A little hole in the ground
by Cindy O. Herman
People in Pennsylvania get used to seeing deer in the fields, but for Ezra and Wanda Hower, it's nothing to see deer and rabbits nibbling grass right on the roof of their Grantville, Pa., home. While working for Hershey Chocolate Co. in 1976, Ezra traveled to Utah on a business trip and met a man who lived in an earth home. "I asked him how much wood he burned [to heat the home] and he said only two-and-half cords a year. In Utah," Ezra emphasized. He leaned back in his chair, tapping a finger to his head. "Now this is getting to me. I made up my mind I'm going to look this up when I get home."
In June 1991, after countless hours of reading, thinking and planning, Ezra rented equipment and began excavating his own earth home, into which he and Wanda moved in March 1993. "I drew it out, staked it out, dug it up, did everything myself," the energetic man said, then corrected himself. "No, I lied. The guys at work helped me." For 15 years, his buddies had listened to Ezra's increasingly detailed plans. "When I started drawing it up at work, the guys said I was crazy," he said with a chuckle. "Now, with the price of heat, I can laugh." The 80-foot by 30-foot house is tucked into a softly sloping hill, just off Interstate 81, with the front and one side wall open to the air. If it weren't for a shingled overhang that gives the appearance of a roof, to passersby it would look like the hill had swallowed a home. "You'd be surprised at how many people stop in off the highway and come in to see it," the West Milton native said with a twinkling grin.
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