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Greetings!
Not just a wall
by Paul Barby
A canyon wall, smoothed by wind
and rain, gently undulating across the landscape. Palo Verde trees and
Saguaros nestled within it's bends and meanderings, overhangs that echo
sounds back to their sources. As the sun and clouds move across the sky,
light plays a subtle visual color symphony on a surface patina of muted
yellows and rusts touched with tints of blue and green, all leading to
a glowing, golden finale at sunset! These are the sensory impressions
that the graceful Ferro-concrete wall conveys at StoneCurves.
This mini-canyon wall was conceived
in frustration. Originally, it was to be a straw bale construction, an
embryo of promise that just would not be implanted to become reality.
Materials, techniques, construction expertise - these elements just did
not come together. But thanks to the ingenuity of James Hamilton working
with StoneCurves members, the concept of the existing wall was nurtured
to reality.
The wall construction is simple.
Standard concrete reinforcing rods known as rebars were installed in a
concrete footing, extending seven to eight feet vertically. The tops of
those rebars were bent to create a concave surface facing Stone Avenue
bordering the property on the east and extending around the perimeter
along Limberlost on the north. Bending the top of the wall in this manner
was to serve two purposes - stability and deflection of traffic noise.
Screen wire was attached to the rebar construction to accommodate stucco.
A crew of experienced workers who understood the free-form nature of the
wall then covered both sides of the rebar "fence" with concrete stucco
to a total thickness of approximately 4", finishing with gracefully blended
concave and convex surfaces, even some great hidey holes for children.
Finally, the wall was stained by
member sweat labor with Ferrous Sulfate-Hertahydrate, an iron mineral
salt, dissolved in water. This in effect, "rusted" the wall surface by
staining the grains of concrete as opposed to a more expensive paint for
this over-budget project that would have created a flat sealed surface
requiring future maintenance. The iron stain permits the color of the
wall to come alive in response to ever changing light of the Arizona sun
as opposed to a reflective monotone flat paint surface. The StoneCurves
Wall will serve the StoneCurves Community well - a durable, efficient
sound barrier and an object of beauty with a quiet meditative presence.
Other
Environmental Friendly Aspects of Stone Curves!
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Wonderland
Hill: Stone Curves Development Company |
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A number of folk have
commented that our web site is somewhat less than clear about who
is actually responsible for developing Stone Curves. Well, to put
the record straight, our main developer is Wonderland Hill in concert
with McAllister Construction and project manager, James Hamilton.
Wonderland Hill is the 800
pound gorilla of cohousing developments. The company is based in
Boulder, Colorado and specializes in the creation of community-
based neighborhoods. Jim Leach, President, is an engineer with more
than 30 years of experience in the design, construction and development
of energy efficient housing, both for custom designed homes and
planned neighborhoods.
Over the last 30 years, Wonderland
has been a pioneer in creating homes that utilize sustainable building
techniques. The company's work has been recognized by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the National Association
of Home Builders (NAHB), the National Council of the Housing Industry,
the Urban Land Institute, and the National Center for Renewable
Energy. In 1995, Jim Leach was voted "Builder of the Year" by the
Boulder Home Builders Association. In 1997, the company received
the "Built Green Home Builder of the Year" award presented by the
Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver. In addition to
receiving this award, Jim Leach was inducted into the "Built Green
Hall of Fame," which recognizes exemplary contributions to the program.
In 2002, Wonderland won an E-Star award for "The Most Energy Efficient
Home for the New Millennium" for Hearthstone Cohousing in Denver,
Colorado and in 2003, Wonderland won the award for "New Millennium
Builder in Specialty Housing" from E-Star for Casa Verde Commons
in Colorado Springs.
Wonderland Hill Development
Company has also played a decisive role in the cohousing movement.
The company has completed twelve cohousing communities to date,
more than any other developer in the U.S.
More
About Wonderland Hill » |
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So What
Exactly is Cohousing? (explanation number 304) |
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Even long time co-housers have different takes on the subject. At
the sales office we are continually asked the same question but rarely
give the same reply, perhaps because the benefits are perceived differently.
The word "cohousing" was
coined by Kathryn McCamant and Chuck Durrett, who are widely credited
with introducing the Danish movement called "bofaellesskaber" ("living
community") to the United States in their 1988 book, "Cohousing:
A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves."
