Earthship Biotecture Review

Its ok.. We didnt get to tour an actual house other than the office

The project Is cool but 8$ for seeing things you can see from the road and reading things you can Read online Is rude

We stayed in the Picuris and the Phoenix within a two week span in two different occasions; once driving down to Arizona and the way back home. It was the most amazing experience to finally experience "living" in an earthship. We loved how friendly the staff was as well as the visitor center. It is a great place for kids as well! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We will most definitely be back again some day!

The earthships are very cool and cute. Must stop spot. Someday I want to come here again and see how here changes.

My wife and I took a tour of the experimental Earthships. It is a very cool tour. There buildings are really interesting, made of things like old tires, used soda can's, plastic and bottles. It's really very unique. The main building has an indoor garden where they were growing tropical plants including bananas. The structures are built to collect water in big underground cisterns. The structures are partially buried to provide coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter. The generally have solar power and wind power. The main building filtered gray water through the garden and then reused it. It is totally worth a tour to see some neat and unique building ideas that are sustainable. We were lucky the day we visited as there was a tour lead by a person that lives and work there given for a group of students. They also have a self-guided tour. There is a new building going up that demonstrates a lot of these building techniques. It is a very cool building. We both very much enjoyed our tour. It can be muddy so it's best to go after a dry spell. If I was younger I would want to build one. You are not allowed to drive around to see other Earthships that are in this development.

They didn t seem super keen on spreading the knowledge of how they are actually built.

Reviews seem to suggest a bit of a capitalistic model, which is odd for this sort of thing. Was driving through and asked if we could stop by, understand a bit and take some 360 s to add to our natural building blog (HopeAndHomes.co). They said everything is rented out and basically I could come and pay to see the visitor center. They said they had a few houses under construction, which is what we where mainly interested in, showing the anatomy and teaching the technical end of things through 3D and CAD 360. I taught natural building in earthquake zones in Nepal, Africa and recently at the international permaculture convention in Hyderabad a few months back. Our goal is to build a database of all natural buildings in every stage of development. Already did super abode. Working on rammed earth now. This would have been an epic add on to the free tutorials we produce.

Just kinda shocked how disinterested they were in freely spreading the knowledge. Thought that was kind of the point. Truly hate to leave a negative review. That was my honest experience with them though :-/ in there defense I gave them short notice. All and all though that didn t really seem like the only reason they weren t interested.

This is how we all should be living, definitely must stop here if you're in the area. I love it.

This place is God sent. I did not pay and stay but I took a self guided tour early in the morning. Without trespassing too much was able to appreciate the detail and hard work that goes into these homes. Went to their gift shop when it opened and was able to buy a cool pin for my hat... one day I will return.

Stayed 1 night waybee earthship, really nice and so comfortable, I will come back to stay in one of the other models. Ultimate new building technology we have so much cheaper land that has no infrastructure.

The earthships are great. I hope they will come in switzerland too! ;-)

I didn t think it was worth the money especially since you can only enter the visitor station. The area itself is very cool and worth the trip if your in the area. I suggest you drive by, pull in and pull out without spending any money unless you don t care to lose a couple bucks in the visitor center.

We enjoyed our time. The staff at the center was very friendly. But the tour was mediocre.

Place is pretty cool, but I didn't expect to pay $15 for the two of us. Learning, and seeing, how everything worked was great and I wasn't bitter about paying. Just know you are gonna pay for the brief tour/info.

Off the grid living everyone should do at least once.

I agree with all these reviews- a must stop spot in Taos. Earthships are why my husband and I moved to Taos, and this place did not disappoint.

Should have been amazing however the receptionist was far from enthusiastic to receive visitors for such great concept. A real shame for the community and organisation.

Incredible creations and super awesome people. I did the internship last August and had the time of my life learning the process of building an Earthship in a hands on style.

Very interesting settlement and sustainable development :)

We did not have time to visit, but I'm sorry. For architecture fans and curious people who want to see how we can live differently, it's a must see!

I've wanted to see the earth ships for years. We drove to them from Texas on our way to Colorado and were pretty upset that it is $8 per person to go in, including $8 for children. It would have been $56 for our family to take the tour. That is ridiculous. Needless to say, we left WITHOUT taking the tour.

We literally stumbled on this place and did the small tour - it was well worth the visit! A great learning experience for my kid and my family loved it!

If you have any interest in self-sustainable and environmentally friendly structures then find a way to visit this place. When I find myself back in Taos I definitely want to take the guided tour.

$7 entry fee for an education how how we should all be living. Met some homeowners while wondering around. Very polite and welcoming atmosphere.

