By Deb Peterson | Photographed by Deb Peterson | Construction photographs courtesy of Lynn Stokes | See gallery at end of story
Deep in the heart of the Natural State, with a panoramic view of the Buffalo National River valley, an earthship perches on a mountaintop. There are no electrical lines tying the hobbit-like home to the grid. It is warmed by the sun and powered by the wind. The roof funnels rainwater into a 4,000-gallon cistern. The home’s walls are shaped around cans, bottles, and 1,460 discarded tires.
Like an ocean-going ship, an earthship home sustains itself and its inhabitants, containing most of what its owners need for their journey through life.
This earthship, crafted lovingly by Lynn and Bob Stokes, has a name—Dreamcatcher. And it is exactly that for the couple, the captured dream of a retirement focused on renewing, recycling, and reusing.
“I’m a wannabe Indian,” says Lynn Stokes.
Lynn’s friend, Melissa Johnson, helped her decorate the home in the colorful Southwest hues Lynn had chosen. “We need to love and respect what we have on this earth, to use what’s here and leave a small footprint.”
Lynn and Bob were vacationing in the 90s when they met realtors Mac and Nancy Watts, who sold them a mountaintop near Harriet. By 1999, the Stokeses had moved from Texas and were living in a camper while planning their retirement home. Lynn heard about actor Dennis Weaver’s earthship home, designed by environmental visionary Michael Reynolds. She ordered books and videos, and began to weave a dream.
“I contacted Dennis, and he was very encouraging,” Lynn says. “He talked about coming out for the house opening. I was not aware that he had advanced cancer at the time. Few people knew what a great advocate he was for all things green and for saving the earth.”
With her homework done and her plan drawn, Lynn launched her earthship adventure. Bob was away at work most of the time, so Lynn, retired from her career as a commercial artist, was foreman.
“She’s got the vision,” Bob says.
The Building of Dreamcatcher
It’s important to situate an earthship home so that it works in harmony with the environment. In Lynn’s original plan, the expanse of front windows provided a stunning view of the Ozarks from every room in the house. Rooms are U-shaped, opening to a shared hallway and a bank of tall, triple-paned windows. A friend in the building industry reviewed the plans and cautioned Lynn and Bob about leakage and the greenhouse effect.
Lynn called Michael Reynolds for advice.
“The first thing he asked me was, ‘What’s your longitude and latitude?’” Lynn says.
Reynolds helped Lynn determine exactly which direction their earthship should face based on their exact spot on the globe, and advised them to install their windows with zero angle. The view had to go.
Dreamcatcher now sits so that, in the heat of the summer, the sun travels directly over the length of the home, east to west, and the eaves on the south side are the perfect width to keep blistering rays out of the home. In winter months, sunshine floods through the south-facing windows, and the heat is stored in beautiful rock structures in the main hallway.
But we’re ahead of ourselves.
With the foundation clearly marked, and in the right place, Lynn got to work arranging for delivery of the tires that would form the foundation and walls. She worked with the Arkansas Environmental Protection Agency to ensure environmental safety. She hired a crew of workers and taught them how to pack each tire with 280 pounds of earth. It was hard work, and only two of the nearly three dozen young men who comprised the crew over time, John and Michael, stayed with the project to the end.
Lynn found local lumber and local rock; some of it harvested from their own mountaintop. She hired Ozark Construction to build the roof and finish the front, which is covered in EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish System), a lightweight synthetic material developed to rebuild Germany after World War 2.
Lance Raglan of Marshall built beautiful interior and exterior rock walls, a Mexican sun on the front porch, and the exterior of the radiant thermal mass fireplace in the living room. The fireplace radiates heat for 12 hours. Lynn wanted a large iron pot rack to hang above the U-shaped island in her kitchen, and was about to give up that dream after receiving high estimates when Lance said, “I can build that for you.”
Friend Sarah Remetch helped Lynn build the tub in the master bath using cans. Lynn designed bottle art in the walls.
“You have to find bottles that are exactly the same size and color,” she says.
The tops are cut off the bottles, the raw edges of matching bottles are taped together, and the bottles are built into the wall in flowing shapes, letting magical light through.
Lynn created a dreamcatcher mosaic in the floor inside the front door.
Wind and solar power provide all the electricity Lynn and Bob need for modern comforts—computers, Internet, television, phones. Lynn cooks with propane gas.
“We watch our wattage,” she says, “and turn things off when not using them.”
“Our total power consumption equals that used for a normal washer and dryer,” Bob says.
