Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history

Maciej Jagielak

doi:10.37190/arc250207

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the technology of building with straw bales was invented in the 2nd half of the 19th century in Nebraska (USA). In the 1970s, this method of construction experienced a revival, followed by the export of related knowledge from the USA. However, there are sources of information on the basis of which this linear view of the invention’s history can be challenged and a more complex narrative could be suggested. The aim of this paper was to test the hypothesis that the history of straw bale construction as an invention is multifaceted and that the development of this building technology may have occurred independently in multiple regions around the world.

The research carried out included a critical analysis of the literature on the subject and source documents (including patents), as well as correspondence and interviews, all focused on identifying the earliest uses of straw bales in construction across different countries.

Based on the analysis of the collected documents and testimonies, it was confirmed that the history of the invention of straw bale building technology should not be viewed as a linear process with a single point of origin. Instead, it reflects a series of parallel inventions from various locations – some documented through patent applications, and others emerging through trial and error on building sites.

According to the documents, it should be considered that the invention of straw bale construction may have originated in Indiana, rather than Nebraska, as this state was the place of residence of the first patent holder. The method of using straw bales as infill within a purpose-built wooden frame was independently developed in France. The period of waning interest in straw bale construction took place between 1940 and 1970, although individual straw bale buildings were still being constructed then in the USA, Canada and Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, the export of know-how from the USA was not the only direction of the flow of information; for instance, the transfer of expertise from Canada to France has also been confirmed.

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Maciej Jagielak*

Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history

DOI: 10.37190/arc250207

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the technology of building with straw bales was invented in the 2

half of the 19

century in Nebraska (USA). In the

1970s, this method of construction experienced a revival, followed by the export of related knowledge from the USA. However, there are sources of

information on the basis of which this linear view of the invention’s history can be challenged and a more complex narrative could be suggested. The

aim of this paper was to test the hypothesis that the history of straw bale construction as an invention is multifaceted and that the development of this

building technology may have occurred independently in multiple regions around the world.

The research carried out included a critical analysis of the literature on the subject and source documents (including patents), as well as correspon-

dence and interviews, all focused on identifying the earliest uses of straw bales in construction across dierent countries.

Based on the analysis of the collected documents and testimonies, it was conrmed that the history of the invention of straw bale building technolo-

gy should not be viewed as a linear process with a single point of origin. Instead, it reects a series of parallel inventions from various locations – some

documented through patent applications, and others emerging through trial and error on building sites.

According to the documents, it should be considered that the invention of straw bale construction may have originated in Indiana, rather than

Nebraska, as this state was the place of residence of the rst patent holder. The method of using straw bales as inll within a purpose-built wooden

frame was independently developed in France. The period of waning interest in straw bale construction took place between 1940 and 1970, although

individual straw bale buildings were still being constructed then in the USA, Canada and Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s, the export of know-how

from the USA was not the only direction of the ow of information; for instance, the transfer of expertise from Canada to France has also been

conrmed.

Key words: straw bale architecture, natural building materials, vernacular architecture, low-tech, plant-based insulation

Introduction

Research problem and justification

It is generally accepted that straw bale building techno-

logy […] emerged in the late 1800s in the Sandhills region

of Nebraska where trees were scarce and the soils were

not suitable for building the prairie-sod homes (Tilt, Arkin

n.d.)

. Many people describe its subsequent development

in stereotypical terms, e.g.: […] Like democracy and jazz,

this uniquely American innovation has since been exported

to countries around the world (Tilt, Arkin n.d.).

* ORCID: 0009-0003-3398-6283. Faculty of Architecture, Cracow

University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: jagielakmaciej@gmail.com

The source cited should be regarded as exemplary. The descrip-

tion of Nebraska as the place of origin is found in all books known to

the author containing information on the history of straw bale building.

However, there are sources of information that chal-

lenge this linear view of the invention’s history and sug-

gest a more complex narrative.

Hypothesis, aim and scope of the research

The purpose of our research was to test the hypothesis

that the history of straw bale as an invention is multifac-

eted and that the development of this building technology

may have occurred independently in more than one place

around the world.

The temporal scope of the study was limited to the pe-

riod from the 2

half of the 19

century – marked by the

emergence of hay and straw bale presses in the USA – to

1992, which the author arbitrarily designates as the symbol-

ic end of the pioneering, experimental phase of the deve -

lopment of straw bale building. The study analysed infor-

mation from the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark,

70 Maciej Jagielak

Sweden, Norway and England – countries where interest-

ing data could be obtained. However, it cannot be ruled out

that examples of straw bale architecture were also deve-

loped in other countries during the selected period.

Outline of content

This article attempts to organise the numerous but scat-

tered clues in the literature regarding where the rst straw

bale buildings were erected and the circumstances of their

creation, along with data from patent documents. It also

analyses these sources to determine whether the various

described instances of the invention of straw bale building

technology (in its variations) were interconnected.

State of research

Scientic publications on straw bale technology are

quite numerous, but mostly deal with technical aspects.

Texts of a cross-cutting and historical nature are very rare,

so the main point of reference remains Roger Welsch’s 1970

ethnographic article and its subsequent versions (Welsch

1973; 2020).

Interesting remarks on the development of straw bale

architecture are presented by an Australian researcher in

her work on the history of the Solomit straw boards (Jolly

1998). A description of the history of straw bale construc-

tion in Polish can be found in the doctoral thesis Straw

bale, czyli architektura z kostek słomy w Polsce [Straw

Bale Architecture in Poland] (Jagielak 2023, 27–35).

