Earthship Visitor Center

Inspiring Visit to the Earthship Visitor Center Sustainable Living at Its Best 🌎 Visiting the Earthship Visitor Center in Taos, New Mexico, was a fascinating experience that truly opens your mind to alternative, eco-friendly living. There’s free parking right in front, and the admission fee is $9 per person, which includes access to the visitor center and a self-guided tour. When we arrived, we were greeted warmly and given an introductory explanation about the concept of Earthships self-sustaining homes built from recycled materials, designed to operate completely off the grid. We also received brochures and educational materials that explained how these homes collect water, generate power through solar panels, and use natural heating and cooling systems. The interior of the visitor center is full of displays, models, and real examples of the systems used in these unique buildings. We walked through lush indoor gardens growing under natural light, water recycling setups, and beautiful glass-bottle walls that create a colorful and artistic atmosphere. After exploring inside, we stepped outside for a short walk around the nearby Earthship structures. You can’t go inside the residential homes, but you can observe and photograph them from a respectful distance. The designs are truly impressive curved walls, embedded bottles, and solar panels shining against the desert backdrop of Taos. Overall, this place is a must-visit for anyone interested in sustainability, architecture, or creative innovation. The combination of environmental consciousness and artistic design makes it one of the most unique attractions in New Mexico. 🌿✨ 📍 Tip: Visit on a sunny morning for the best photos and lighting, and take time to read the displays they explain a lot about how each system works!

This tour was worth it. We learned how earthships are built, how they function off-the-grid, and all the thoughtful design details that make them sustainable and livable. Our guide, James, was engaging and incredibly knowledgeable. He shared both the big-picture vision and the real-life practical side of living in an earthship, which made things really interesting. We visited the main center, classroom building, a completed “Unity” model, and the experimental multi-story “Eve” project. Seeing everything in person really brought the concept to life and sparked my curiosity to learn more. If you’re near Taos, don’t skip this tour. It’s fascinating, well-run, and genuinely inspiring.

The idea of a vessel as a home is amazing. Charging $9 per person to walk around two long hallways and it's over is insulting. Charge $10 and give away a T 👕 included with admission. At least that would help promote their amazing vision.

Reading the low reviews and I am blown away. How could anyone complain about the $9 fee to learn so much? My husband and I spent an hour reading the literature and walking around the earthship, outside and across the street. Soloman, who runs the visitor center was amazing and provided phenomenal information! She was so personable and easy going, I wanted to hug her on our way out. We were so impressed, we brought our girls by on our way back to the airport the following day. Like others mentioned, I would have loved to drive through the neighborhood of over 160 homes and take pictures but I respect the community's privacy. That said, Soloman gave us fabulous tips on places to rent, which we will be doing next trip. Thank you so very much for welcoming us and sharing the Earthship. Can't wait to see you again! (The owl lady) :-)

The concept of earths ships is like something out of science fiction, so cool. Paying 9$ for a self guided tour of a hallway is not! Do not pay for the tour!!!

If you watched a lot of the YouTube videos it's pretty disappointing, as the Visitor center is the only earthships you can go into and driving through the neighborhood is forbidden. We were hoping to be able to see more of the homes and even the guided tour doesn't include much. The concepts are super interesting And we have been wanting to visit for 8 years. However I feel you see much more online and in the videos. The area is definitely not what we expected and it seems it may at one point might have been affordable but considering from how far they are bringing in trash (like empty bottles, cans, old tires....) to build their homes, and the amount of concrete used it definitely isn't cheap any more. It's a far drive from major amenities and unless you bring a truck to at least transport your materials, pursuing this lifestyle will not be easy also giving the weather conditions. It was definitely eye-opening and informative, there are some alternative building methods that I wish they would incorporate, but overall definitely a one of a kind experience.

Save yourself the $9pp! The self guided tour takes less than 5 minutes! You can easily see the jist from the exterior.

It was definitely a unique experience to see the construction of self sufficiency. It was cool to see the rain falling on the roof to see the intake process. The price was 9 bucks a head. For what you pay for….you could’ve just watched YouTube sadly. People were getting away with not paying because the girl at the front was more concerned with her puppy. It was a mid experience

If you're looking for a unique experience that you can't find anywhere else on earth, this is the spot. This little group of earthships are such a cool experience to see and learn about. Sign up for one of their self guided tours, and explore some super cool history. The staff here is super friendly, the views of the buildings and landscape are gorgeous, and you get to learn about something that is so uniquely New Mexico. Can't recommend it enough.

