where the traditional ways of building naturally cross-informs high-tech building." To achieve that meeting of tradition and tech in a passive house, Klinker started by considering sunlight. Plenty of ...

If you have your sights set on a custom backyard guest house design, you're most likely to get what you want by building from scratch. However, this is the most expensive and time-consuming option.

Here's what that means. Need a guest house set up in your backyard within minutes? Want to build an entire hotel in a snap? On the market for a home you can pick up and move anywhere, at any time?

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard recently showed off a house built with straw insulation, another example of how this traditional building technique fits in the modern world. That straw stores ...