Mud and Wood

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Mud and Wood
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The Mud and Wood House

The Mud and Wood House was completed in 2011. Designed, built and lived in by Feile Butler, architect and Colin Ritchie, carpenter, the house was an attempt to explore many ideas; using natural materials - cob (earth and straw), timber, straw bale, earth plaster, hemp-lime, natural slates, timber windows, stone; using reclaimed materials - slates, flagstones, packaging plywood, bath, structural timber, floorboards, insulation and more; using local materials - stone, windfall trees (trees blown down in storms); proving that it is possible to build a contemporary, comfortable home using ancient materials and methods - that relying on technology and gadgetry is not always the best way forward and that there is a lot of wisdom to value in the old ways of doing things, particularly in the field of sustainability.
Country: Ireland
The house was designed and built by husband and wife team, architect Feile Butler and carpenter Colin Rtichie. It is located in the northwest of Ireland, nestled between the Atlantic coastline and the foothills of the Ox Mountains. Built from salvaged and natural materials, the embodied energy of...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the house viewed from the driveway. The three windows on the east gable all lead into bedrooms - so all of the bedrooms face the sunrise. The curved roof mirrors the profile of the Ox Mountains to the south. The house is designed to make the most of passive solar gain, with large areas of...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the southwest elevation of the house, gathering as much free light and heat as possible into the house. The dining area is located in the bright conservatory-like area on the ground floor. On the first floor, the large windows bring light into the kidney-shaped Sunset Lounge.
The Mud and Wood House
The house is designed on the principle of passive solar gain. The large windows in the dining area maximise the light entering the room. The free heat is stored in the thermally massive mud walls and floor. Yes, the floor is earth too, sealed with layer upon layer of boiled linseed oil. The wall...
The Mud and Wood House
The Family Room is divided into three areas: the dining area is surrounded by windows with a 9ft. ceiling - this is a bright and airy space; the lounge area focuses on the wood-burning stove (with backboiler - the only heat source for the 1400 sq. ft. house) - it is cosier with an 8ft. ceiling;...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the east window in the family room. Cob walls are very deep - 2 ft. deep in fact. The window openings are splayed, allowing light to expand into the room. Finished off with natural edge wood window boards, they become works of art in their own right.
The Mud and Wood House
The advantage to building mud walls is that one can carve into them. These are the bookshelves in the Family Room, finished with natural edge wood shelves.
The Mud and Wood House
All of the timber in the Mud and Wood House started out as windfall (storm-blown) trees in local forests and fields. The trees were carefully removed from where they lay, milled to a variety of thicknesses (e.g. 4" for door frames, 2" for kitchen counter tops, 1" for door leafs), and stacked on...
The Mud and Wood House
Detail of the elm kitchen in the Mud and Wood House. The timber started as windfall trees (trees blown down by a storm) in a local forest. The trunks were carefully removed and milled to various thicknesses (2" for the worktop, 1" for the cupboard doors and drawer-facings). They were air-dried on...
The Mud and Wood House
The circular stairs is at the heart of the house. The central trunk came from the photographer's, Steve Rogers, house, after it became unstable and a tree surgeon was called. The treads and risers are elm, which started out life as windfall (storm-blown) trees in a local forest. The tree trunks...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the landing at the top of the stairs in the Mud and Wood House, complete with child stair-gate made from hazel. A large roof-light allows light to pour down into the space. The glass blocks (on the right hand side of the photo) connect into the Sunset Lounge, allowing the glorious colours...
The Mud and Wood House
The living room is upstairs in the Mud and Wood House. This multi-purpose room is kidney-shaped. One half contains comfortable couches (which you can see here). The large triple-glazed window focuses on headlands marching away in the distance and the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Facing northwest,...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the other half of the Sunset Lounge, a kidney-shaped first floor living room with ocean, mountain and sunset views. This half of the room is very much multi-purpose - part playroom, part exercise room, part reading nook (there are book shelves and a bench tucked away behind those curves),...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the reading nook in the Sunset Lounge. It is tucked away around the corner. The book shelves and downlight were sculpted from mud. The light was designed to shine directly onto the page when you are sitting comfortably on the bench. The bench has an opening lid. Extra bedding is stored in...
The Mud and Wood House
The oak headboard was waste from a local floorboard factory. Because of the hole in the wood, it was not suitable for making floorboards - but it makes a most stunning headboard! The door was made using some left-over ash floorboards after friends laid a new floor. The support rails are elm, milled...
The Mud and Wood House
All of the bedrooms were designed to have east-facing windows. The master bedroom also has a large south-facing window to make the most of passive solar gain. The nook was carved into the wall and finshed with natural edge timber shelves. The douglas fir floorboards came from a 1960s school which...
The Mud and Wood House
This is the entrance to the kids' bedroom. The door frames make the most of the timber in its most natural state. The floor is mud, sealed with layer upon layer of boiled linseed oil.
The Mud and Wood House
Colin Ritchie's magical bunk beds would inspire any child's imagination. Built from milled planks of locally sourced elm, along with some hand-picked branches, the result is straight out of a fairy tale.
The Mud and Wood House
The bath was picked out of a skip. It had one small hole in it, easily fixed with fibre glass. The mural was carried out by friend and neighbour, Nik Purdy of Blow Designs. Using sign-writing paint on an acrylic-aluminium composite (used for external signs), it is completely waterproof. The lack of...
The Mud and Wood House
The guest shower room has an in-built vanity unit, made from windfall elm trees. The mirror was upcycled using left-over mosaic tiles.
The Mud and Wood House
The curved ridge line of the Mud and Wood House helps anchor it to the site. The gentle curve was inspired by the curves of the plan and shape of the Ox Mountains.
The Mud and Wood House