Single Mom Builds an Elegant Off-Grid Home

Welcome! I'll give you a complete tour of the off-grid, self-sustaining home that I designed and built. Together with my two young sons, a talented carpenter, and his wife, we created a home in the mountains of Colorado to demonstrate that living off-grid doesn't mean living without modern conveniences.

We built a home that incorporates:
🌻 Water harvesting,
🌻 Uses passive solar design to heat and cool our house for free - with the sun,
🌻 Heats our water with the sun,
🌻 Generates clean, regenerative power with a small PV solar array,
🌻 Recycles our greywater to grow an indoor jungle,
🌻 And has a composting toilet so that we recycle our waste back into the earth.

TIME CODES
00:00 - Introduction
01:09 - Benefits of an off-grid home
02:18 - Why I built an off-grid, sustainable home
04:23 - How we built an off-grid, sustainable home
05:53 - Why we built our house out of tires
06:42 - How I designed a Passive Solar home
07:38 - Building a home using recycled materials
08:02 - Building a water catchment system
08:41 - Our Indoor Greywater planter
09:17 - greywater system and composting toilet
10:02 - raising kids in an off-grid home
10:48 - modern convinces in an off-grid home
11:13 - tour of our off-grid home
13:42 - our composting toilet
15:53 - I believe anyone who wants to can build a sustainable home

At Sustainable Home Resource, we'll guide you step-by-step through creating a home you'll love, without the typical frustration, overwhelm, and costly mistakes.

🌻 FREE PDF Download: The Six Essentials of a Sustainable Home Plus Bonus - the Before You Buy Property Checklist:

📘 BOOK Twisted Oak: A Journey to Create a Self-Sustaining Life and Home by Kristina Munroe PE

💻 Online Video Course: Designing You Sustainable Home 101

[mackennabarry]

I'm a single mom, and I just fell in love with your channel. This is very inspiring to me and shows me that I could live this life too. I feel like I'm working against the wishes of my inner self by not living in a natural state of flow, with nature and myself. Thank you for sharing this video, you are such a lovely and pure being.

[dougal]

Thank you for sharing. Inspiring and enjoyable.

[SOrtwein-cgxc]

You're amazing!! I just found out on the alternative living channel! I'm a single mom as well with my son about to be out of the house. I'm paying $1200 a month for a 700sqft apartment with helicopter landlords. You have given me hope! I'm a teacher and work 2 other jobs just to make ends meet. Thank you!!

[kingrafferty]

Lovely. Got here from your van tour. Just great stuff.

[JV-qduf]

You are an amazing woman, I’m greatly interested in building an earth ship as you have done. What a great story u are an inspiration to us all. Congrats

[OurRetiredLife]

This popped up on my feed - What a wonderful story!

[heyjude]

Really love your advocacy. Someday, when I get to build my own house, I also want it to be eco-friendly and sustainable. 💗

[annfecteau]

I am a single mom as well, and I just want you to know I’ve watched your videos several times. Your story resonates with me so much. We’re also neighbors, I live in Dolores CO! I’m looking forward to reading your book and starting my own journey of being self sufficient! You’re my hero!!!

[mattkramer]

Beautiful home! Thought I’d mention the mommy patio is also a space that is warmer than the ambient temp in the winter and cooler than ambient in the summer. Kristina is an expert at understanding how to design with nature to maximize comfort with minimal expense!

[eva-uwde]

Hi
It is a joy listen to you and I love to find people around the world thinking in the same way we do.
My husband our 4 children our grandpa and I live in our selfbuild strawbale house, massive clay walls and floors inside and passiv solar like your home. Building it together was a journey and made our children very able to make things at a very young age.
Now the house empty with the children moving out and I love to think of an new build, smaller, more simple and in a very natural sourrounding.
But living in Germany with not so much space left we have nearly no place for legally offgrid living in nature.
I will have to leave middle europe to get the home and live the life I dream of.

[KevinRStrauss]

Wow! This is exactly how I'd like to live some day. I'm so happy I found your channel and look forward to learning from a pro.

[derekwadsworth]

What a beautiful home! It just looks cozy and warm inside and out. Build me one

[RoadsofLife]

Stunning!
Just found your channel from a recommendation on our Facebook RV group. Many of us are going with C-Head toilets for ease of use and sustainability.
Looking forward to seeing all the videos and being inspired by your adventure!
Be seeing you!

[patriciaburr]

I wat h your videos every week I can't believe I missed this video. I love this house!!!

[BenPowell]

Wonderful video! Very inspiring. I really, really want to build like this! Thanks for making this.

[barbrigelhof]

This is a truly inspirational home! We really can work with nature to create beautiful and most importantly comfortable living spaces. Amazing!

[vickiesweitzer]

This was great! I’m so impressed with what you built for you and your sons. I’d love to one day hear their thoughts on building their own home and growing up in a very different experience than most of their peers.

[L-love]

Thank you Kristina, You are so inspiring, Im a single mum of one child, 11. I also have a dog and a cat. I am an artist and a therapist and I would love to create an off the grid home. Thank you so much for sharing this, you are so inspiring. Your home is beautiful!!!
Kindest.

[sallyzabriskie]

Beautiful, Kristina, and inspiring. I love that you say at the end that there are ways to greatly reduce cost of building or owning a home without being entirely off grid. The beauty of your place speaks volumes, and that you are entirely self-sustaining is not only fantastic, but achievable, and an example sorely needed to break long standing building trends that are wasteful, toxic and/or unnecessary. Thanks for the tour! Great video!

[joanrussell]

this is truly amazing, I have so much admiration for your thoughtful design