Due to the nature of straw bale building, which devel-

oped “bottom-up” in the 20

century primarily as a do-it-

yourself construction method – the main sources of infor-

mation are press articles, manuals and handbooks. These

include, above all, those created by enthusiasts: the maga-

zine The Last Straw (published intermittently from 1992 to

the present day), and books such as The Straw Bale House

(Bainbridge et al. 1994) or Serious Straw Bale. A Home

Construction Guide for All Climates (Lacinski, Bergeron

2000). A concise, international overview of the subject can

also be found in Neues Bauen mit Stroh (Gruber, Gruber

and Santler 2012) and Podręcznik budowania z kostek sło-

my (Minke, Krick 2015) published in Polish

. Published

memoirs, interviews and other written or recorded state-

ments by individuals involved in the development of straw

bale architecture (Knox, Myhrman 2008) serve as an im-

portant source of knowledge.

Methods

The research carried out included a critical analysis of

the literature on the topic, as well as a search for individual

press mentions and information on websites – concerning

the earliest uses of straw bales in construction across vari-

ous countries. Information on the earliest patents on straw

The Polish edition of this book is referenced here, as the most

easily accessible in the country of publication of this article. The original

edition was published in German as Handbuch Strohballenbau, Grund-

lagen, Konstruktionen, Beispiele.

bale construction was obtained from the online patent data-

bases (https://patents.google.com/ and https://data.inpi.fr/).

Additional information was gathered by the author

through correspondence with individuals and institutions

involved in the creation of (and/or research on) early ex-

amples of straw bale architecture. The results of the re-

search in draft form were presented in a talk at the “Euro-

pean Straw Bale Gathering 2023” in Branderup, Denmark.

Following discussions after the conference, it was possible

to complete the data presented in this paper.

The analysis of literature and other sources (e.g., patent

database searches) and correspondence leading to the arti-

cle took place between January 2023 and December 2024.

The photograph of the oldest known house in Europe

with wall insulation inll made of straw bales was taken by

the author during a study visit in August 2015.

For the purposes of this paper, the author has assumed

that the term “straw bale” can, aside from its basic mean-

ing, also function as an abbreviated form of “straw bale

building technology” or “straw bale” construction” and is

occasionally used in these senses in this text

Although nowadays straw bales are commonly used to

build houses, in the historic buildings in Nebraska (from

1886–1940) hay bales

were mainly used, so it is more

accurate to call the construction technology of the time

“hay bale”. For the sake of simplicity, the author has as-

sumed that this early episode of hay bale building falls

within the much broader phenomenon of straw bale build-

ing, since the way of working with either material is virtu-

ally the same.

Results

The main result of the work is a chronologically ordered

database of the rst buildings (or references to them) and

patents on straw bale building technology. Also includ-

ed are a selection of major publications and conferences/

meetings that may have had a signicant impact on the de-

velopment of straw bale. The summarised results are pre-

sented in Table 1.

Using the timeline presented in Table 1, it is possible

to quickly nd points which do not align chronologically

or geographically with the commonly accepted, simplied

history of straw bale construction. The following section

presents an analysis of selected issues.

Nebraska, Indiana… or perhaps Kansas?

The earliest US patents on straw bale building date back

to 1880 and 1885, and the inventors ling them in both cas-

es were from Indiana. The rst known printed reference to

the building of a temporary straw bale school in Nebraska

A broader explanation of the terms related to straw bale building

for Polish speaking readers can be found in the doctoral thesis on straw

bale building in Poland (Jagielak 2023).

Which was due to local conditions – prairie grasses were a re-

source available in great quantities in that area. Hay from the late autumn

harvest, the least valuable for fodder but the best building material, was

used for construction (Welsch 1970, 21).

Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history 71

Table 1. Timeline of the invention and development of straw bale construction 1890–1992 (elaborated by M. Jagielak)

Tabela 1. Kalendarium wynalezienia i rozwoju budownictwa z kostek słomy 1890–1992 (oprac. M. Jagielak)

Origins of straw bale construction 1890–1940

Date Description Country/location Source

1880

J.M. Leeds patented the construction of straw bale buildings

(load-bearing use of straw bales in walls, i.e., loadbearing straw bale) (Fig. 1)

USA (inventor from

Kokomo, Indiana)

(Leeds 1880)

1885

William H. Orr patented the construction of straw bale walls

including compression with threaded rods and plastering (Fig. 2)

USA (inventor from

Carlisle, Indiana)

(Orr 1885)

1896 Construction of a temporary school building from straw bales Bayard, Nebraska, USA (Welsch 1970)

1897

Mention in the Australian Journal of Agriculture and Industry

of the possibility of building with straw bales [...] as in Kansas,

and of a barn in Australia (Fig. 3)

Australia

(+reference to many

buildings in Kansas, USA)

(South Australia

1897)

Circa 1900

Beginning of the period of popularity of straw bale building

in the Sand Hills region of Nebraska

Sand Hills region

(Nebraska, USA)

(Welsch 1970)

1903

George W. Pickin patented the construction of impregnated

straw bale walls with a method of compression and corner reinforcement

USA (inventor from

Eue Claire, Winconsin)

(Pickin 1903)

1905

John B. Clayton and Reno D.O. Johnson patented a composite wall and

roof construction in which straw bales are the infill of a concrete structure

USA (Missouri inventors)

(Clayton, Johnson

1905)

1920

First houses designed by Emille Feuillette, in which straw bales

were used to infill the timber frame

Existing: Montargis, Lille.

