We are located in central Illinois, and want to build a family home with natural materials in an area that essentially has no building codes (my family has land in such a place).
The land has few trees, and indeed there are no forests in a 15-mile radius--it's prairie country, and we want to build a house reflecting that and using less wood, if possible. Because the climate gets very cold in the winter, straw bale tends to be the preferred natural building method in this region.
Has anyone heard of compressed earth block structures insulated with straw bales on the inside? Seems like it would require a very wide stem wall... but maybe not if the compressed earth blocks are laid lengthwise instead of widthwise?
I would consider load-bearing straw bale for a cabin, but it seems to have questionable long-term durability for a family home.
Aesthetically my wife and I are taking inspiration from the traditional Ukrainian mazanka, lime-plastered earthen buildings built in southern/eastern Ukraine, a place with a lot of similarity with northern/central Illinois in climate and terrain.
