Mud and Straw

Mud plaster going on over the strawbales at the Fischer Cottage. The mud will allow the bales to breath to the outside, while cement plaster is used around the base to shed any water that splashes from the ground. The richly colored earth, excavated nearby, is a Northern New Mexico bonus!

One other feature is visible in this photo: the sloped eave and front gable of the roof. It gives an informal, expressive quality to the roof, in keeping with the scale and setting. But once the gutters are on, it also gets the water moving quickly to the back and away from of the house, where it will be collected in rain barrels for irrigating.