An Ultra-Green Home in Sandhornøya, Northern Norway
Like every normal family, some members of the Lawton clan are extremely well prepared for potential scenarios that would require surviving and sustaining oneself off of 500 pre-purchased cans of tuna or an inherent knowledge of how not to die when violently stripped of the security blanket corner bodega. That trait is not inherent, as my only defense mechanism is to take whatever protein bars I can find around my person, run as fast and far as I can, then just curl up in a ball and hope I get reincarnated as the Tooth Fairy, @smoothiethecat, or some other instagram famous animal. My cousins Tim and Molly both live in the city and attended the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy respectively, so the family didn’t bat an eye when they set their roots in a city that was brimming with potential threats. When I moved here four years ago, you would think they were all watching a sloth attempt to cross a freeway and collectively agreed there was no hope for the quirky black sheep. Every holiday I get advice, gifts, youtube videos, all geared towards preparing me for the fateful day I need to evacuate and live in the back woods for a few months while I make my way back to Cape Cod. When in reality, the situation will deteriorate into me calling an Uber like this:
Well apparently people willingly put themselves in these situations. The Hjertefølgers family did just that in December of 2013, moving their family of six to the island of Sandhornøya in northern Norway and collectively building an ultra-green three-story cob house wrapped in a solar geodesic dome where they would live a sustainable existence in harrowing climatic conditions. The home is protected by a single-glazed geodesic, which protects the cob home from extreme conditions and in turn provides for a long-lasting and low-maintenance upkeep facade. While during three months of the year the Nature house receives zero sunlight, the other nine months of the year, the design allows the family to grow their own produce, including apples, cherries, plums, apricots, kiwis, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, squash, and melons. The family goes to far lengths to maintain their sustainability: from compost bins, to reusing all water and waste for fertilization and watering plans, to only using biodegradable products. While I don’t envy this lifestyle, it is commendable that, by themselves, a family of six built a 25 ft high, three story, five bedroom, two bathroom, clay dome with unobstructed views of the Northern Lights. And didn’t kill each other.
While the Northern Lights are on my bucket-list, can-you-imagine-living-in-a-