Last summer when temperatures stayed in the 100s for months, the couple added heat pumps that require only eight amps.
“Two cool the whole house,” Bob says.
BioLet composting toilets use a natural process to transform human waste into a nutrient-rich product that is emptied outside once a month.
A critic of the project once declared there was no way the home was going to be level.
“It’s 100 feet by 40 feet,” Bob says, “and it’s off only one-quarter of an inch from the front right to the back left.”
Dreamcatcher’s Spirit
One beautiful day toward the end of construction, Lynn relaxed on the porch with her Cherokee friend, Diane Hyman, enjoying the expansive view.
“For nearly an hour, a pair of eagles flew out over the river valley and up over the house,” Diane remembers. “It’s quite something to see them together like that. The Cherokee say it’s a blessing that means ‘home’. Lynn really took that to heart. It was a pretty good sign that she was on the right track.”
Lynn still gets goosebumps when she remembers the day.
She feels the energy of the Native Americans who once lived on her mountain and in the caves just below the ridge.
“The vibration in this house, and the spirit that fills it, go back to the Indian way of respecting and caring for the earth and its animals,” she says. “We are caregivers.”
Lynn expresses that sentiment in everything she does, from the flowing energy she incorporated into her bottle art and mosaics, to the clothing she chooses, the jewelry she designs, and the way she nurtures her beloved schnauzers.
“The dogs are my center,” she says. “I’m an animal lover.”
Spend a few minutes with Lynn and Bob Stokes, and it’s abundantly clear that Dreamcatcher’s spirit comes not only from its surroundings, but from the people themselves.
“People ask if we’re newlyweds,” Lynn says, laughing. The couple married 42 years ago after knowing each other only nine days.
They’re committed to walking through the world with love and generosity, helping neighbors however they can, teaching the wisdom in renewing, recycling, and reusing.
“A day that goes by when you don’t do something for someone is a day wasted,” Lynn says.
“We are not the kind of people to let the world go by,” Bob adds.
While the couple is protective of their privacy, they also believe in educating others about the value of earthship living. They’re excited about the possibility of partnering with area schools and offering tours so students from grade school through college can learn about the benefits of living green.
“I hope we can inspire people,” Lynn says, “to use what’s here and not more.”
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M! April/May 2013
Carri Rencher
hello i live 100 percent off the grid right now! built my own motorhome to live in working on collecting tires all the stuff I need to build me my own earthship home. I am on social security so money does not stretch. but I know I need help to build this earthship home is there anyway you know that i might get help for me? you can’t find my facebook page under my name I do have a pictures of what I have done so far . I have 3 wind generators in the air and 25 amps solor so far. i finally got me a concrete mixer! been collecting aluminum cans and plastic bottles! so I got a good start. I am 60 years old. I have disabilities that slow me down but dos not stop me. I do not know how to post a photo of what I got down here but on my facebook page you can them there.
Thankyou!
Carri
KE6BPZ
kathy stokes
very proud of my brother, bobby stokes and his artistic wife, lynn, cudos to both of them for the many yrs of labor to make their dream home come true.
Rod Wickman
My deceased bro in law Paul Barker, brought us to visit. He did block work. Do you have any pics of him in action?
Catherine
Hello- I’m very interested in building an Earthship in Arkansas for my retirement. I’ve still got about 15 years to go, but as you get older 15 years doesn’t seem as long! I contacted the company for information and they discouraged me to build it because they are designed for a desert location and Arkansas would be too humid and I would have mold problems. Not the answer I was expecting! I would love advice from the only people I know of in Arkansas that have built one! And I’m very curious about why you did not include the green house in the front which I would think was one of the most important components to making it all work for sustainability. I would love any advice!
Paul jj Alix
I’m out researching right now on the road. I’ve been visiting some friends in Northern Arkansas in the Bull Shoals Lake watershed. I’m in Theodosia right now and I’m going to be looking in Northern Arkansas at some earthships to get some better understanding. The premier area that I like is in the Buffalo River Valley. So I’ll be in Jasper after some time to see what I can find out there. If you have any ideas let me know I’d love to be your neighbor. I’ll also be heading down to New Mexico to see the village of Earthships to better understand how they’re built.
