Earth house

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Earth houses are old architectural style for eco-friendly housing. Earth houses are usually lowered into the ground and covered with thin growth. On the inside they consist of a timber-pole construction with square outlines. Modern earth-houses are built with concrete-walls and insulation. Construction-technicians are reportedly working on improvements, as concrete is not an eco-friendly material.

Their entrance can be in the roof. Originally they had no windows, but modern earth-houses can have windows inside the roof which can mean that more natural sunlight enters them than in an average house.

The earth house does not have to be simple in design or low cost as a house of this type went on sale for £1.5 million in 2006. This was "The Burrow" in Canterbury, UK, which has five bedrooms, and was designed by Patrick Kennedy-Sanigar, who is now trying to build a "village" of this type of housing.

Clay, rammed earth (compacted earth or tierra compactada), waddle & daub, or cob houses are constructions with walls consisting of clay or cob.

[edit] American Indian earth lodges

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A Mandan earthhouse or earth lodge was developed by North American Indians.