by Edward Gossett
We toured the Earthship community in Taos, New Mexico.
Full tour of Multiple builds. A night in one.
We stayed in the Encounter Earthship. Locals call it Atlantis.
That morning? Sunrise on the swing. No road noise. No fridge hum. Just still air and warm light.
Inside Encounter
This model is deep.
Twenty-eight feet from greenhouse to back wall.
Full tire U's curve around a central hallway.
The master bedroom sits in the far back.
Closet wraps behind the bed.
Walls are plastered smooth. The light stays low.
With Curtains drawn, the living room becomes a movie den. It's pitch black inside. From the next room can barely hear a loud movie.
Newer models like the Refuge are shallower; around 21 feet deep.
They use double greenhouses:
One layer traps heat. The second insulates and balances.
Result? Consistent 70°F — with barely a degree swing.
The Encounter has no buffer wall.
You get space, but you have to manage airflow yourself.
Curtains open. Vents shut. Air tubes blocked.
Previous guests left it that way. It hit 82°F inside.
It would’ve held 70°F.
You just have to open the vents and close the curtains.
They all have manual venting, double greenhouse models do better, with less manual intervention.
Rear rooms stay cooler in the deeper models. The hallway and back utility/storage room were moderate to cool.
Earthship Systems Working
Rain hits the roof.
It flows to cisterns. Then to sinks. Then into planters.
Greywater feeds the toilet flush.
Solar panels charge batteries.
Lights, fridge, and hot water — all off-grid.
At the visitor center we found a solar dehydrator.
No plugs. Just sunlight and airflow.
Tulsi, oregano, and chives dry on screens in a metal box.
Earthships breathe through buried tubes.
Hot air rises and escapes out top vents.
Cool air is pulled in from behind.
The house acts like a lung.
Other Earthships We Explored
The Towers
Two-story design. Spiral stairs. Bottled light.
Tire walls hidden under plaster.
EVE
An early experiment.
Two stories. Strange lines. Still standing.
Survival Model
Small, cheap and fast to build.
Designed for emergencies or raw land.
Refuge Model
Simple. Efficient. Newest design.
Full Systems, & cheapest per SQ FT after Survival Model.
They’re building more now.
Design Takeaways
Every one was different.
Doors, pumps, tile, layout; all unique.
What stayed the same:
Tire walls. Rain catchment. Solar power. Planters.
The Earthship model blends passive solar with permaculture.
You trap the heat. Store your water. Grow a salad by the sink.
Thermal mass balances temperatures.
Ventilation breathes for you.
Everything runs from the sky.
Final Thoughts
There’s a difference between quiet and peace.
Earthships don’t just block noise. They absorb it.
Encounter felt honest. Functional.
Every piece had a reason.
Earthship Biotecture doesn’t sell houses.
It shows how to build them.
Off-grid doesn’t mean giving things up.
It means choosing them.
And for one sunrise on a swing, we lived it.
