So Let's Pretend You Are Going To Build a House to Last 1000 years....

[bripat9643]

How would you do it with available materials while controlling costs?

Conditions are
1) cant be over $150/square foot.
2) Cant be made of toxic materials
3) Has to pass building code in most places int he USA
4) has to be pleasant to see (dont want our eternal home to be burned down by angry naighbors weilding pitch forks)

Timber framed houses look like the best and easiest answer, but how many builders make that kind of house anymore and what would you do to get standard blue prints modified to use Timber frames?

Are there cheaper ways to avoid rusting metal joins and plates without going back to 14th century technology?

I am open to any suggestions as my wife and I are looking for ideas to make our house last as long as a house can reasonably be made to last and passed down in the family.

Heavy timber homes have become very popular. There are numerous heavy timber structures still in existence today that are well over 1000 years old. A builder will design the home for you. You don't modify standard blue prints to use heavy timbers. The house should be designed from the ground up to use heavy timbers. They provide a lot of design flexibility that just isn't available with stick frame construction. Heavy timber homes are beautiful, especially on the inside.

I agree but finding one for Western Virginia is the problem.

West Virginia Timber Frame Homes and Floor Plans

 

[Dajjal]

I thought of building a house using granite kerbstones as bricks. It would make a virtually indestructible house, with thick walls. But I expect the cost for the kerbstones would be prohibitive.

 

[HaShev]

An old acquaintance of mine came up with a brilliant solution to ever progressing wind storm problems by designing cement dome houses. If coated with lifetime rubber coating paint to keep cracks from progressing from getting the elements then it could be that design to protect and solve all issues including tornados.
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