Emma has lived without electricity, water or the internet for two decades. Her way of living is shocking to some.
Emma and her family bought a farm in Wales, UK decades ago. They felt an urge to live more simply and connect with nature. So they started making little huts on their land.
The first huts fell apart. But whenever a hut collapsed, Emma rebuilt them, learning new techniques all the while.
Eventually, Emma moved into one of the huts permanently, cutting herself off from the modern world.
The hut that she’s lived in for the last 20 years uses straw bales for the walls. These bales are lined with plaster that she made herself, with her own secret recipe.
To protect the plaster from the rain, she also constructed a large overhang.
On top of this overhang is a layer of rubber membrane. And on top of this is a layer of grass and other plants.
The interior of the hut is four meters wide.
Emma says that she tends to spend as much time outside of the huts are possible. For her, they’re mostly for sheltering from the rain.
The inside is one large circular room. The large windows have no curtains, meaning that Emma wakes when the sun comes up.
The wall is supported with a wooden pattern that looks a lot like a spiderweb. It’s called a reciprocal frame roof. Each rafter sits on top of another one, giving it strength. The roof also has 13 rafters, to match with the number of moons in a year.
Emma sleeps under a handmade woolen mattress on top of a bedroll.
She also built a fire place within the structure. This fireplace is facing roughly north, as that is the coldest direction, in the Northern Hemisphere. Emma uses the fireplace for cooking as well as heating.
It may take a long time to boil water in that fireplace. But Emma also points out that as she does not have to pay a gas or electricity bill, in some ways she gains more time for herself, as she is not a “wage slave.”
There are no countertops in the hut. Instead, Emma just uses a chopping board on the floor.
In fact, Emma has tried to avoid as much furniture as possible. She doesn’t get why people want to raise themselves off of the floor in a modern home.
Additionally, there are no cupboards in the hut. Everything she owns is either on shelves or hooks or the floor.
And naturally, there is no bathroom or shower in the hut. Instead, Emma collects water from a nearby waterfall and bathes in that.
She does have an outside bathtub. She heats this by lighting a fire underneath.
But sometimes, she bathes by swimming in a river. She also collects rainwater from the roof with buckets.
Emma has also built an exterior composting toilet. It is located on a little cliff looking into a forest.
This home cost Emma only around $1,400. She is living life on her own terms. Many people would not want to live like she does. But who are we to judge her choices?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
