Except for adobe in the Southwest, earthen building is virtually unknown here. In other parts of the world, cob and similar techniques have been popular for millennia. Throughout Western Europe, many of the picturesque stuccoed or whitewashed buildings are actually made of cob. In England there are tens of thousands of comfortable cob homes, many of which have been continuously inhabited for over 500 years. The durability and comfort of these valuable houses has sparked a renaissance in traditional cob centers such as Devon, where cob homes are again being built.
Cob is very resistant to weathering.
Because of its porous nature, it withstands long periods of rain without weakening. In windy areas a lime-sand plaster is traditionally used to protect exterior cob walls. No building system is earthquake proof under every seismic condition, but part of the Great Pyramids and the Great Wall of China are made of earth. The oldest inhabited structure in the U.S., Taos Pueblo, is earthen construction. A cob mansion in Nelson, New Zealand has survived without a crack, two major earthquakes which destroyed the town around it.