Probable but not certain:

Boulogne, Asine (France)

(Lamache 1921),

(E.W. 1921)

1921

Warren Withee built the only known house of this period in the USA

outside Nebraska. The building survived until at least the 1990s

Alsen-Fawnlville

(South Dakota, USA)

(Bainbridge 1994)

1922

Emile Feuillette patented a building system in France that included

timber elements in the form of trusses and straw bales or similar material

as infill (infill straw bale construction)

France (inventor from

Boulogne sur Seine)

(Feuillette 1922)

1923 Emile Feuillette patented his system in the USA

USA (inventor from

Boulogne sur Seine, France)

(Feuillette 1923)

1934–1938

Construction of the mansion of W.H. Burrit (construction time extended

due to fire in 1936). First example of the combination of timber frame

construction with straw bale infill in the USA

Hunstville

(Alabama,

USA)

(Herzog 1994)

Circa 1940

End of the period of popularity of straw bale construction

in the Sandhills region of Nebraska

Sandhills region

(Nebraska, USA)

(Welsch 1970)

Great pause 1941–1973

1943 The “Rulsche Hut” house – architect J.W.A. Gubbels Heeze (Netherlands)

(Czabanowski

2006, 90)

1944–1945 House “Huize Heivelden” – architect J.W.A. Gubbels Heeze (the Netherlands)

(Czabanowski

2006, 90)

Circa 1946 Construction of the modernist restaurant/dancing “The Lone Oak”

Lincoln area (Nebraska,

USA)

(Welsch 2020)

1950,

1953,

1955

Construction of several small buildings from straw bales

by Norwegian farmers; successively: stable, chicken coop, garage

Norway

(Piet Jensen,

email to author

23 August 2023)

1954

Construction of a straw bale church in Bad Heart on the initiative

of Pastor Francis Dales (description in press: 1960)

Bad Heart (Alberta,

Canada)

(Canada’s Historic

Places n.d.)

The beginnings of the straw bale revival 1970–1992

1970

Publication of an article by R. Welsch “Sandhill Baled Hay Construction”

in the Keystone Folklore Quarterly, in which he described hay

and straw bale constructions in Nebraska

USA (Welsch 1970)

Circa 1972 Bob Doolittle’s roundhouse; description in Mother Nature News (1973) USA (Doolittle 1973)

1973

Publication of an article by R. Welsch “Baled Hay” in Shelter,

which spread the knowledge that it was possible to build from hay

or straw bales, among those interested in low-budget construction

USA (Welsch 1973)

1974 The Hay House by Glen Gleason

Old Saybrook (New

England, USA)

(Lacinski, Bergeron

2000)

1976 Show house in the exhibition “ARARAT” at Moderna Museet Stockholm (Sweden) (Biernacki 1980)

1979 House of the organisation Le CUN Larzac (France)

(Bainbridge et al.

1994)

72 Maciej Jagielak

Table 1 continued. Timeline of the invention and development of straw bale construction 1890–1992 (elaborated by M. Jagielak)

Tabela 1 cd. Kalendarium wynalezienia i rozwoju budownictwa z kostek słomy 1890–1992 (oprac. M. Jagielak)

appeared in 1902 – it described a structure built in 1886

(Welsch 1970, 31).

As Bridget E. Jolly (1998, 31) mentions, it is also

known from an 1897 Australian publication that straw bale

buildings were being constructed in the state of Kansas

at the time. The article Buildings of Baled Straw (South

Australia 1897, 191) states: […] it has long been the prac-

tice to build barns and other farm erections with blocks of

baled straw, and even that there were many buildings of

this type in Kansas (Fig. 3). This issue denitely requires

further research.

Even more surprisingly, the text also mentions the con-

struction of barns with straw bales in Australia (one specif-

ic example is given – in the Goulburn Valley in the state

of Victoria, together with the indicative information that

the structure was built […] two or three years since, which

would mean a construction date in 1894 or 1895).

On the basis of an analysis of the documents referred

to above, it must be concluded that the method of erecting

buildings from straw bales was rst invented in the state of

Indiana, and that its authors were not anonymous pioneers,

but specic individuals known by name, who were su-

ciently aware of the signicance of the intellectual value

to have led patent applications (!). Of course, other sce-

narios cannot be ruled out on this basis, for example, one

that structures made of straw or hay bales had already been

erected in Nebraska earlier. On the other hand, the hypothe-

sis that knowledge of the invention from Indiana may have

been “carried” to Nebraska (and also Kansas) has both geo-

graphical and historical grounding – the west ward move-

ment of settlers continued throughout the late 19

and early

centuries. The area of the largest known concentration

of straw bale buildings in Nebraska, the Sandhills, was

designated for homesteading in 1904 (Welsch 1970, 17).

The existence of the aforementioned patent applica-

tions has been known in the straw bale building commu-

nity since at least 1998 – the year in which an article on

the subject was published in the The Last Straw magazine

(Raduazo 1998). However, it has not yet inuenced the

prevailing historical narrative found in numerous publi-

cations, in which the point of origin is in the Sandhills

(Nebraska).

However, an important unknown remains: did the pat-

ent authors put their ideas into practice? Did they construct

any straw bale buildings before making the applications?

