homes. And, adds, Mrs. Tunkl,
"It's cooler in the summer."
Mrs. Farlow says -with proper ventilation
of her sunroom, even on the hottest day in
summer it will, never go above 70 degrees
Fahrenheit inside.
''It's a natural air-conditioning" is how
Mrs. Wideman describes it.
The Widemans first encountered earth
homes in the pages of an organic gardening
magazine They wrote for and received
many different designs for inground homes
from the United States, where had been built
many more of the homes than in Canada.
Eventually, they decided on a design by a
Hanover resident, Their home is 1250 sq. ft.
in area. One side only has a large front
window, one to allow natural light in the
livingroom, diningroom and kitchen, and a
patio door for the main bedroom, in case the
'Widemans one day. want to build a
greenhouse. The remaining three sides are
under the earth of a hill.
The Tunkls began work on their home in
April last year and moved in eight months
later, with the finishing touches, including
landscaping, now left to be completed.
Their home, also covered on three sides, is'
a four-bedroom with a garage and an im-
m,ense livingroom with two large picture
windows, and another in the. diningroom.
But the biggest contributor to the total area
of 3,300 sq. ft. is esplendid atrium which
allows light to pour into the rear half of the
house.
"The idea is to get light in the bedrooms,"
says Mrs. Tunkl of the atrium, with windows
rising straight up out of the ground, making
the highest point of the ceiling inside about
20. feet high. The Tunkls had considered
simply laying the windows flat on the
ground for more light, but felt that would
produce too much heat in the summer sun.
They had considered' an earth home for
many years and went to the U.S. to look at a
design of one home, but it was too small for
what they wanted and was constructed of
wood, which they felt was inappropriate for
this location.
They studied books and maazines but,
says' Ann Tunkl, "There wasn't one we
liked." They finally found one plan that had
an atrium behind the bedrooms. They
modified that design so that the atrium was
in between the exposed side of the home and
the bedrooms which are farthest inside the
hill they selected.
• The three homes, all within a stretch of
about 32 kilometres (20 miles) may each be
different -in floor design but they share
common, necessary building charac-
teristics. They were each built into the side
of a hill, and all have windows facing south
so as to gather the most light and heat
during the day, as a passive solar heating
system.
The foundation walls are of poured con-
crete, up to 26 cm. (10 inches) thick, with
Continued on page 6
• by Henry Hess
Open house this weekend
Fro the beginning of time, archeologists
tell. us, Min has lived close to the earth.
Our ancestors found shelter and security
in. caves, while more recently some of the
early settlers on the prairies took refuge in
shelters scooped_ out of the sod, finding at
once protection from the wind and. from the
bitter cold of winter and the burning sum-
mer sun.
• Such natural shelters had their draw-
backs, of course: caves tended to be drafty
and damp and. the sod shelters were
crampedv dusty and dark. Technology
enabled Us to raise ourselves above the
earth in artificial caves of stone, brick and
wood and we did, paying the price of con-
venience in higher maintenance and heating
and cooling costs.
In recent years a new awareness of
conservation and the advantages gained by
living in harmony with nature has started a
movement back to the earth, with a still
small but growing number of people
choosing to build their homes completely or
partially underground. These new earth
shelters bear scant resemblance to their
forebears, however, sacrificing few of the
comforts or conveniences of a conventional
home in return for the economies of under-
ground living.
Several such homes are in various stages
of construction around. Huron County, with
one recently completed, except for a few
finishing touches, right on the outskirts of
Wingham.
'SOMETHING DIFFERENT'
The Stacey house, built last summer by
the late John Stacey and his wife Thelma, •
grew out of an interest in conservation and a
desire for something out of the ordinary.
"It was John's, idea," Thelma said, and
she recalls that it took some convincing to
overcome her initial scepticism.
"He was always interested in something
different — to be the first."
After having renovated an old schoolhouse
and 'built two conventional homes in Lower
Town, the Staceys were looking for some-
thing which would allow them to live as self -
sufficiently as possible on a small acreage.
That meant low living costs, requiring a low -
maintenance house with low heating bills.
Initially they were not planning to build,
but the acreages with houses' were all too
expensive. Then one day when Thelma was
out for a walk with her daughter Karla, now
5, she found a perfect site and suggested
they could build their own house. At that
point John got caught up in the idea of
building underground, and the wheels were
set in motion.
