The house was ready for an open house in August 1999 and has since been occupied by sisters and their family or friends who are making personal retreats. Phil said the process took about a year because they were diverting labor from elsewhere. The next such house will take less time because of all they learned building the first. Cement is applied to wire mesh over the straw on the building's exterior, leaving a textured surface. The building recently received a final layer of stucco and a final coat of paint and a back deck.
Additional landscaping is now in process.
Sister Jean said she thinks it was a great success and said the sisters who have stayed there would agree. The process of doing it was a little dirty and sticky and bad for my asthma, but when you get done with it, it has a really nice soft texture, like adobe or stucco. All rights reserved.