And, if so, were these buildings constructed at their plac-

es of residence or elsewhere? The author does not know

the answers to these questions; however, some clues may

emerge from an analysis of the patent documents them-

selves. In the case of both the 1880 patent of Josiah M.

Leeds and the 1885 patent of William H. Orr, the descrip-

tions indicate a working knowledge of the material. It is

manifested, among other things, by the fact that informa-

tion about compression of the straw bales (and how to

control it) appears in the text. In the case of Leeds, the

patent description is formulated in the rst person (e.g.,

[…] I cut hay […]. In constructing my buildings, I set up

corner posts […]; Leeds 1880). It seems reasonable to as-

sume that both inventors carried out at least practical ex-

periments with making walls out of straw bales.

Incidentally, it is worth noting that the drawings accom-

panying the documentation contain errors and are less pre-

cise than the descriptions themselves (Figs. 1, 2). Leeds’

patent application is of a very practical nature and could

have served as a guideline on how to construct a basic tem-

porary outbuilding or dwelling using the simplest materi-

als and in a manner very similar to that used by settlers in

Nebraska.

The beginnings of the straw bale revival 1970–1992

Date Description Country/location Source

1979–1980 Experimental house “Biohaus” – architect Rudolf Doernach

(Hennef-Süchterscheid

Germany)

(Minke, Krick 2015)

1981 The home of Athena Swentzell Steen and Brian Reeves

Santa Fe

(New Mexico, USA)

(Bainbridge et al.

1994)

1981

Architect Jon Hammond’s house and studio

(described in a popular article in Fine Homebuilding in 1983)

Winters (California, USA)

(Bainbridge et al.

1994)

From circa

1984

Louis Gagne’s construction and testing, in which tested a method

of erecting the walls of buildings with straw bales and cement mortar

Quebec (Canada) (Gagné 1986)

1988–1989

Construction of the home of Steve and Nenna McDonald

(described in Permaculture Drylands in 1988)

Gila (New Mexico, USA)

(Myhrman, The Last

Straw 2022)

1989 Meeting of straw bale enthusiasts in Oracle Oracle, Arizona, USA

(Hammett, Hammett

2022)

1989 and

1991

Study trip by Judy Knox and Matts Myhrman to Nebraska

to confirm the durability of straw and/or hay bale buildings

Nebraska, USA

(Hammett, Hammett

2022)

1991

P.L. Brown’s article “Houses the Cows Would Love to Eat”

on new straw bale buildings published in the New York Times gains

unprecedented popularity and is reprinted in many countries

USA

(Myhrman, The Last

Straw 2022)

1992 First issue of the The Last Straw magazine Tuscon, Arizona, USA

(The Last Straw

n.d.)

Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history 73

Subsequent patent applications were for other, more

complicated methods of building and stabilising walls and/

or roofs using straw bales, but these were not widely used

in practice.

Nebraska as the cradle of technology

– “Nebraska” as a type of construction

Welsch identied 1900–1940 as the main period of hay

bale development in Nebraska (Welsch 1970, 33). As part

of his research in the late 1960s, he found information or

heard references on about 75 buildings (Welsch 1970, 19).

In addition to houses and farm buildings, he also learned

of other structures, such as a church in Arthur, a large car

garage and even hangars for farmers’ aircraft (Welsch

1970, 26–29). In the early 1990s enthusiasts of the practi-

cal application of straw bale building set out to follow in

Welsch’s footsteps. Judy Knox and Matts Myhrman found

only some of the buildings indicated by Welsch during

their travels in 1989 and 1991, but additionally came across

others, not described in his article (Knox, Myhrman 2008,

ca. 5:30 min).

Fig. 1. Figure taken from patent no. US225065 filed by

J.M. Leeds; errors are notable:

A – the straw bales are too large in proportion to the building,

B – the walls are not of the correct thickness,

C – the corners made of boards support the ring beam,

which is contrary to the information presented in the description

of the invention, that this beam is to be laid on the straw bale wall

and that the corner posts can be removed after the walls

have settled under the load of the roof,

D – the drawing does not show that the corners should be

solidly fixed at the bottom, as mentioned in the patent description

(source: Leeds 1880, elaborated by M. Jagielak)

Il. 1. Rycina pochodząca z patentu nr US225065

zgłoszonego przez J.M. Leedsa; zwracają uwagę błędy:

A – kostki słomy są zbyt duże w proporcjach do budynku,

B – ściany nie mają właściwej grubości,

C – narożniki wykonane z desek podpierają belkę oczepową,

co jest sprzeczne z przedstawioną w opisie wynalazku informacją,

że belka ta ma być ułożona na ścianie z kostek słomy

oraz że słupki narożne można usunąć po tym,

jak ściany osiądą pod obciążeniem dachem lub stropem,

D – na rysunku nie pokazano, że narożniki powinny być

w dolnej części “solidnie umocowane” (o czym wspomina opis)

(źródło: Leeds 1880, oprac. M. Jagielak)

Fig. 2. Figure from patent no. US312375 filed by W.H. Orr;

note the unusually small straw bales in the drawing, other notes:

A – there is no information about lintels or boxes/frames

for window and door openings,

B – even with the smaller-than-typical dimensions of the straw bales,

the possibility of making the ring beam from a single wide plank

is seriously questionable in this case, as the forces occurring

in compression with threaded rods are considerable,

C – there is no mention of the use of foundations in the description

or drawing, which is a serious deficiency for buildings other

than temporary ones (source: Orr 1885, elaborated by M. Jagielak)

