Colorado mountainside earthship for sale – I actually toured this one!

I was so excited to find this place near Idaho Springs (west of Denver Colorado) for sale earlier this week. Lupe and I had actually gone to see it on a solar/green homes tour in 2003! Back then we spoke with the owner about if she would ever sell it, but she was still in the building phase so not even considering selling at that time. But now… here it is on the market!

And really close to our price range! Currently listed at $180,000 this custom-built earthship home has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom in 1800 square feet on a 5 acre lot.

We fell instantly in love with this place… it may have even been the first earthship we ever saw. It is located on the side of a hill, surrounded by those gorgeous continental divide Rocky mountains.

The inside of this solar-powered earthship… is a hand-made work of organic art… exuding warmth, light and love for the earth, sun and mountains. (Can you tell I am hyped about it?)

This home is green-built and is a TRUE earthship house, not just an earth-bermed house.

What’s the difference you ask? Well, a true earthship structure is made with dirt-filled recycled tires, and this one near Idaho Springs was, in fact, built in that manner:

The outside walls are constructed with 1200 tires compacted with dirt and covered with 3″ of concrete. For plant lovers, a planter extends the entire front length of the inside of the home.

- from: http://www.stonegate-realestate.com/Real_Estate/ListingDetail.cfm?ID=581

When we went to see this house almost a decade ago (if I remember correctly) there were still some unfinished and exposed areas of the house that revealed the tire construction. Now, all you see is smooth finished undulating walls…

In this photo (below) you can kind of see the outline of the stacked tires beneath the concrete finish:

The hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom is on the “dark side” of the earthship (the part that is buried underground)…

The bedrooms are funky and each is a little different:

One thing you might have noticed, is that all the bedrooms and the bathroom are open to each other on the south end where the planter runs below the window wall. It’s great for air circulation… but not so great for privacy.

I see that they have curtains up in the open spaces of this earthship, but that would not stop my kiddos from verbally driving each other (and me) bonkers.

Shucks. I loved the place before I had kids. Now, I see that it is not the most practical place for us after all.

If you would like to read all the details on this unique home, see here and here.

As for me… well… my ballon is deflated.

My earthsip is sunk.