The Jemez Springs Riverside Earthship - 1 bedroom Earthship $379,000

Streamside earthship and greenhouse dome combo where you can open the windows to hear trout filled San Antonio Creek rushing through your land.  Dome perfect for growing food. The Earthship shell is complete, but awaits a kitchen and bath - finish to your desires.

The river full of trout splits the 1.54 acres property. The southern exposure suits a solar home.  No Covenants or restrictions give you lots of opportunity to do whatever you wish.  Two tracts of neighboring land are for sale with another broker if you wish for more land. The Santa Fe National Forest borders two sides including the southern side, meaning private views from home into forest forever without potential of neighbors  blocking the view.

Video of this home

The above video gives a complete view of this earthship.

Location

Home Tour

This rare, one of a kind lush riverfront location, pristine and private, borders national forest on two sides. Its location as the highest developed piece of land on stream means that you can hike out your front door along river up and into the wild wilderness. The 7,850 foot elevation results in a thickly forested area with spruce, fir, pine, aspen and oak. The property is a lush green oasis during spring, summer and fall. Tons of wild/native plants on the property include, thousands of of iris in late spring, wild roses in early summer, gooseberries in mid summer, wild strawberries, and a host of other alpine type wildflowers and plants. The landscaping includes over twenty producing fruit trees, including apples, plus, apricots, pears and cherries and a 75 foot row of Raspberries and Blackberries. Shrubs and trees include over a dozen lilacs and over fifty young young aspens. Columbines and Strawberries sprinkle the entire property.

The home consists of both an earthship joined to geodesic greenhouse dome.  The front door above sits steps away from the river.  It contains 2200 square feet of structure, including 1300 square foot passive solar home, 900 square foot Atrium greenhouse dome Property 3/4 fenced for dogs Behind two locked gates for security. 

Here you see the entrance door with a large Pella operable casement window next to the it.

Details of the Earthship Section:

It consists of brand new unfinished construction measuring 1300 square feet and is enclosed. The seller estimates that it would require $5,000 - $20,000 to bring to a finished level with systems. Every aspect of construction from the first tire to now is fully documented with photographs. Much time and money has been spent to do everything in a top of the line, totally first class manner - no corners cut.  The front face framing rests on a heavy duty "versa lam" manufactured beam, providing much more solid strength durability than many earthships that use a viga or truss, plus allowing a true square front face.

Upon entering the house, you enter the first of two of the tire alcoves or "U"s.  The alcoves each measure 14' x 18'.  The greenhouse is 10' wide.  A kick-up design gives it a higher ceiling than most earthships with of height of 12'. This gives a very "atrium" type feeling when walking in, and not the "cavy" feel some earthships with low ceilings have. A large section framed at 45 degrees sits ready for a Solahart hot water heater which is included with the sale to be installed. A 10' wingwall/mudroom lies on the east side.

Hand carved vigas create the rustic and beautiful New Mexico style ceiling, decked with locally harvested rough cut lumber.  This creates a far more attractive than a typical truss roof many earthships use. A super-insulated roof gives rating, of around R-80 for the alcoves, and R-50 for the greenhouse hallway.  The seller used larger-than-normal tires - 16 inchers for most courses - meaning tons of work for him, but results in an earthship with lots of thermal mass. Dug in around 3' the back is bermed, and should be a lush green carpet within a year or so, as things grow like crazy on this property, due to the rich, black soil and abundant moisture.

Each alcove has a skylight and a large Pella, operable casement window on the side. In the east alcove, this would allow sleeping with a full sound of the stream, in the west alcove, you can easily peek out and see if someone is driving up into the property.

South facing windows bring in both sunlight and views of the surrounding spruce and fir trees.  Since the Santa Fe National Forest borders the property to the south, it protects these views from future development.  The front face is glazed with 8' x 4' panes of double paned insulated glass units. Redwood frames the front of earthship, using a very time-consuming and expensive, method that requires using a table saw and carving out glass stops directly onto the wood.  In the seller's opinion, this small detail makes a huge difference is the quality of earthship front faces, and will make it last longer, and look nicer.  The west alcove features a handcrafted dormer built in, with another Pella, operable casement window.

This door leads from the earthship to the dome green house.  The seller proposed the area to the right of the door to be the bathroom and the area to the left a systems area.

The Greenhouse/Atrium Dome

This 880 square foot, 33' diameter dome, 16' high ceiling, is a state-of-the-art greenhouse, with many features not found on cheaper types including five-layer poly carbonate glazing which provides an R-3.2 insulative value, and ia surface tough enough to walk on. It includes north wall reflective insulation, an insulated perimeter and foundation wall.  Solar power operates the cooling vents/fans, roof vents, a water fountain, and an under-soil heating/cooling system. 

Inside, the 2000 gallon water tank provides thermal mass and stores water.  A woodstove gives backup heat.  This Dome works as both a greenhouse, for year round growth of fruits, flowers, veggies, etc, and as a sunny atrium space. It has the potential of using this space for another bedroom, laundry, another bathroom, etc., with 880 square feet of space.

Systems

Heating:  The home comes with a high-quality brand new  a Vermont Castings Dutchwest wood stove to supplement the passive solar heating.

Water heating: A Solahart, Solar hot water heater comes with the home.  This brand new unit still sits in the box and is included in the sale of the property.

Water: The seller built and designed the roof for water catchment into a 3000 gallon cistern, with an additional 2000 gallons of water storage in the dome. Much time and money went into the roof construction, which the final layer consisting of pro-panel, with a EPDM rubber alleyway to catch the water, and two filters before the water gets into the cistern, to keep the water fairly clean before it reaches a future Water Operations Module which further would filter the water to potable standards. Water is plumbed into the home, ready for filter system/pressure tank.