Il. 2. Rycina pochodząca z patentu nr US312375

zgłoszonego przez W.H. Orra; na rysunku zwracają uwagę nietypowo

małe kostki słomy, pozostałe uwagi:

A – brak informacji o nadprożach lub obudowach otworów

okiennych i drzwiowych,

B – nawet przy mniejszych niż typowe wymiarach kostek słomy

możliwość wykonania belki oczepowej z jednej szerokiej deski

budzi w tym przypadku poważne wątpliwości,

ponieważ siły występujące przy kompresji za pomocą

gwintowanych prętów są znaczne,

C – w opisie ani na rysunku nie ma wzmianki o zastosowaniu

fundamentów, co jest poważnym brakiem w przypadku budynków

innych niż tymczasowe (źródło: Orr 1885, elaborated by M. Jagielak)

74 Maciej Jagielak

whether the inventor knew that straw bale buildings were

already being constructed in the USA during that period.

Jolly (1998, 19–24) considers that the solution proposed

by Feuillette is a further development of the construction

methods known and used in the USA. However, this has

little bearing on the evaluation of his invention

: he was the

rst to propose the use of straw bales as inll between the

elements of a ttingly designed wooden frame (Figs. 4, 5).

Similar solutions are now referred to in literature as “inll

straw bale”. The known buildings erected by Feuillette had

two overground storeys, presented high quality both tech-

nically and aesthetically, and were adapted to the urban

or small-town locations in which they were constructed.

When rendered, they visually resembled masonry build-

ings and, in terms of thermal insulation of the walls, they

had superior properties than those built using other com-

mon technologies of the time. Jolly (1998, 20) hypothe-

sised that the solutions proposed by Feuillette could have

been more widely adopted during the reconstruction of

areas destroyed during World War I. This guess was based

only on the warm reception of the invention by the press

and on an awareness of the immense housing needs of that

time. In conclusion, it should be noted that there is no con-

rmed information that the ideas of the French inventor

found a direct continuation in France or other European

countries or in the USA. Nevertheless – the ling of the

patent application in the United States may have been

a moment of intercontinental knowledge transfer. Unfor-

tunately, it seems that engineer Feuillette’s invention was

forgotten for many years, and the “revival” of straw bale

construction in France only began at the very end of the

1970s, triggered by an external impulse.

In doing so, the author proposes to take the construction described

in the patent and implemented in buildings in Montargis and Lille (Tur-

coing) as the basis for evaluating Feuillette’s system. Such a narrowing

down is needed because the patent documentation contains mixed de-

scriptions and illustrations of two not fully compatible solutions. One

of them is in line with that used in the mentioned houses. The other is

a kind of hybrid between the inll and load-bearing use of straw bales

and, from today’s perspective, seems far less practical (Fig. 4).

The buildings erected in Nebraska diered in details of

construction, including the orientation of the straw bales in

the wall, the use or non-use of mortar between the bales,

and the manner in which window openings were made.

However, they had some essential features in common:

straw bales were used as load-bearing elements (like bricks

in a wall) and were often plastered (at least in the case of

permanent buildings). This type of straw bale construction

is called “load-bearing straw bale”, “Nebraska-style” or

simply “Nebraska”.

The demand for straw bale structures dwindled as oth-

er building materials became increasingly available. After

1940, virtually no such structures were built in the San

Hills area any more. The Lone Oak Inn may be considered

to be the swan song of this period of development. It was

probably built in 1946 – outside the Sandhills, a few miles

from Lincoln (Welsch 2020). It was a two-storey build-

ing designed in the modernist style and was the rst clear

demonstration that straw bale building technology could

be applied not only to the erection of small rural buildings,

but also to public buildings. Sadly, it was demolished in

2012 (Welsch 2020).

From South America to Europe or vice versa?

The early 1920s saw another interesting episode in the

history of straw bale building. In 1920, the rst buildings

France. These were probably the rst European examples

of the use of straw bales in construction and, at the same

time, the world’s rst combination of modular wooden

structure and straw bales.

Shortly after construction, the building in Montargis (La-

mache 1921) was featured in La Science et la Vie (along

with numerous photographs of the construction), and four

buildings were mentioned in “Le Génie civil” (E.W. 1921).

Two of these still exist today – in Montargis and Lille (Fa-

bienne Pasquier, email to the author, February 14, 2023).

The engineer patented his solution in France (Feuil-

lette 1921) and in the USA (Feuillette 1923). The author

has not been able to nd conclusive evidence to conrm

Fig. 3. A straw bale barn

from Kansas (author unknown;

source: South Australia 1897, 191;

scan made by the National Library

of Australia, at the request

of M. Jagielak)

Il. 3. Stodoła z kostek słomy

w Kansas (autor nieznany;

źródło: South Australia 1897, 191;

skan wykonany przez

National Library of Australia,

na zlecenie M. Jagielaka)

Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history 75

The rst straw bale insulated timber-frame building in

the USA was a mansion built between 1934 and 1938 in

Huntsville, Alabama. Its owner, William H. Burrit, claimed

in a 1950 newspaper interview that the method of erecting

the house was inspired by his personal experience of the

properties of straw to provide insulation against heat (Her-

zog 1994, 25). If he was indeed unaware of the buildings

constructed in Nebraska or France, he may be considered

another contender for the title of inventor of straw bale

building technology. All the more so, as the building incor-

porated a number of solutions not found elsewhere.

