Highland Hemp House offers hands on exploration of building with hempcrete homes

The Highland Hemp House is a unique hempcrete home in Bellingham, Washington.

Originally built in 1969, owner Pamela Bosch wanted to replace older, toxic building materials with something healthy, sustainable, and eco-friendly. The answer was hempcrete, made from combining the hurd (woody core) of industrial hemp plants with lime and water. Bosch hired Hempitecture to oversee a total hempcrete retrofit.

Previously, Hempitecture created a hempcrete retreat center at 7,468’ in Idaho’s Lost River mountains. Idaho Basecamp uses the center for yoga classes and other events to help people feel in touch with nature.

Hempcrete homes are healthier and more sustainable

Why choose hempcrete? Hempcrete is more breathable, making it healthier for occupants. Hempcrete is mold-resistant, pest-resistant, and fire-resistant. It’s carbon-negative, since it’s absorbs CO2 from occupants over time. Hempcrete is an energy efficient insulator, completely non-toxic and even has great acoustics.

The Highland Hemp House in Bellingham, Washington is a unique hempcrete retrofit. This 1960s home is being completely remodeled with hemp, becoming healthier, more sustainable, and carbon-negative along the way. (Courtesy: Highland Hemp House)

Best of all, Hempcrete is so easy to work with anyone can learn. To create hempcrete walls, builders first mix, then spread the hempcrete into forms. After it dries, the forms are removed, and the walls will naturally grow even more durable over time. Highland Hemp House is frequently open for workshops, tours, and hands-on building. So far, they’ve put in over 1150 hours of labor and poured over 587 batches of hempcrete.

As work continues, Pamela Bosch hopes Highland Hemp House will be “a physical testament to the beauty and potential in hemp building.”