At first glance, there is nothing special about this house: an ordinary two-story brick facade with a balcony supported by columns.
But if you go around the building from the back side, it turns out that it has no other walls, but instead a huge earthen mound has been poured.
This unusual building was designed in 2006 in Clinton, Maryland, USA by Formworks Buildings Inc., which specializes in the construction of eco-friendly homes, partially or completely hidden under the earth.
This energy efficient mansion can withstand just about any weather. From above it is covered with a meter layer of earth, and on the sides the layer thickness reaches 7.5 meters, which provides excellent insulation.
The living space of 300 square meters contains three bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and utility rooms. There is a garage for two cars on the side.
The owners call the only drawback of such a house the lack of natural light, but this inconvenience is more than offset by other advantages of the "earthen house".
Monthly bills for heating and other utilities are only $ 150, which is 90 percent less than the cost of the same services in other homes. Thanks to the comfortable microclimate, it is warm in such a house in winter and cool in summer.
A house from a height cannot be distinguished from a simple hill.
