<\/p>\n
The creations of natural-materials builder Brett LeCompte, of Dolores, are featured in the 2017 architecture book \u201cSmall Homes: The Right Size,\u201d by Lloyd Kahn.<\/p>\n
Several pages display LeCompte\u2019s straw-bale home on Granath Mesa and two Hobbit houses he built in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n
When local fans of J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s book \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d asked him to build a circular Hobbit house in McElmo Canyon, he took on the challenge.<\/p>\n
For practice, LeCompte built one on his property as a play house for his kids. There he gained experience with techniques using cordwood, adobe, cob, circular roofs and earthen plaster.<\/p>\n
All materials for the projects were sourced locally, including ponderosa pine and aspen from mills and forests, along with driftwood and stones that he collected here and there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding with natural materials is healthier and cuts down on the carbon footprint of transportation,\u201d LeCompte said.<\/p>\n
For Marian and David Howarth\u2019s 900-square-foot Hobbit guest house, he used cordwood walls, cob masonry and a circular roof using local ponderosa pines.<\/p>\n
The house is half underground, and its earthen roof was planted with native vegetation.<\/p>\n
The cordwood uses short pieces of debarked tree that are laid crosswise to build a wall.<\/p>\n
Cob masonry is a type of free-form adobe that uses a mixture of clay, sand and straw.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roof is a reciprocal log rafter style, where each beam is holding up the one next to it,\u201d LeCompte said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA circular door was added in the style of Hobbit homes, and there is a waterfall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local stone mason Brad Wright designed the patio and landscaping.<\/p>\n
He replicated a circular painting designed by Marian onto the Hobbit house\u2019s masonry floor, which has lines mirroring the ceiling\u2019s circular beam pattern.<\/p>\n
On Summer Solstice, the beam of light coming through the skylight lines up with the painting on the floor.<\/p>\n
A rocket mass heater that doubles as a long bench was also installed.<\/p>\n
Kahn\u2019s book says \u201cThe Howarth\u2019s Hobbit House has to be one of the most creative and unusual structures in Southwest Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n
For LeCompte, owner of Swallows Nest Natural Building, making the cut for a Kahn book was a long time dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cKahn\u2019s first book, \u2018Shelter,\u2019 in 1973, was considered the bible on alternative building,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis books are my favorites, and it has been on my bucket list to make it into one.\u201d<\/p>\n