Life
Mom Builds Teenage Daughter Off-Grid Home For $10K Using Straw Bales
This is not what I was expecting at all. 😯
Jake Manning
06.17.25

Shalina Luna and Ben Griffith had their kids’ futures in mind.

They purchased a plot of land in Ignacio, Colorado, with the intention of eventually building a home there for their kids once they became adults.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

Now that Joli Galvan had reached adulthood, it was time to make that dream a reality.

The couple constructed an eco-friendly, self-sustaining home using straw bales coated in cob, all built atop a concrete foundation measuring 34 by 17 feet.

The house features three different partitions that they built in segments.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

The rooms on both sides are 12×14 feet, while the middle room is 6 feet wide for the kitchen and bathroom.

One side of the house is the study area; the other is the living room and loft bedroom.

They want the house to look rustic yet cozy – something that their young daughter would love to live in for the rest of her life.

What’s fantastic about this straw bale house is it’s entirely off the grid.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

They use solar panels to power everything in the house, including an electric pump under the kitchen sink to use the water they haul in.

While the bales are good with heating the home, they have a solar-friendly ceramic heater on standby when it gets extremely cold in the winter.

They also built a cob hot tub powered by a wood-burning stove.

Shalina and Ben also sourced their materials from their land or nearby.

Their budget for this house was $10,000. After four weeks, they finished Joli’s lovely home.

You can see how the cob looks perfect with the timber they used for the upper half of the house, and it gives off that farmhouse feels.

The bottle wall and glass panels added a unique touch to the look.

The bedroom looks perfectly cozy, and the view outside the loft bed is stunning.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

Below is the living area with enough space to add more seating if Joli wants to invite guests over and hang out.

The stairs leading to the bed were tall enough for her, and storage spaces were allocated on each step.

The kitchen was to die for! It has all the pretty accents which add character to the house.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

That sink was an absolute stunner and blended perfectly with that wooden countertop.

Shalina presented to her daughter some kitchenware handed down from generation to generation, which was a pleasant surprise.

That bathroom may look small, but it has everything she needs.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

Shaline joked that it was called an “inhouse” instead of an outhouse because it is indoors, but they applied the same concept.

The toilet works like a composting toilet, while the water source is in a jar beside the sink.

Lastly, the beautiful study room looks conducive to focus and study.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

There’s a stylish red chair and an antique dresser right beside it.

They also carved out some compartments where Joli could place her books which she fondly called “book nooks” because they felt like one.

It’s a brilliant addition for someone who loves to read.

YouTube - Discovery UK
Source:
YouTube - Discovery UK

Their unique home-building experience was showcased in an episode of the Discovery series “Building Off The Grid.”

You won’t believe how thrilled Joli looks as she walks through her brand-new house!

Watch the whole process of building Joli’s straw bale home in the video below.

Please SHARE with your friends and family.

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