Quite a distinctive place. Very ecologically minded. Quite a contrast with staying in Taos, which doesn't seem to have any recycling. I must say the nine dollar self guided tour is basically a walk-through exhibit that at most visitor centers would be free. They had some of the most expensive merchandise I've ever seen in a tourist gift shop. $49 for a coffee mug $52 if you want to handle. I had driven in from Taos and went to the first entrance which is the visitor center. My visitor center thing and then headed back to Taos. The next day. I was surprised to see how large this place was when I passed by it on the way to Colorado. There are many many dwellings. I gather 150 people live there. They're all pretty impressive looking but but private.

Didn't do a tour or anything so not reviewing that, but reviewing just the fun of driving up and seething these earthships in person. Completely sustainable, with water that cycles through four times a day, made of tires and glass. Like walking onto another planet. Perhaps, one without climate change. 5 stars!!!

Really fascinating and interesting spot to visit, and we felt worth the $9 self guided tour. These "earthships" are something and fully self contained! The community is way bigger and vast than I had imagined and I discovered after flipping through a real estate magazine from Taos you can buy one and live in it! Some of the structures are really ornate and impressive! You can't drive through the community as it's all private residences but you can drive up the road and get a good view of some of the dwellings farther back.

I was personally looking forward to visiting the Earthship especially after having watched an episode on the Netflix series "Buy My House" where one of the owners of an Earthship from this area tried to sell their property. However, after having visited this place in person, I'm fairly disappointed at how this tour panned out. In essence, you're paying a lot as a visitor to just watch videos of the Earthship from within different rooms of a single home. While these videos are fairly helpful and intriguing, there's no way that they're worth the value especially after when you're driving to one of the most remote areas within the country. I would not recommend making a trip to Taos specifically for visiting the Earthship. However, if you've planned a day-trip, this place might still be worth a stop.

IT is only a short drive from Rio Grande so we decided to include it in our day's schedule. Very interesting concept, definitely works for the climate. We parked the car and just freely walked around, didn't even realize there was an option for a tour, but plenty to look around even without going in. Should definitely be visited if close by, probably wouldn't go out of my way to visit it.

***YOU CAN WALK AROUND OUTSIDE FOR FREE*** LOOKS LIKE STARWARS HERE Watch a YouTube video on it before you arrive if you get a chance You can walk around on the outside for free or just pay the 8 bucks and help the cause and look around inside for the fun of it (plus, you can use the bathroom) This is definitely a very Taos thing to do while visiting out here, take fun pictures, and don't expect too much *Locals are free May the force be with you

So we decided to come here because it seemed interesting reading about it. The website said it opened at 10 and there were a good 10-15 waiting for it to open at the designated time. Then 10:05, 10:10, 10:15 and nobody at the office that said entrance. We and others called the posted number and got a recording that said they opened at 10. All I can say is that by 10:20 all but one couple said screw it and left. Just a bloody waste of everyone's time.

Earthships just kept coming up. First from a backpacking buddy, then from one of my favorite kundalini instructors. When the opportunity came to join friends to Taos for a ski weekend I just knew I had to add a visit to the Earthship Biotecture to the agenda. Waking up nice and early we headed on over (making a quick stop at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge along the way). Arriving a bit before they opened (10 am during the winter months) we opted to explore a bit of the grounds, being careful to honor the signs indicating which areas were private and therefore off limits to visitors. The visitor's center opened right on time and we were excited to be the first to partake in a self guided tour (there are guided tours available as well). Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for teachers. There was a helpful handout which gave us a bit of information about each area on the self guided tour. The living room, the outermost area with beautiful plants and tall windows, a room showing an educational video (totally recommend watching the whole video - it answers so many questions), and finally a grand room with lots of historical information, books for purchase, and pictures of earthships built all over the world. I'd love to return and stay a night or two!

