What’s a cob house?

Published 3:16 pm Thursday, January 10, 2008

Well, it’s not made of corn cobs if that’s what you’re wondering.

My co-worker Debra Smith took a trip to see three cob houses on San Juan Island.

They’re really interesting and it’s a style of green building coming soon to a Snohomish County near you.

You can read all about it right here.

Cob house walls and floors are made from an adobelike mixture called “cob” made of straw, sand and clay pulled from the surrounding land. (Cob is an English word that means lump.)

They’re pretty cool and can be extremely affordable to build. One man built his 800-square-foot abode for about $35,000 with most of the cost put into labor.

They can also be a bit higher end. There’s one in Monroe appraised at $250,000.

Check out the story and let me know what you think.