Useful links and recommended reading

 

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Recommended books and journals

Of the many books and articles I read before starting this project, I can particularly recommend:

¤ The Straw Bale House by Athena Swentzell Steen, Bill Steen, David Bainbridge with David Eisenberg (Chelsea Green Publishing Company) – the bible for anyone intrigued by or seriously interested in the idea of building with straw bales

¤ Build it with Bales by Matts Myhrman and S.O. MacDonald (Published by Out on Bale and distributed by Chelsea Green) – a good no-nonsense step-by-step guide to building with straw

¤ Straw Bale Building by Chris Magwood and Peter Mack (New Society Publishers) – the best and most practical step-by-step guide available

 

 

Links to other useful sites

http://www.la-maison-en-paille.com is the site of André and Coralie de Bouter, whose straw bale house in the Charente, France was the first I saw in this country. The de Bouters run various courses and workshops (mainly in French) and are particularly good on the subject of rendering with clay.

http://www.strawbalefutures.org.uk is the site of Amazon Nails, the company of women roofers and straw bale consultants founded by Barbara Jones, who is probably the UK’s leading authority on building with bales.

 

 

Suppliers’ and miscellaneous sites

http://www.c-e-s-a.fr– St. Astier supplies a whole range of limes for rendering

http://www.barthe.fr– Barthe is a small family-run business that makes beautiful terracotta floor tiles

http://www.araltec.fr– Supplies extruded aluminium guttering in several different colours

http://www.southernsolar.co.uk– Guidance on and installation of solar panels

http://www.TheAppleOrchard.com– Imports lovely French oak tables and chairs

http://www.reddisplays.com– Metal cassette, CD and record shelves in a wide range of colours

 

 

http://www.shelfstore.co.uk– Easy-to-assemble pine shelving system for a huge range of uses (from simple bookshelves to desks and wardrobes)

http://www.ecospaints.com– Healthy breathable paints that don’t use solvents and come in a range of really nice colours

http://ww.holkhamlinseedpaints.co.uk– Beautiful durable and healthy paints imported from Sweden. They use linseed oil rather than solvents as their base

http://www.kinetico.co.uk– Supplies our incrediblycompact water softener

http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk– The most comfortable office chair I have ever been fortunate enough to sit in

http://www.choicebedrooms.com– Make and fit elegant space-saving sliding wardrobes

http://www.npdltd.com– Paul Cerronio makes quirky kit-lamps and imports wooden flowers and wire creatures from South Africa

http://www.ingrid.uk.net– Ingrid Squirrel bought our old house in the Corrèze. A really talented sculptor, she gave us our lady’, which stands on the covered balcony