Proactive Housing

Houses sheltered by mother earth have for a long time been a hot topic. Here's why:

We are all aware of how mother nature is ruthless. Many homes have been destroyed by natural disasters. A severe tornado made a mile-wide swath through central Alabama and Georgia early in 2011. While listening to the radio on the way to work shortly after the host mentioned that only being underground would have protected people and property. Every hurricane, tornado and fire reminds me of how being proactive in building our "castle" is wise in view of the often too inevitable.

Kenneth, a favorite cousin of mine, mentioned the concept to me in 1975. As the late Oliver Wendell Holmes, former Justice of the US Supreme Court once stated: "A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original dimensions". I thought about the concept relentlessly as I was on vacation having left the family mobile home in another state. In the early 1980's I designed and began construction on the new idea. In 2006 my late bride and I designed one to be attactive to many who could see one built properly in hopes of influencing lending institutions and real estate to become more familiar with the concept. Due to lack of experience and proof of integrity of such structures make it nearly impossible to get a loan. My desire was to change this as a service to the community.

References to "Infinite Housing" and "Lifetime Design" capture a part of the idea. The idea is to build a hope adaptable throughout life from birth to death. Incorporating these references are even more significant with the subterranean or earth-sheltered design. Conventional designs have vastly improved over the last few decades induced by the prospects of natural disasters. But very few incorporate the earth sheltered design.

Hurricane Katrina hit landfall on this day in 2005. Brenda, and I (see "Coming Soon! page for information by scrolling to the bottom of the page) weathered the storm of both Ivan and Katrina in our "unfinished" shelter. Great feeling to watch the storms in a safe shelter!

If you are so proactive in your approach to securing the feel of safety I'd love to share with you more information and answer questions on this hot topic.

Poor "Chester" fell in love with a lady in one of the early "Gunsmoke" episodes. He became a miserable failure in impressing his new love when he showed her the "dugout" he so feverishly "prepared" for her. I wondered when watching the re-run a few years ago if he had the idea of someday impressing another lady in real life. He did!

Now you see why my bride helped keep the dream alive by saying, "such a structure needs to be aesthetic". Proactive housing design in some way could eventually boil down to being "safe or sorry", to say nothing of envy.