Curves & Color: A Straw Bale Home in Northern California

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Linda shaped her own art nouveau designs from clay.
Linda shaped her own art nouveau designs from clay.
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An antique Chinese decorative piece and a hand-painted silk banner, which shows the sacred geometry of the chakras, mark the altar corner.
An antique Chinese decorative piece and a hand-painted silk banner, which shows the sacred geometry of the chakras, mark the altar corner.
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A wood-burning stove nestles in the curve of a cob wall. The arched shape helps disburse heat into the living room.
A wood-burning stove nestles in the curve of a cob wall. The arched shape helps disburse heat into the living room.
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Linda’s light-suffused bedroom opens onto a colorful garden.
Linda’s light-suffused bedroom opens onto a colorful garden.
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Linda in her outdoor spa. The vintage tub sits in front of a gravel bag wall painted with an iron-based fertilizer and water.
Linda in her outdoor spa. The vintage tub sits in front of a gravel bag wall painted with an iron-based fertilizer and water.
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Fulfilling a dream of Linda’s, dried flowers hang from recycled timber in the dining room.
Fulfilling a dream of Linda’s, dried flowers hang from recycled timber in the dining room.
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Slants of sunlight grace the large tub accented in brass.
Slants of sunlight grace the large tub accented in brass.
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Hand-made pillows from various California artists line the bay window in Linda’s art studio.
Hand-made pillows from various California artists line the bay window in Linda’s art studio.
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Travertine and sustainably harvested maple grace the kitchen countertops.
Travertine and sustainably harvested maple grace the kitchen countertops.
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The arched roof above Linda’s bedroom and the curved, gravel bag wall embrace the native garden and outdoor spa.
The arched roof above Linda’s bedroom and the curved, gravel bag wall embrace the native garden and outdoor spa.
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A graceful curve meets California blue sky.
A graceful curve meets California blue sky.
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This fanciful wrought-iron gate announces the entrance to “Oasis Ranch.”
This fanciful wrought-iron gate announces the entrance to “Oasis Ranch.”
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The curves of this handmade home honor the surrounding landscape of rolling hills.
The curves of this handmade home honor the surrounding landscape of rolling hills.
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A graceful curve meets California blue sky.
A graceful curve meets California blue sky.

Nestled into a northern California knoll, the elegant arch of a wavy roofline graces an artful straw bale cottage. A bountiful garden blesses this earthen plastered retreat with flowers and organic food. Inside, curves and color create a feminine ambiance. An art studio shimmers with mica-containing clay paint. The watery blue bedroom’s French doors open into a walled garden where fragrant herbs and blossoms surround an outdoor shower and bathtub. Hummingbirds whir through the air.

“It’s as if the door to my home opens into the real me,” says holistic healer and artist Linda Drew. “I made it really personal.” Throughout the construction of her home, which is possibly the first permitted earth-plastered straw bale house in California, Linda’s background as a ceramic artist served her well. “My house was one big pot,” she says. She sculpted sensuous nichos and shaped art nouveau-inspired bas-relief. She made all her interior wall paints out of kaolin clay, wheat paste, and natural pigments in a vivid rainbow of hues. “This house is truly handmade,” she observes.

In addition to its artistry, the home is environmentally practical. An array of photovoltaic panels supplies Linda’s electricity, a cooling tower keeps the house comfortable during sizzling summers, and radiant-floor heating and a wood stove warm the house in winter.

A pioneer and her posse

“Oasis Ranch” is what Linda calls her home on thirteen acres of oak-dotted hills in Lake County, the wine country between Calistoga and Harbin Hot Springs. “It’s an oasis of harmony and quiet,” she explains. She also admits that building her oasis totally off the grid on raw land in a remote location was nearly the antithesis of the finished product, especially because Linda acted as her own contractor. “Being a single woman who had never done this before was really hard,” she says. “Every day was a huge learning curve.” The work was so demanding, in fact, that her friends labeled her “pioneer woman of the sustainable West.” Pete Gang of Common Sense Design in Petaluma, one of her two collaborating architects, adds that often “the pioneer is the one lying face down in the dirt with arrows in his or her back.”

  • Published on Jul 1, 2004
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