They contend that six qualities
define cohousing: Resident participation in creating the community,
resident management, non-hierarchical administration, a physical
design that promotes community interaction, private homes supplemented
by shared facilities and separate income sources.
In describing cohousing,
semantics are everything. Misconceptions and confusion with other
lifestyles abound, so cohousing residents often carefully describe
their lifestyle as "collaborative" or "cooperative" rather than
"communal. "Neighborhood" is also used frequently - sometimes favored
above the word community - because a neighborhood implies diversity,
a hallmark of cohousing. "They are designed and managed by the residents,
who have chosen to live in a close-knit community that seeks a healthy
blend of privacy and community," reports the Cohousing Network.
For
More Information On "What is Cohousing » |
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Construction
Update for April |
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You really can start to
get the feel for the neighborhood as the buildings in Village One
are already fleshed out. In addition, village two buildings are
framed in and the roofs are on all,except one. Very soon, the exterior
porches and the exterior "look" will be complete.
Building 10 had the slab
poured yesterday morning and building nine is being prepared as
we go to press. The Common House and buildings two, three and four
are in various stages of having the foam board and lathe applied
in preparation for the stucco coat. The graders are in and prepping
the land for buildings five, six, seven and eight. Those slabs will
be started in the coming weeks. In the near future, we will be seeing
ten buildings in various stages of construction.
The inside work is ramping
up as the Common House is awaiting drywall and insulation within
the next week. All the trades people are on site with rough in plumbing,
electrical and the heat/cooling systems begun in the Common House
and buildings two, three and four. It won't be long and the excavation
and dirt work for the South Parking lot will begin.
To be able to reach out and
touch all this amazing progress, you're invited to join us every
Saturday at 2:30pm for an exhilarating, not to be missed, site tour
with our project manager, James Hamilton. Hurry, these gems are
moving fast and the time will come when the looking is over.
To
View Plans of Stone Curves Homes » |
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Our One
and Only by Garth |
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Garth and Suzanne
After the White House
recently announced its ambitions "to extend a human presence across
our solar system," the reactions of several students interviewed
on NPR blew me away. I was taken aback to hear them suggest that
we will most likely have to find other planets to ultimately sustain
us. Setting aside the question of how feasible this would be, I
have to wonder what is happening to our sense of hope and responsibility
for the future of planet Earth. The children's comments reminded
me of a book my mother read to me as a child, called The Wump World.
As I recall, the Wump World is entirely natural, green everywhere
with a bluer than blue sky, and "Wumps" are its adorable, grass-eating,
peace-loving inhabitants. One day, everything changes when the "Pollutians"
arrive from outer space. Out of the giant mouths of their spaceships
come all sorts of machinery that tear away the green, replacing
it with buildings, roads, smoke and trash. The uproar forces the
Wumps into lives of hiding and scavenging for mushrooms in caves
well below the surface.
Once the Pollutians run out
of room and decide that the Wump World has become an undesirable
place to live, they board their spaceships in search of yet another
world to develop. Nowhere in the story do the Pollutians ever consider
changing their behavior as a solution to their predicament. Instead,
they repeat an ugly cycle of arriving, building, using, abusing
and leaving.
In many ways, people are
like the Pollutians, particularly in this country. Scientists have
calculated that it would take approximately five and a half Earths
to sustain us if everyone on this planet were to live the average
U.S. lifestyle. With consumption patterns escalating, as they are
worldwide, how can we reverse the tide to preserve the one and only
planet we do have? Simple. More of us will have to decide it's worth
it, feel like we are accountable for making it happen and do as
much as we can.
As I meet with my future
neighbors for potlucks and planning meetings, I am impressed with
how many of them are choosing Stone Curves in order to downsize,
share resources and/or live where they will be more centrally located.
Of course, by living at Stone Curves we will not automatically have
more sustainable lifestyles. Not too long ago, I visited a website
that calculates your "ecological footprint". I answered the website's
questions, according to the lifestyle I will have at the time I
move into Stone Curves, and realized that I will have much more
impact than I'd like to. Nevertheless, moving into Stone Curves
for many of us is a powerful step in the right direction. I look
forward to working with those of my future neighbors who have talked
about developing projects and practices to reduce waste and promote
a more sustainable way of life. Imagine the opportunities we will
have as a community to share with the next generation a greater
sense of hope and responsibility.
For
a calculation of your ecological footprint, visit »
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