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House made of mud under construction in Yellow Springs

YELLOW SPRINGS — A mudhouse is under constriction on Cliff Street and the builder said the style home is earth friendly, energy efficient and fire resistant.

Andy Holyoke has been building these kinds of alternative structures for years now.  He is the self-proclaimed king of straw buildings in southwest Ohio.

Mudhouses were popular in the 1880s and now they’re making a bit of a comeback.  The buildings are built using the right mix of sand, straw and clay and the mixture is made by hand, Holyoke said.

“Then we either take it in a wheel barrow, push it up on the wall by hand or we spray it onto the wall,” Holyoke said.

The Yellow Springs house marks Holyoke’s 15th building like it.

Holyoke said the house can withstand up to 125 mph winds and is insulated with cellulose and ground-up newspapers.

“I don't want to see it hit by a hurricane or tornado, but I feel confident it would survive,” he said.  “We put on overhangs, balconies and screen porches to help protect it from the weather.”

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