These structures are all in Mason’s Bend, Alabama.
Some of these houses I don’t know the names of or stories behind, but…
I don’t mean this to sound terrible, but it almost seemed disrespectful for these weeds to be invading something that so many people had invested so much time and love and labor into.
Before he died, Mr. Harris, who owned the Butterfly House, took care of the garden here.
This is Lucy’s House – also known as the carpet house. It was built in 2002 and contains a family room that doubles as a tornado shelter. The walls are made out of 72,000 Flor carpet tiles.
This is the “Hay Bale House” which is also known as the Bryant house. It was finished in 1994 and was the first building completed by the Rural Studio. Before that, the Bryants were living in a shack without heat or plumbing and this house was built next door. The 80-pound hay bales were wrapped in polyurethane, placed in stacks, secured, and coated with stucco. After the house was finished, a student designed and built the smokehouse (out in front) from concrete rubble and discarded road signs.
…from this angle you can see the roadsigns in the ceiling and the bottles embedded in the walls to allow more sunlight in:
