Self-sustaining ‘earthship’ home in Manitoba up for grabs on Kijiji

The three-bedroom, 2-bathroom structure is situated on 66 acres of land and was designed by Michael Reynolds, an architect known for developing ‘earthship’ style homes designed to be off the grid, with little reliance on utilities and fossil fuels. (Image Source: Kim Chase/Kijiji)

An out-of-this-world, rural Manitoba home is up for grabs, offering buyers a chance to live in a self-sustaining, off-grid oasis.

Kim Chase has listed her 1,800 square-foot earthship home on Kijiji for $445,000.

The three-bedroom, two-bathroom structure is situated on 66 acres of land and was designed by Michael Reynolds, an architect known for developing ‘earthship’ style homes, engineered to be off the grid, with little reliance on utilities and fossil fuels.

Chase purchased the earthship two years ago. The chance to live a greener life is what drew her to the home about 30 minutes north of Winnipeg, she said.

“It was not so much the off grid lifestyle, but just a smaller footprint, and not using the finite resources that we do have,” she said.

Over two years, Chase added about $15,000 worth of upgrades, from installing a new water heating system to replacing batteries.

The first year in particular brought its challenges.

“It was at the height of lockdown. I had no hot water and trouble with the plumbing, and I couldn't even go to a friend's place to have a shower or do laundry,” she recalled.

“So it was it was kind of an interesting first year, for sure.”

Plumbing issues behind it now, the home gets its heat and electricity primarily from the sun with help from a woodstove. The house is cooled with a cross-ventilation system in the summer. Water is provided by rainwater catchment. A grey water system waters the plants in a picturesque greenhouse before being recycled for toilets.

The setup keeps utility bills very affordable, Chase said, and the atrium-style design creates some picturesque days inside its glass-lined walls.

“Especially when it's 40 below outside and I’m in a T-shirt in my atrium. It's pretty nice. As long as the sun is shining, it's warm in there,” she said.

Chase is parting with the home to be closer to family in Alberta.

Since listing the home over the weekend, Chase has had several showings with more on the books this week.

“You're always going to get lots of ‘I really want to see this house’ type people who aren't necessarily serious about buying one. But it's pretty beautiful. Once you get inside too, it's really quite amazing,” she said.

She believes eco-conscious homes, like earthships, will start to have a wider appeal as the years go on, owing to supply chain issues and ballooning inflation rates.

“We're looking at shortages of products. Growing your own food never looked so good,” she said.

“The country lifestyle and maybe having a few chickens and some goats - it makes a lot of sense. It's clean and it's fun. It just requires a little bit more thinking.”