Family lives in Arctic Circle in cob house braving extreme conditions

The Hjertefølger family has been living in Norway’s Sandhornøya island, where they started their journey into sustainable living, since 2013. Their three-story cob home — built from sand, water, clay, and other organic materials — is encased in an aesthetically pleasing, and functional, solar geodesic dome by Solardome. Placing the 25-foot-high dome around the five-bedroom, two-bathroom home gave the six-person family protection from strong winds and heavy snow loads, as well as cutting down on heating costs. The geodesic dome, which also covers a garden area, gives the family the necessary greenhouse environment to grow much of their food.  Apples, cherries, plums, apricots, kiwis, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, squash, and melons are just some of what they can grow in an area that is without sunlight for three months a year.

The cozy, rustic interior creates a warm, welcoming environment away from the Arctic Circle’s cold climate. And the spectacular views of nature and the Northern Lights certainly provide unique entertainment for the family on cold winter nights. “We love the house; it has a soul of its own and it feels very personal. What surprises us is the fact that we built ourselves anew as we built the house,” Ingrid Hjertefølger told Inhabitat. “The process changed us, shaped us.”

After three years of living in The Nature House—built entirely by the family and their friends—they are thriving. “The feeling we get as we walk into this house is something different from walking in to any other house,” Hjertefølger shares. “The atmosphere is unique. The house has a calmness; I can almost hear the stillness. It is hard to explain. But it would have been impossible getting this feeling from a house someone else has planned and built for us, or a house with corners and straight lines.”