Nancy Canning
Hi Catherine’s, I am moving to arkansas to build earthship style house as well. Water is issue but its doable mold same. I’m using form of aircrete and a low dome shape roof. I’m looking for land. Your welcome to come…we could build two one for you one for me. Mine will have greenhouse but it will be modified to adapt to the heat and temp and sun in arkansas. We dont have the cold that is in new mexico. Migomoose. Gmail
Nancy Canning
Me too let’s get together. Migomoose. Gmail
Nancy Canning
Please get me in tough with the two in arkansas. I would make a third. I’m looking for land as well. Thanks nancy
Nancy Canning
Oh…I raise schnauzers as well. Email and I will send you pictures of my kids. Dont have but 3 litters a year. Great dogs. Love them dearly. They sleep with me at night. Spoilt rotten
Lynn Stokes
It took 15 years of working when we had enough money to hire a few boys. I do not advise taking on this project without a steady income. My husband work to finance this project.
The indoor green house front was a problem for us because it required a moist environment. Our earth ship is sealed so tight it required dehumidifying .WE installed Mitsubishi air conditioners to cool, heat and remove moisture.
The tires, when installed correctly function very well. In fact they are more stable than the conventional walls. I do have some pictures of Paul at work here. He was a jewel!!He set blocks and I handed them off to him.
Lynn Stokes
I have several pictures of Paul Barker
need your contact info
Amy Holstine
I was their server tonight at Colton’s, in Mountain Home, Arkansas. It was an honor to wait on Lynn and Bob. It was Bobs 73rd birthday!!! The are my new favorite people ever! Loved her love for animals and they told me all about the home they built! Leaving out exactly how gorgeous the home was! Omg beauty, talent, and recycling! And her love for animals! I definitely meet my soul family! Thank you guys it was a pleasure!
steve barth
Hi Nancy. I am in the same boat as you three. I am a retired engineer currently in Florida but have done many trips to NW Arkansas looking for a place for an off-grid, earthship, earthbag type of structure. I just missed out on a place in Newton County with the aspect I was looking for about 4 years back. Then got a call to help a family member but am ready to go back on the hunt. I have narrowed things down to Carroll, Madison, Newton and Boone counties. The first three don’t require building permits unless it is right in town. Boone County says they are required within city limits OR a subdivision which could be anywhere in the county.
Jase
I am very interested in learning from these lovely people. How could I contact you? I live in Rogers AR.
Jase
Lynn, I want to learn how to do this. I am considering buy land in Bella Vista. I am 30 years old and would love to learn what it takes to build a similar home here in AR for a man wanting a home for a family. Please contact me!
Jase Childers
870-200-0037
Jase.Childers@gmail.com
Ryan
Hi Lynn,
I am also in Arkansas and have been considering using tire bales to build my house. How did you find working with ADEQ? Did they require a full plan before they would allow you to use tires to build with? I’ve reviewed their regulations and it seems like they require quite a bit of planning, engineering sign offs, etc in the beneficial use requirements. Thank you in advance.
Lynn Stokes
Thanks to all that have voiced interest in an earthship. I started with Mikel Renolds books and designed from there.He is located in New Mexico.
I can tell you that this is labor intensive. It will require a team of able bodied people that are not afraid of a sledge hammer.My home took over 12 years to finish and a broad learning curve.In this way we got into our retirement dream home debt free.
My schnauzer showmen friends call me “the schnauzer with a bulldog mentality”.
Never give up on your dreams and start on a foundation of knowledge.In doing this you will save money and your back.
Lynn Stokes
Amy Creasey
Hello Mrs. Stokes. I love you earthship it looks amazin. My husband and I are looking into building an earthship, we would love to talk with you and get more information about your experience.
Stephanie Shaw
Lynn and Bob, I am so glad you were able to accomplish your dream home.I live in NW Arkansas. I have been researching for years about building mine. I haven’t decided exactly what I want yet as far as house design, I’m thinking a simple more traditional build. My main concern is humidity and quite honestly aesthetics. I know I want solar power probably tied into the grid so I can sell my excess back to the electric Co. Definitely rain catchments. I would also like to reuse my grey water to water an orchard but I’m not sure what kind of hoops I would have to jump through to make this work with the GOV. I am reading the sustainable backyard right now and it has given me so great tips and things to think about as I consider my design. Thank you for sharing your journey!
Katherine Dixon
I am interested in tire bales also. Mostly because I don’t think I could pound dirt into too many tires.
Tamara Barrett
Hi Nancy!
I may be out on a limb here. I’m looking for vacant land in the Ruidoso, NM area. Are you the owner of 200 Country Club Drive? There is a lot for sale at 214 Country Club but it’s an upslope and I’m not sure that will work well for me in my retirement.
Thanks!
Tamara