I am not exaggerating when I say that I am mildly obsessed with earthships right now. They are just so cool! I am always concerned about my own impact on the environment, so it was incredible to learn how daily living can be so in-tune with what nature already has to offer. We spent two wonderful night in an earthship in Taos, and the experience was incredible. The house offers what I was calling "active living," since you need to brush snow off the panels to make sure you generate electricity, open and close vents, etc. We were so surprised that the temperature inside was so pleasant even though it was single digits outside (and there is no heating!). On our way out, we stopped in the visitor center to learn a little more and get the rest of our questions answered. There was a very informative lobby with pictures of other earthships and book with different models that the company builds. We were surprised and pleased to learn that there are earthships in all 50 states and 40 countries! I can't wait to keep learning about these fascinating homes.... and maybe live in one myself one day!

I felt unwelcome at the visitor's center. There was an $8 charge for a self-guided tour that had information that is available and free online. You have to drive 20 minutes to get to the welcome center and can't use the bathroom unless you pay for a tour. There is a charge for everything including business cards. You can't drive up past the center and see any of the houses. Appears to be a money-making scheme, not a group of people truly interested in environmental concerns.

I now understand why you should opt for a guided tour. I decided to do the self tour. It really is just a handful of things to read inside and looking at an earthship outside. I was wondering what exactly you pay for, granted it is only 9 dollars, but I was so happy a women asked. Basically, for no cost you can walk to the one earthship outside and tour the immediate visitor center for free. That is where a majority of the info is. You pay for a educational handout and to walk in a back room and see a movie with many other people in a small room with you-which was info I found online before I came. I want to pay to support these places, but if I bring anyone back, I pass on the self guided tour. They should at least include seeing the inside of a earthship that is not the gift shop. I will say the front desk person was very nice.

I really lucked out when I called about a guided tour. You need to have a certain number of people to have this option (or you'll have to pay extra), but there happened to be a group going that weekend that was okay with having others join their party. Highly recommend the guided tour if you can join up with another group - I don't think the self-guided tours are worth the trip because you won't see the inside of multiple buildings or learn quite as much. Our tour guide said she's been living in earthships and has also helped build them. She had so much knowledge from designing/building them to maintaining them. I had been wondering if they'd talk about the fact that they use old tires as building materials and the possible dangers of that, and she did actually address this. I'm still not sure how safe it is, but it gave me a tiny bit less concern. I most appreciated the way they use and recycle rain water, also using it to water all the plants in the greenhouse area. The Phoenix was absolutely beautiful, the glass bottle designs and creative interior features will blow your mind. Looked so much nicer than your typical house. The structure itself is a piece of art. There's a bathtub in there that's totally dreamy, you've gotta see it. Outside views of the mountains were awesome too - no tall houses in the way to block your view. They had a patio area and chickens in the back. Pretty darn cool. Even if you're not into the idea of living in a house made of beer cans and wine bottles, it's still neat to take the tour and learn about the progressive ways they are trying to save our resources, use the sun to their advantage instead of heat/AC, and create less of a footprint. Very very cool and I think anyone can take away some of the principles they use and apply them to a home they may already have.

The visitors center is tiny and you can't see anything unless you shell out $9 per person for a self guided tour. I was looking forward to seeing this place but it ended up not being worth the stop.

If you have time, we suggest you take a tour of the Earthships. It was incredible! These houses are so eco friendly and will inspire anyone to be more green. You can go inside and watch a video of how the earthships are made and see their efforts to make the world a better place. If you can, we definitely suggest you stay in one. We stayed in the first Earthship to be built through our Airbnb App. It is named the Hobbit, for all you Lord of the Rings fans out there.It was very spacious, even though it's like a studio vibe. One thing I liked was that they have a green house inside. If you don't want to stay in one, I still suggest you go visit them. For more on what to do in Taos, check out our latest blog. https://kasventures.org/2019/09/04/taos-new-mexico-your-next-favorite-destination/

Cool educational center. I would recommend going on the weekend to see more of the earth ships. If you go during the week you only get to see one. The front desk woman wanted to make sure we had the best experience.