Using ideas he gleaned through his
reading, John drew up his own design and
blueprint, had it checked by an engineer and
set to work to build a 30 -foot by 60 -foot box of
reinforced concrete, open at the front and
with 10 -foot retaining walls at either end, set
into a south -facing hillside.
Construction started May 31 and they
Moved in at the end of September. The house
was still incomplete, but it was drywalled
and 'painted and was better than the trailer
ROOM WITH A VIEW—Most women like a bright and cheerful kitchen and Thelma
Stacey is no exception. The large windows over the counter admit lots of light and
also provide a spectacular view of the surroundingcountryside. The custom-made
cabinets. which Thelma designed, match the knotty pine which panels the ,Walls.
they had lived in all summer while con-
struction was underway, having sold their
previous house to finance the project.
A FIGHT ALL THE WAY
Building an unconventional house can
have its drawbacks, the Staceys discovered,
and Thelma recalls it was "a fight the whole
way" to get exactly what theY wanted from
tradition -minded. contractors and trades-
men. . •
Errors along the way cost them money,
adding to the estimated $55,000 which the
house will have cost, fully finished.
• Financing initially was not expected to be '
a problem, since they used the money from
the sale of their previous house, but when it
became necessary to apply for a small
mortgage to complete the project they found
that banks also shy away from the unusual,
even though the amount they were seeking
represented only the value of the land.
Eventually they did get the money 'they
needed from the local credit union.
On the other hand, building regulations
were no problem. Turnberry Township•had
no building code at the time, she said, and
the inspector, aware the plans had been
approved by an engineer, raised no
questions.
FROM CONCRETE 'BUNKER...
During the early stages of construction
the building bore more res,pmblance to a
bunker than to a house, at least to an out-
sider's eye.
A grand total of 110 cubic metres of
concrete, heavily reinforced with steel, was
formed into the floor, three walls and —
supported by steel posts and 'l' -beams — the
roof. Only the front wall, facing south, was
left open, to be filled in later with brick and
glass.
The strueture was then insulated on all
sides, outside the concrete, with sheets of
blue Styrofoam insulation, two inches on the
walls and four On thr roof, and the resulting
shell was wrapped in heavy black plastic to
repel moisture and covered with sand.
The roof slopes from about 10 feet at the
front of the house to eight feet at the back to
aid in drainage, and so far there has been no
problem with moisture or leaking.
...TO FINISHED HOME
The finished house today, however, belies
its rough beginnings. Interior walls cleverly
conceal the roof supports and finished.
ceilings and walls and carpeted floors yield
no hint of the massive concrete that lies just
on the other side of them.
.The slope of the ceiling from front to back
is quite noticeable, but the effect, far from
being oppressive, is at the same time cosy
and airy.
The disadvantage of having no windows in
side or back walls is compensarZthe
huge areas of glass — some 200 square feet
in total — in the front wall and by the open
floor plan. The kitchen, dining room, living
room and bathroom all are open tokhe front
of the house, while the bedrooms at the
back, though they have no outside windows
of their own, are open to the front at the
ceiling, admitting light and air.
A large ceiling fan in the dining room aids
in the circulation of air, and its gentle hum
emphasizes the almost uncanny stillness of
the house.
Sitting in the front room with its ceiling -to -
floor windows yielding a spectacular view of
the countryside around and the town almost
a mile away, there is no sensation of being
underground, with concrete and earth
overhead. The primary impression is of
peace and security, shielded from Any
outside disturbance.
LIVING UNDERGROUND
What is it like to live in an earth shelter?
Initially she was sceptical, Thelma said, but
during the past eight months she has found
the house to be warm, secure and very quiet.
"It would take me a while to get used to a
conventional house again."
Shielded from three sides by the hill in
whose crest it is buried, as well as by a stand
of trees, you can turn your back on the
weather outside if you want, yet at the same
time the large windows maintain contact
with the outer world.
"It's just a perfect place for a house like
this. "People aren't right next to you, but
you can see the whole town."
TW small electric heaters with cir-
culating, fans built into the walls kept the
house cosy all winter for an estimated $300
in hydro. A small wood -burning stove can do
the job even more cheaply, but Ince she
Continued on page 6