The tiny house is not just useful; it’s also really pretty inside. It has artistic sculptures on the walls, a wall made of recycled bottles, and big windows that face south from floor to ceiling.
This cozy getaway was built with more than 200 recycled tires filled with dirt and arranged in a half-circle to form the main wall of the cabin. This wall is covered with a mound of dirt, which helps keep the inside temperature steady all year by storing heat from the sun.
To keep the inside temperature comfortable, there is a wood stove and heated floors for the cold months. When it’s hot, there’s a simple air conditioning system.
This system cools the air by moving it through a pipe under the dirt mound at the back of the house and then back inside at a cooler temperature.
The metal roof is slanted to collect rainwater better (the gutters weren’t installed when we visited), and the roof’s front edge provides shade to keep the house from getting too hot in the summer.
The house uses a 1000 Watt solar power system located behind the cabin to run the heated floors, the air pump, the lights, and the electrical outlets.
In the earthship, there is no toilet or shower inside. Instead, there’s a separate outhouse toilet and a shared shower area for all the eco-lodges, similar to what you might see at a campground.
Terrasol is one of many small green buildings at Terra Perma that people can rent for vacations. These buildings are a great way for visitors to see what it’s like to live off the grid in sustainable, hand-built structures.
Besides the earthship, there’s also a mini cob and straw bale house, two yurts, a tiny house, and a mini cordwood cabin.
Terra Perma also sells lots on their property for those who want to live in this permaculture community full-time. They offer opportunities for eco-friendly businesses, too.
Mat and I met Elan from Terra Perma at a tiny house festival in Lantier, Quebec, in July 2016. We changed our filming schedule to visit and film the unique buildings he was working on in Harrington, Quebec, Canada.
We stayed in our van at Terra Perma for two nights, explored their small sustainable buildings, swam in their private lake, and tried their homemade maple syrup!
To find out more about Terra Perma and their eco-lodge rentals, you can visit their website at http://terraperma.ca/en
You can follow Terra Perma on Facebook at this link: http://facebook.com/terrapermaqc
If you want to stay in the Terrasol mini earthship, you can rent it on Airbnb here: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/9540250