Earthship Biotecture is worth swinging by if you're in Taos for more than a day or so and decide to check out the bridge over the Rio Grande; it's just a little farther up the road. Ideas are modeled here about water use and recovery, passive solar, and gardening, but using old tires and glass bottles for structures seems like an obsolete strategy for anything on a larger scale in these days of mass recycling (I hope you recycle) and high labor costs.

If you view this place as a novelty or curiosity, you might question the value, but if you can apply any of what you see here in any small way, then it's worth it.

This is such an interesting place to visit. You enter in to a parking area and there is a greeting center. You can buy a self guided tour for $8 I think. You then get to tour their center and watch videos on its history. Going through the greenhouse section was so cool. Seeing how they just use all kinds of pots and planters to grow their produce. They also talk about how they recycle their water. Since this is an actually community with residents you can t go beyond certain marked area. Worth a trip out from Taos.

Very cool experience. Do the guided tour. Worth it.

Interesting concepts. Wish I could have seen more without paying an entrance fee.

The whole concept was really neat and what we could see from the outside was fun. The visitor's center is not set up like a house. We paid over $15 for two of us to walk through a garden, watch a video, and watch a slide show. There weren't any available buildings other than that for us to go through. The pictures in the slide show were really neat and I would've really liked to see the inside of a "model home". I guess a guided tour is the way to go, but we were only there for the weekend and they weren't doing them until Monday.

Interesting place to visit. Tour is self guided and a little on the steep price wise. Nonetheless quite interesting.

Really great organization, I was able to work here for a week through an alternative break program with my university. We were able to do a lot of work, including laying concrete, building/plastering walls, and terracing the roof, so we got a good understanding of how an earthship works. It was very cool and the workers were all very welcoming and chill. I had such a great experience that I ve thought about applying for an internship. We also stayed a night in the Phoenix Earthship. The stay was incredible, well worth the price.

One interesting/slightly creepy aspect of the organization is how they portray the founder, Michael Reynolds. Not to say he s not an awesome dude and a visionary, but our group watched the documentary when we stayed in the Phoenix and it felt a little culty. Nothing malevolent, but it s just a little weird how much they adore this guy.

Overall, a very interesting experience, a tour of the compound is a must see if you re even remotely close to Taos.

A bit musty in the center. It's free if you stay in one of the earthships.

Incredible! Really stirs the mind and some to admire

just amazed on how recycled material can be use to build a self sustainable, off grid, earth friendly house.

Yes you can see everything from the highway, but the self-guided tour explains how everything works. Well worth the $8 to see this architectural wonder.

Cool construction and all. I took the reviewer advice and didn't opt for the tour, but not sure what I would have seen that I couldn't already see from the road if it's self guided and just walking around the outside.

I've been looking forward to visiting eartship biotecture for over a year now. I had planned my trip to Taos pretty short notice and wasn't able to schedule the more in depth tour. I wish I were able to see the inside of more than just the visitor center. pretty great place but I love earthships and had already knew all of the information provided within the visitor center. I would have wanted to see more and get a bit more in depth learning

Very energetic and friendly staff. Overpriced for the self-guided tour but interesting to stop by on way to Taos.

Disappointed...8 $ for a self guided tour and 1 house inside and 2 outside. We didn't stay.

We were so excited for our day trip to visit the Earthship Visitors Center with our kiddos. We did pay for the $7 entrance fee into the visitors center...
1. It is overpriced, its a short walk through and a slideshow to watch.
2. The grounds our closed off
3. If we went again I'd consider scheduling the guided tour, but it takes planning to do that and we went the same week we found out about it.

What a wonderful surprise. One of our friends recommended this place. It was amazing to see and learn about.

Curious ecological architecture based on renewable energy and recycled materials.

More houses should be built this way! So many recycled products used and the houses are beautiful

The tour is quick, but complete. Ask someone for details, and you'll get all the info you want.

My husband and I drove down from Colorado to see the Earthships. The customer service rep did not inform us that we could only see inside one of the buildings. We spent $8 per person for a self guided tour. It was a walk in mud around two buildings. The building that you CAN see on the inside is free. Dont buy the tour. If you want a tour of the rental properties you have to book two weeks in advance. Waste of time and money.

The self guided tour through the eathship was quick but very cool . The video and slide show may consume most of your time. $8+tax or $6+tax for students.

We stayed two nights in the Picuris. It was my idea to visit, after seeing a documentary on television about earthships. I love the concept, and the earthships for rent in this community are gorgeous. I have to admit, I was surprised that I was warm enough to sleep on top of the covers even though it was 30 degrees outside. I'm excited about the concept, and interested enough that I'm considering retiring in an earthship. Everyone should at least learn about this concept. What have you got to lose?