The walls of our house are made of straw. No, not the kind the big bad wolf can blow down but very energy efficient straw bale, encased in plaster. Of the types of straw available for building we chose the best,  rice straw (Insulation vale rated at R50)

And so it is with many mixed emotions that run the gamut from great sadness to exuberant joy we place our magnificent home for sale. Since the birth of our grandson, Tyler Li  in 2007 and now with the birth of his brother, Parker William in 2009  we have been pulled toward Texas and  made the heartfelt decision to retire,  leave our beloved home and  move near Tyler and Parker, oh yes, and their parents too.

Will we go straw bale again? You betcha! In a heartbeat!! As you visit this site again in a few years, watch for notices of Strawbale Citadel aux deaux!!

To see the list of property features  & pictures see our  Features & Photos page. You will find interior and exterior property photos and a list of property and house features. Most frequently asked straw bale questions and answers are found on the FAQs page and  information on the Contact Us page.

Citadel is defined as “a fortress or strongly fortified building in or near a city, used as a place of refuge.”  Why Citadel you ask? We’ve dreamt of building our own home since we first met in 1984. Our final house plans and construction eventually came to fruition (after umpteen revisions) in June of 2003 and we moved in after building it ourselves (with a lot of help from our friends) in December 2006. Our home has always been our refuge from the world and once we began building, it became clear that this was going to be our “citadel” due to the fact that this structure is VERY strongly fortified with the two foot thick walls and 31 steel uprights that are imbedded in six feet of concrete! This is a truly one-of-a-kind home.