What is Cordwood Masonry?

Cordwood masonry is an old building technique whereby walls are constructed of short logs (log-ends) laid up widthwise in the wall within a special mortar matrix. The wall derives excellent insulation and thermal mass characteristics from insulation sandwiched between the inner and outer mortar joints. Cordwood houses are low in cost, use indigenous materials, and are easy and fun to build....

"Earthwood"

Cordwood masonry is also beautiful, combining the texture of stone masonry with the warmth of wood. This is "Earthwood", our round two-story off-the-grid cordwood masonry earth shelter, which has a 38'8" outside diameter, 16" thick walls and over 2,070 square feet of living space. In spite of the cold winters here in upstate New York, we mange to heat Earthwood and the surrounding outbuildings (including a sauna) with only three and a quarter full cords of wood per year, thanks to our energy efficient masonry stove and the high insulative value of cordwood masonry walls. Solar and wind energy provide electricity for our home and school year round without any connection to mass-produced and mass-distributed power.

If properly built, a cordwood structure provides natural, fire-retardant, mortgage-free shelter, is easy to build and will last at least one hundred years. It has been cited that cordwood buildings estimated at 1,000 years old are still standing in Siberia and Greece. Many new and older cordwood homes can be seen around North America, particularly in Wisconsin, Quebec and Ontario's Ottawa valley.

The Earthwood Building School is close-by several cordwood masonry homes in New York State. Workshops offered by the school include tours of these homes, in addition to hands-on building sessions, slide shows and demonstrations.

For lots more cordwood pictures, with captions, click on Cordwood Photo Gallery.