While they do not encourage, rather, allow trespassers, the visitors center was closed and I was just DYING to see these bad boys that made me literally stop dead in my tracks when we were passing by. Hubs and I had seen a documentary about funky, completely sustainable homes made from solely from recycled materials and I couldn't believe I randomly stumbled upon them in this quiet section of New Mexico. We took a quick little loop in the main driveway just as the sun was setting. We respected the visitors and homeowners in this private community, but we're able to see these amazing structures somewhat up close. Close enough to see that what looked like little hundreds of rhinestones or grommets of sorts were actually recycled bottles! Very, very cool!! Mind blowing actually. We noted the fantasy like shapes which the girls thought looked like curvy castles. We saw the solar panels and of course the gorgeous snow capped San Cristobal Mountains in the distance. You can actually rent these homes which are located just near the ski mountains making it a perfect stay any time of year! Information for rentals and tours are on their websites which is quite informative. There you can read about their mission and where all over the world these Earthships are located such as Haiti, Indonesia and Northern Europe. You can even order Earthship kits to make your own! How wild?! There's also an Earthship Survival App! What?! I absolutely LOVE and am fascinated by all things green and the Earthship concept! All Earthships follow the same design principles: -Thermal/solar cooling & heating -Solar/Wind electricity -Contained Sewage Treatment- the homes reuse all household waste without polluting. -Recycled and Natural materials- all materials must be locally sourced by products -Water Harvesting- all rain water and snow melt is collected and reused 4 times! -Food Production- the gallons of water from the sinks and showers can be used for all year growing produce indoors. If you are just a little bit green and want to learn how people push self-sustainability to the ultimate limit, this place is for you! Whether you're driving by, want to plan a stay in one of these wonders, tour the interior, or even build your own, this is your place! Outstanding! Don't miss the long horned cattle on the side of the roads nearby or the Rio Grande Bridge just down the road! A stay here is definitely on my radar for my next visit to this region!

Agreed with previous reviews. Not worth it. Skip paying and just walk around the land for free. We did the self guided tour and all you do is walk around in their very small office and read all the posters and signs, watch a video, and then you walk to one of the homes to see it... FROM THE OUTSIDE. Hard to support scams like this.

Awesome concept and off the grid access for rental. The Bio homes are self sustaining, end of the world perfection. I stayed in the Phoenix house and the amount plant and animal life living in the sun room are amazing. They have a mini jungle habitat complete with fish pond, birds and a garden. It housed 8 comfortably, can hold more if you maximize, and has as many comforts of home you could expect for a solar, rainwater and self purifying filtration system. The house had WiFi, tv, fireplace, and full kitchen. The appliances ran off the solar grid and had generator backup if needed. The homes are decorated to enhance the natural light and have some pretty neat fixtures and plant walls, yes plant walls. I would highly recommend you do some research as there is alot more I could never fit in a review and would definitely come back with the right group of people.

I don't normally do reviews, but when I do it's because I had the best experience. I've heard/researched Earthships about a couple years ago and ever since I have always wanted one. I love how it is completely off grid and it has its own greenhouse, it's own air flow system where it can stay about 72 degrees YEAR ROUND, and that it has a water filtration system that reuses its water about 4x!! Does not waste. I'm just in love with the whole idea and I had never seen/stayed in one until now. I still have not changed my mind about building my own, it's everything I thought it would be, what a great experience! Too bad not many people know about these! I try to spread the word when I can!! It is something you have to adjust to, and really think about conserving your resources. Something I think everyone should at least experience once.

I was so excited when I started to Yelp Taos and found out the Earthships were here!! Yippee!! How cool are these homes, and the people that have the balls to leave their lives behind, move to the desert and build a home out of cans, tires, bottles, and go completely off the grid. Much love to these folks, I admire what the are doing. I have mad respect. I see that some reviews state that they paid in the visitors center. We didn't. We just wandered around what wasn't private property taking it all in. We had heard of the Earthships before, so we really didn't need a video to explain them and the off the grid concept to us. This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I think maybe someday, I myself, might have an Earthship in the desert!! If you are going to Taos, do not miss seeing the Earthships. You will leave baffled and amazed, and hopefully a bit more green.

5 stars because its unique and cool. The short walkthrough "tour" of the visitor center explains by video how these dwellings are constructed which is interesting. Gift shop has a few items, I scored a tote bag which will look extra cool next time I am at Whole Foods. If you want to stay overnight in an earthship you need to book months ahead. Looked like around $210 a night for 2 people and $400 for 4 people. One night would be cool.

