Mud the Mesa: Affordable Housing Model
Launches May 2024
E.A.R.T.H.'s Mud the Mesa project seeks to address the issue of non-permited buildings within the Carson estates by offering affordable options for land-owners who want to build simple, safe permitted structures for themselves and their families who otherwise would not be able to afford a home.
A collaborative effort created by and for the Taos Mesa community, this project will involve local builders and architects in helping educate people about the accessibility of low-income, sustainable, earthen building techniques and housing amidst the unprecedented housing crisis in Taos, New Mexico. As rent prices rise, largely due to out-of-state property owners and the short-term rental boom, it is not uncommon to see people, even those born and raised in Taos, having to work two or three jobs to pay their rent and provide for their families.
We plan to build 1 community kitchen and 3 livable tiny-home structures on the Three Peaks Mesa over the course of three years on one 2 acre plot of land owned by E.A.R.T.H. 501(c)3 offering intensive educational workshops throughout this time so that anyone can learn to build their own home. A community garden, community well-access, and solar power will be a few resources within these community housing models.
Our nonprofit was donated a plot of land with a structure that will serve as our office/outpost. This land will also house a collective tool shed for our education builds.
Our hope for this project is that it serves as an example to landowners across the county who will see the accessibility of these affordable and relatively easy-to-build earthen structures in a community context and follow suit, building their own homes out of low-cost and sustainable material available affordably with blueprints that have been made accessible to them for free upon proof of low-income status. We hope that this will create more opportunity for people in need of housing, empowering them to build their own homes out of nontoxic and low-impact materials, creating more access to home ownership in an empowering and educational way.
All of the land utilized for this project will be protected under a land trust managed by our board of directors.
There will be month-long intensives throughout the year led by innovative local Taos builders and architects in the building of this project. Feel free to come for some or all of the intensive community effort and please contact us below to RSVP.