Architects are taking rammed-earth home design far beyond the dirt-plain adobe look—creating walls that are almost sculptural in their complexity and scale.
It took 300 tons of decomposed granite to build the 72-foot-long rammed-earth wall that forms the spine of Linda Low’s 7,800-square-foot home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Light from a narrow, 110-foot-long skylight—diffused by reflective silver-leaf panels—plays on the wall, which sparkles with bits of mica. “At any time of the day, I can look at it and see something different—and it’s never the same any day,” said Ms. Low, 72, who built the house on 10 acres with her husband, Mickey. “It gives me a sense of tranquility.”
Ms. Low estimates that they spent close to $2 million on the 1997 compound—designed by architect Eddie Jones and rammed-earth builder Quentin Branch.
She recently put the house on the market, but then took it off—after turning down an offer that was more than double the cost to build, she said. “I just decided I’m not selling—I love this house too much,” she said.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/rammed-earth-luxury-homes-1427989394?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_realestate
I call bollocks on her mystery offer.
If she really did receive an offer that was 2x what it cost to build, then she could’ve easily built another home just like this one and had some walk around money.
Ya gotta love the homey warmth you feel surrounded by tons of concrete reinforced with eternal granite, the stark morning daylight streaming through the carved portals. It’s like Hitler’s bunker, perfected.
One can almost hear the joyful barking of German Shepards patrolling it’s perimeter.