The average American paying off a $200,000 house will hand over $343,000 by the time they actually own it. $143,000 just vanishes into interest payments. But there's a proven alternative that eliminates debt entirely: building a cob house with your own hands. In this video, I break down the REAL numbers behind debt-free natural building and show you exactly how regular people on normal incomes are opting out of the mortgage system.

I have a brand new calculator app for you! It will calculate material and labor cost for your cob wall projects. Give a try! You can find the calculator on my website here: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/cob-wall-cost-calculator/ If you have any feedback or bug reports, please let me know!

New Course Available in the Classroom! Click Here to Access Discover America's last remaining counties where you can build alternative homes without building codes or permits. This comprehensive 2025 guide reveals the top locations for code-free construction, including Missouri's Ozarks (land from $4,000/acre), Idaho's northern counties (officially no codes since inception), and Southwest desert regions (parcels as low as $500/acre). Learn which building methods—cob, adobe, straw-clay, hempcrete, earthbag, and tiny homes—work best in each climate, with detailed adaptations for humid, cold, and dry regions. Includes practical budget breakdowns showing total project costs under $100k, real-world examples from thriving alternative building communities like Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and Earthship Biotecture, and a 10-step action plan to secure your land before counties adopt new regulations. With hundreds of code-free counties still available but political pressure mounting, this guide provides the exact county names, land prices, climate considerations, and critical warnings you need to build your dream alternative home with maximum freedom and minimal cost. Time-sensitive information as the window for regulatory freedom is rapidly closing. Click Here to Read the Full Guide

I just uploaded the new video documenting how to build a footer-stemwall foundation. This is one of my favorite styles of foundations for any sort of building. It's especially great for heavy, load-bearing earth walls! This video also presents the project that all of our workshop students will be participating with this year! Join me here to get hands-on experience building these massive cob walls: https://www.thiscobhouse.com/cob-workshops/ Leave your questions and comments below so we can discuss this style of foundation.

I've actually never shared these before, but one of my online students from a few years ago built her own beautiful cob house in Sri Lanka. She did an amazing job! What do you think?