Living Homes: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Integrated Design & Construction

by Thomas J. Elpel

The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. The key is all in the planning. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is—all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. A little extra time in the planning process can save you tens of thousands of dollars in construction and maintenance. That is time well spent! Living Homes takes you through the planning process to design an energy and resource efficient home that won’t break the bank. Then, from the footings on up to the roof, author Thomas J. Elpel guides you through the nuts and bolts of construction for slipform stone masonry, tilt-up stone walls, log home construction, building with strawbales, making your own “terra tile” floors, windows & doors, solar water systems, masonry heaters, framing, plumbing, greywater, septic systems, swamp filters, painting and more!

Genres: Nonfiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Thomas J. Elpel has authored numerous books on topics ranging from wilderness survival and botany to stone masonry, sustainable construction, and green economics.

He is the founder of Green University® LLC and Outdoor Wilderness Living School LLC (OWLS), as well as HOPS Press LLC and the Jefferson River Canoe Trail.

As a child, Tom was mentored by his grandmother, Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.

Tom's first serious exposure to wilderness survival skills began at the age of 16, when he went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School. The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown's Tracker School in New Jersey.

From there Tom spent thousands of hours practicing, developing, and teaching survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains. These experiences led to writing his book Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills.

Tom's basic philosophy is that wilderness survival skills are useful to connect with nature, yet you shouldn't run away from the problems of modern society. Instead, we need to apply the lessons of living close to nature to the challenge of solving our worldly problems.

Outdoor Wilderness Living School LLC is dedicated to providing Stone Age living skills classes and camping trips to public school groups. Tom launched Green University® LLC in 2004 to expand the curriculum from teaching merely primitive skills outward towards addressing issues of global sustainability.

In 2019 Tom enlisted former Green University students and led a "Missouri River Corps of Rediscovery" down the 2,341-mile Missouri River, as told in his award-winning book Five Months on the Missouri River: Paddling a Dugout Canoe.

Reviews

[Obliterature (The Bibliophile) · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I became interested in building my own home off-grid, this was my choice. I wanted to build a stone home. The problem with that is that there aren't a lot of people writing books on how to do that. This book has offered many alternative ways on how to build a house other than the frame-houses that are constructed in a week.

Thomas Elpel definitely has building downpat. I was most impressed with all of the little details that he includes when building the first home as cheaply as possible. I was also impressed that he built his first home with his wife and not much other help. His story is truly inspiring. His love for the environment shows through his writing and careful thought into his construction.

This book definitely deserves respect.

[Varina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent overview of different alternative construction methods that will give the potential owner-builder plenty of ideas and things to consider. It's well worth the read, but once you decide on a more specific project or construction method you will need a more specialized work. This doesn't have anything like everything you need to know to build in it (not that that would be possible, I'm just saying).

[Motorcycle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The guy has a few chapters at the beginning where his ideals get the better of his credibility, but the rest was a lot of good information. Also, his writing style is pretty fair for this sort of conversational/informational book.

[Abram · Rating 2 out of 5]

On recommendation from a like minded friend I read both of these topically related books, Living homes and direct pointing to wealth. I was somewhat disappointed in the fact that the book offers some good ideas but fails to be applicable to many contemporary situations. The author leans heavily toward socialist inclination and seems steeped in ideals with some lack of practicality. I had also expected a more through discussion of materials and techniques than was presented.

[Elisabeth M]

I found this title while researching masonry fireplaces. The book tells you how to build your own for the cheapest possible price, plus it gives a lot of advice on other aspects of building an energy-efficient home, all on a budget. Very exciting.

[Jeanette Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring!!

[Chelsea Boyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

this isnt about sustainability or traditional ancient methods of stone masonry as i had hoped.
his favorite building material is concrete.