The great pause. The discontinuation of straw bale

building in Nebraska, new developments

in Canada and Europe

According to the typical narrative of American authors,

there was a pause in straw bale development after 1940s,

which did not end until the 1970s, when straw bale build-

ings were discovered and described by Welsch. However,

this break between the 1940s and 1970s was not complete.

Several isolated instances of straw bale building from this

period have been documented.

Between 1943 and 1945, in Heeze, the Netherlands,

during wartime restrictions and shortages of building ma-

terials, two houses were built from straw bales, designed

by the architect Johannes W.A. Gubbels (Czabanowski

2006, 90). There is no available data to support a link be-

tween these buildings and earlier developments in the USA

or France. However, it is worth noting that Heeze is only

200 km away from Lille, where one the houses built earlier

according to Feuilette’s design is located.

Another isolated case is the construction of a small

church from straw bales in Bad Heart, Alberta, Canada, in

1954, at the initiative of the experienced builder and pas-

tor Francis Dales (Canada’s Historic Places n.d.). It is not

known whether he was inspired by earlier buildings in the

USA, and if so, which ones. Information about it was pub-

lished in 1960 in the Grassland News newspaper owned by

the agricultural machinery company New Holland (Welsch

Fig. 4. Figures from patent no. US1454110 filed by E. Feuilette:

A – Figs. 1–3, 5 show a structure in which the truss posts “b” are spaced one straw bale “g” apart

(the module of the structure and the sizes of the bales are coordinated), this solution was used in practice in Montargis and Lille (Turcoing),

B – Fig. 4 view of the wall (left) combined with cross-section (right) show two different solutions. The distance between successive posts

in the wall is unspecified, but it is at least four bales lengths. The bales (“g”) are laid staggered, as in Nebraska, but with the addition

of horizontal wooden elements (longitudinal “r” and transverse “p”) to reinforce/stabilise the wall together with plaster reinforced with steel mesh

(source: Feuillette 1923, elaborated by M. Jagielak)

Il. 4. Ryciny z patentu nr US1454110 zgłoszonego przez E. Feuilette’a:

A – Figs. 1–3, 5 pokazano konstrukcję, w której kratownicowe słupki “b” rozmieszczone są w odległości jednej kostki słomy “g” od siebie

(moduł konstrukcji i rozmiary kostek są dopasowane do siebie), to rozwiązanie zastosowano w praktyce w Montargis i Lille (Turcoing),

B – Fig. 4 widok ściany (po lewej) połączony z przekrojem (po prawej) pokazują dwa różne rozwiązania. Odległość między kolejnymi słupkami

w ścianie jest nieokreślona, ale wynosi co najmniej cztery długości kostek. Kostki (“g”) są układane z przesunięciem,

jak w Nebrasce, przy czym dodatkowo wprowadzone są drewniane elementy poziome (podłużne “r” oraz poprzeczne “p”),

które mają wzmacniać/stabilizować ścianę razem z tynkami zbrojonymi stalową siatką (źródło: Feuillette 1923, oprac. M. Jagielak)

76 Maciej Jagielak

2020). The article may have been another example of inter-

national transfer of knowledge or inspiration.

In the 1950s and 1960s, at least four simple straw bale

farm buildings (stable, poultry house, garage, storehouse)

were built in Norway (Piet Jensen, email to the author, Au-

gust 23, 2023). These were small, in some cases temporary,

structures erected by farmers. What is remarkable here is not

only their creation, but also the fact that the architect Piet

Jensen managed to nd and record information about them.

The revival of straw bale in the USA and beyond

The 1970s

The eld research carried out by Welsch was the initial

impetus for bringing back into use the methods of straw

building practised in early 20

century Nebraska. His

work was published – rst in Keystone Folklore Quarter-

ly and then in Shelter, a publication that achieved great

popularity in the counterculture movement

. The book,

full of photos and drawings of traditional, vernacular and

DIY architecture from all over the world, has become an

important source of inspiration for many people looking

for a way to cheaply build a house with their own hands

and live close to nature. Sold in considerable numbers and

reprinted many times, it also found its way to Europe. At

rst, the article by Welsch’s in this publication triggered

modest actions. Individuals scattered across the USA built

some (mostly small, often temporary) structures out of

straw bales. Often they had only that one-page text from

Shelter or other articles

as a guide – or even just a ver-

bal message that it was possible to build with straw. The

only straw bale house of this decade in the USA known

to the author, well documented in the literature (Lacins-

Including the “Back to Land” movement.

E.g., in Mother Earth News or Permaculture Drylands magazines.

ki, Bergeron 2000, 25–27), and still existing today, is the

“Hay House” in Old Saybrook (David Brown, email to the

author, 4 September, 2023).

As in the USA, experiments with building with straw

bales were also being carried out in other countries during

this period. In 1976, such a house formed part of the

“ ARARAT” exhibition at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet.

The event was controversial and much attended by the

public (Jansson 2015). Interestingly – photographs of the

house from the exhibition even appeared in the Polish pe-

riodical Architektura (Biernacki 1980, 89, 90).

The author managed to nd a note stating that during

a search conducted in Canada in 1978 Jorg Ostrowski was

able to document several existing straw bale buildings, be-

side the church in Bad Heart (ASH-Autonomous… 2011).

