Our stay with them also gave us a chance to live in a almost circular cordwood home. There are a lot of advantages to living in a round home. It is the most efficient way to build a home - it requires the least amount of surface area to obtain the greatest amount of space. Not only that, it naturally makes the house more energy efficient. Next time you are out in the woods, take a look at how other creatures create their homes.
Most animals build round homes.
The advantage to Bun and Bear's house is the post and beam concept. Granted, this adds a bit to the cost of the home, but the benefit is that you get to work under the protection of a roof and it breaks up the cordwood building into sections. It also makes it easier to obtain building permits, since your post and beam structure is doing some of the load bearing. Building inspectors want to make sure that the house is engineered correctly.