Santa Cruz County groups plan straw bale tiny home village to address housing crisis
By Jacquelyn Quinones
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SOQUEL, California (KSBW) — Local organizations in Santa Cruz County are working together to build a straw bale tiny home village next to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church on Cabrillo College Drive in Soquel, aiming to address the housing crisis and climate challenges.
Just Places, in partnership with People First, is reviving a building method from the 1800s to construct the homes.
“It was developed in the 1800s by farmers who had no resource for wood, so they saw these bales and realized they’re like building blocks the way kids play with Legos, etc. So they started stacking with bales and built really substantial homes and churches in Nebraska in the 1800s, and some of those homes are still standing and occupied,” said Michele Landegger, a general building contractor.
Landegger began building with straw bales in 1996 and has completed more than a dozen homes, along with several studios. His projects range from 1,200-square-foot spaces to 4,000-square-foot conference centers, all within Santa Cruz County.
“The reason we’re building with straw now is that straw is a biogenic carbon sequestration. It can hold carbon and draw it out of the atmosphere and hold it for its entire viable life of its use,” Landegger said.
Landegger and her team at Just Places are stepping in to help address the need for housing in Santa Cruz County.
The plan is to build a small village of LEED-certified cabins constructed from straw bales.
These thoughtfully designed homes are intended for very low-income residents, offering not just shelter but stability and a path forward.
“They have the land, we have the idea and inspiration to do it, and so we talked with them and said, ‘Hey, do this,’ and they were really receptive,” another contractor, Kita Glass, said.
According to Landegger, this project will be a step forward in combating the homelessness issue in Santa Cruz County.
“It’s affected lots of people I know in lots of different ways. It’s really hard to pay rent here, it’s really easy to lose your housing, and even if you’re in a house, you’re affected by it in all kinds of different ways,” Glass said.
The team still needs to raise at least $300,000 to cover the cost of the project. They will host two fundraisers this weekend, and according to Just Places, if they raise the necessary funds, the project could be completed within four to six months.
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