In 1979, the rst straw bale house in France was built

after many years’ break (Bainbridge et al. 1994, 14). Lo-

cated on the Larzac plateau, it was an illegal building

(without a permit) – the work of members of the pacist

organisation “Le CUN”. They learned the building method

themselves, by trial and error, on the basis of just a verbal

hint that it is possible to build with straw. The information

came to them from Canada (Hervé Ott, email to the author,

February 17, 2023).

Between 1979 and 1980, an experimental “Biohaus”

house designed by Rudolf Doernach was built in Hen-

nef-Süchterscheid, Germany (Minke, Krick 2015, 13). The

author was unable to nd out whether the designer was

aware of the existence of other straw bale buildings at this

stage. However, the solution used suggests that this was an

experiment not supported by an understanding of the ma-

terial’s characteristics – the straw bales were covered with

foil, which led to fungi growth and decomposition (Gernot

Minke, email to the author, August 23, 2023).

These examples of buildings scattered around the

world, and mostly not very impressive, illustrate the phase

of slow development by trial and error, preceding the straw

Fig. 5. Interior of the building

“Maison Feuilette” in Montargis:

in the foreground, the “truth

window” providing a glimpse

inside the wall, on some

century-old straw bales

(photo by M. Jagielak, 2015)

Il. 5. Wnętrze budynku Maison

Feuilette w Montargis:

na pierwszym planie „okienko

prawdy” zapewniające wgląd do

środka ściany, gdzie znajdują się

około stuletnie kostki słomy

(fot. M. Jagielak, 2015)

Straw bale building – a sketch of the invention’s history 77

bale revival proper. At that time, the object of international

transfer was not so much the technology of building with

straw bales, but the basic information and the very idea

that it was possible.

If one takes into account the lack of developed networks

and the absence of manuals – it can be hypothesised that

many people were “inventing” the ways of building with

straw bales for themselves during these years. A similar

situation continued in the 1980s.

The 1980s

According to some sources, the actual watershed mo-

ment for the popularisation of straw bale building was

linked to an article published in 1983 in Fine Homebuild-

ing magazine. The text described a house and studio by

architect Jon Hammond (Tilt and Arkin n.d.) that had been

built two years earlier. A small building plastered in white,

with gently rounded corners and other sculpturally shaped

elements, aroused enthusiasm of numerous male and fe-

male readers and, for a long time, established the idea of

the desirable characteristics of a straw bale house.

Experiments with dierent ways of building were car-

ried out parallelly in Canada by Ostrowski in Alberta and

Louis Gagné, Francois Tanguay, Clode Deguise, Clement

Doyer and Michel Bergeron in Quebec, among others (La-

cinski, Bergeron 2000, 16). Gagné developed his own sys-

tem of building with straw bales with wide cement mortar

joints between. Bales were laid without staggering vertical

joints to create a “concrete grid” as a load-bearing struc-

ture (Gagné 1986), which was somewhat reminiscent of

the technology described in a 1905 US patent (Clayton,

Johnson 1905). Given today’s knowledge of the buildings

physics, this solution can be judged as a dead end in the de-

velopment of straw bale. However, it is possible that these

were the world’s rst straw bale building experiments con-

ducted in collaboration with governmental institutions.

Francis Tanguay’s role is not widely known but certain-

ly important as he also lectured and provided training in

France in 1985, 1987, and in 1989 (Bainbridge et al. 1994,

14). This was the rst known example of an organised, in-

tercontinental transfer of knowledge about straw building,

predating similar events in English-speaking countries.

It’s worth noting that the beginnings of the coordination

and organisation of the straw bale community in the US

did not come until the late 1980s and early 1990s. Of the

earlier period, Matts Myhrman said: It was not a revival at

that point at all. At the most it was dozens of people who

had built a handful of Nebraska-style buildings, many done

in Cochise County (Arizona) or other areas that required

no building codes (after: Hammett, Hammett 2022).

Early 1990s

It was not until the early 1990s that the straw bale com-

munity in the USA consolidated to such an extent that the

rst manuals could be published, education organised and

eorts made to include the technology in building codes.

There was also a noticeable increase in press publica-

tions about straw bale building. An illustrated text, print-

ed in colour, on the front page of the section on houses

in the New York Times, was a real milestone (Myhrman,

The Last Straw 2022). The interest generated by the ar-

ticle provided the impetus to accelerate the development

of straw building in the USA. The text was reprinted by

newspapers in many countries, which helped to promote

the idea of accessible straw bale construction. In 1992, the

rst issue of The Last Straw was published, a magazine

that became an important forum for the exchange of infor-

mation on straw bale construction – not only in the United

States, but also internationally. This moment was arbitrari-

ly regarded by the author as the symbolic end of the pio-

neering phase of straw bale building. At the same time, it

was not the end, but rather the beginning of the dynamic

development of this technology.

Summary

On the basis of the available documents, it can be con-

cluded that the invention of the technology of erecting

buildings with load-bearing straw bale walls was made by

J.M. Leeds from Indiana. It is therefore likely that the place

of invention was the state of Indiana and not Nebraska.

Nebraska, specically the Sandhills region, remains

the only known area where straw bale building technolo-

gy was applied on a larger scale in the 1

half of the 20

century. It is also the only known place in the world where

a group of such buildings has withstood the test of time,

and served as a source of knowledge for subsequent gen-

erations of builders.

The building technology of inlling a specially de-

signed frame structure with straw bales was invented in

France. The inventor, Emile Feuillette, led patent appli-

cations both in France and the USA. His solution – also

implemented in practice – diered signicantly from that

used in Nebraska.

During the period of waning interest in straw bale con-

struction between 1940 and 1970, individual straw bale

buildings continued to be built. Examples are known from

the USA, Canada, the Netherlands and Norway. Whether

these cases are connected remains unclear. It is possible

that some represent independent reinventions of the build-

ing method, developed without awareness of prior exam-

ples and patents.

In the 1970s and 1980s, attempts to build with straw

bales were made in various places around the world. Some

of these follow publications originating in the United

States, for others there is no such certainty. In the 1980s,

innovative experiments with dierent ways of building

with straw bales (including faulty ones) were carried out

extensively in Canada, and there are also documented ex-

amples of knowledge transfer from Canada to France.

Conclusions

The analysis of the timeline presented in Table 1, to-

gether

with the detailed description of selected events and

periods of development of the technology, leads to the con-

rmation of the thesis that the history of the invention of

straw bale building technology is multifaceted and should

not be seen as a linear process with a single starting point.

This is because it is made up of many inventions – both

78 Maciej Jagielak

those conrmed by patent applications and solutions

discovered on building sites and improved by trial and er-

ror, typical for vernacular architecture.

From the rst patent applications, it is possible to identify

at least two countries where straw bale construction tech-

nology has been invented, or rather two dierent technol-

ogies: in the USA, the load-bearing use of straw bales, and

in France, the inll use of straw bales. The available doc-

uments also show that the invention of load-bearing straw

bale was made by Leeds, who was from the state of Indiana,

not Nebraska. At the same time, it is worth remembering that

Nebraska is rightly regarded as the cradle of straw bale con-

struction since it is the place where this method of erecting

buildings went beyond the phase of isolated experiments.

In addition, the research results include instances in

which straw bale technology was rediscovered by people

building either with no information at all about the exis-

tence of earlier buildings constructed in this way, or with

only hints on the subject at their disposal.

This paper describes selected situations in which knowl-

edge transfer occurred (or could have occurred) between dif-

ferent centres of straw bale building development. Although

the collected information of this kind is incomplete, it con-

rms that the export of know-how from the USA was not

the only direction of knowledge transfer and inspiration in

the development process of straw bale construction.

The location of other early straw bale buildings should

be a subject of further research, which should include also

countries not covered in the article. The interrelationships

between successive instances of the invention of the tech-

nology combined with a detailed tracing of paths of de-

velopment and exchange of knowledge (especially in non-

English-speaking areas) could form another promising

topic for in-depth study.

For researchers in sociology and history, it might be in-

teresting to trace the social, economic and legal conditions

that led to the intensive development of straw bale con-

struction in certain regions at specic times.

The history of the evolution of straw bale building tech-

nology, including types of construction, ways of organis-

ing construction or the tools and materials used, requires

a separate study.

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Streszczenie

Budownictwo z kostek słomy – początki historii wynalazku

Powszechnie uznaje się, że technologia budowania z kostek słomy (straw bale) powstała w 2. połowie XIX w. w Nebrasce (USA). W latach 70.

XX w. rozpoczął się proces odrodzenia tego sposobu wznoszenia budynków, a później – eksport wiedzy z USA. Istnieją jednak źródła, dzięki którym

można poddać krytyce tę linearną wizję historii wynalazku i naszkicować obraz bardziej złożony.

Celem badań było sprawdzenie hipotezy, że historia wynalazku straw bale jest wielowątkowa oraz że powstanie tej technologii budowania mogło

nastąpić niezależnie w wielu miejscach na świecie. Przeprowadzone badania objęły: krytyczną analizę literatury przedmiotu i dokumentów źródłowych

(w tym patentów), korespondencję, rozmowy ukierunkowane na poszukiwanie pierwszych zastosowań kostek słomy w budownictwie w różnych kra-

jach. Dane zostały podsumowane w formie tabeli.

Na podstawie analizy zebranych dokumentów i relacji potwierdzono, że historia technologii budowania z kostek słomy była wielowątkowa i nie

powinna być postrzegana jako linearny proces z jednym punktem początkowym. Obejmuje ona wynalazki pochodzące z różnych miejsc i te potwier-

dzone zgłoszeniami patentowymi, i te odkrywane w warunkach budowy i doskonalone metodą prób i błędów. Biorąc pod uwagę dokumenty, należy

uznać, że miejscem wynalezienia budownictwa z kostek słomy mógł być stan pochodzenia autora pierwszego zgłoszenia patentowego, czyli Indiana,

a nie Nebraska. Wynalazku polegającego na zastosowaniu kostek słomy jako wypełnienia odpowiednio zaprojektowanej konstrukcji drewnianej doko-

nano we Francji. Okres zaniku zainteresowania budownictwem z kostek słomy przypadł na lata 1940–1970, mimo to pojedyncze budynki straw bale

wciąż powstawały w USA, Kanadzie i Europie. W latach 70. i 80. XX w. eksport know-how z USA nie był jedynym kierunkiem przepływu informacji,

potwierdzono m.in. transfer wiedzy z Kanady do Francji.

Słowa kluczowe: architektura z kostek słomy, naturalne materiały budowlane, architektura wernakularna, architektura low-tech, materiały izolacyjne

pochodzenia roślinnego