Driving into the Earthship World Headquarters was like driving onto a movie set of Mad Max. Earthships are built with recycled materials, collect rainwater that is filtered and used 4 times in the earthship, and don't cost any money to cool or heat. For $5 a person, you can watch a 10-minute video on earthships and take a self-guided tour at the Headquarters. It was interesting but I don't know if this place (or earthships in general) is for everyone. You can also stay overnight in rentable earthships here. From website: "The Visitor center is a fully functioning Earthship that combines passive solar architecture with thermal mass construction, uses renewable energy, integrated water systems and is made out of natural and recycled materials. Our resource library provides an abundance of information in the form of books, videos and displays. All of our books and videos are also available for purchase." PS- If you want to build an earthship in your city, they can send a crew to build it who will show others the process. There are earthships all over the world. *See pictures

From far away, you can see the glittering cans and bottles stuffed into dirt and tire structures on the horizon. The closer you get, the more of them you can see. Earthships. I'm glad they have a visitor's center, otherwise I would be tempted to drive straight into the unique community. Though it's a strangely steep fee to check out the visitor's center and explore a small area of Earthship territory, it's worth it. They have a very complex and interesting water recycling set up. I'd love to live in one of those homes for a while, for sure. This will likely be a quick stop along your adventure route, but if you have any interest in sustainable architecture and water conservation, this is a fascinating, quirky stop.

Such an unique place ! I've heard about Earthship homes before so my bf and I decided to check it out while we were in Taos. We were impressed! I'd like to rent one of the houses sometime to get a feel what would be like to live in one of them. The surrounding area is very beautiful and peaceful. Definitely worth the drive.

Really great concept and design but they're still missing some key components for the entire general public. For people who aren't eco friendly you'll need to loop them in by having normal living/sleeping conditions. We stayed the west wing of the Phoenix Earthship. The room smells super moldy and damp. It smells really bad. They're are tiny little flies that land on you and fly around your face. I would have given a 4 but the smell is too much.

Do not do the self guided tour. I think Earthships are beautiful. But it would have been nice to actually see one instead of walking around basically just thier gift shop and the outside of two student housing earthships. Like come on. Why do you have this as a option that you have to pay for?!?

Truly a unique experience. We were exploring the area, as my wife is writing a book about a post-apocalyptic America - based in Colorado/New Mexico/Kansas.Staying in an Earthship (a self sustaining abode) eerily felt like we were in her novel - she plans to incorporate some of the self-sustaining house ideas as a way people cope in her book. But in the present, it was really a fun night to stay - and to see and understand the concepts firsthand. So why not five stars? I have sleep apnea, and the self-generated electricity must have been slightly off kilter, or needed a line voltage regulator. I plugged in my cpap, and it went crazy (and actually something fried in it - I now have a new machine) Sure, I could have screamed and yelled and threatened to sue or something, but I did know what I was getting into - i.e. a home that did everything itself, and I learned this particular Earthship had the electricity off somewhat. So of course, I didn't sleep well, but I did sit outside and watch the stars quite a bit. Really cool as well. So I recommend this place - just watch your devices a bit (my computer didn't seem to notice the problem, and recharged fine.)

What an incredible & special place! We stayed in an Earthship AirBnB and wished we could stay forever.

The earthships are incredible but they are horribly mismanaged and they do not know how to treat people. We booked two nights at Picuris Earthship months in advance of our trip and paid for the two nights upfront. We arrived on a Friday evening. The house was clean, warm, and incredible. On Saturday morning, we left the house to go on a hike, get lunch, and buy groceries to cook for dinner. We returned around 4pm to two cars parked in the driveway. When we entered the house, there were strangers in the kitchen and a staff member (Adam) from Earthship Biotecture came running towards us and ushered us into the garage. He told us we only had the house booked for one night and that he had gathered all of our belongings and put them in the garage. We told him we had paid and booked the place for two nights. He was incredibly rude and accused us of trying to steal the second night. He said it's common for people to book one night and then leave their stuff and try to stay for two. I asked why they had not called me instead of going through all of our personal belongings and checking other guests in and he said they had but got my work number (even though I had given the receptionist my cell phone number at the time of booking). I asked him if we could go through the house to make sure our stuff was not missing and he started picking up the belongings he had shoved in the corner of the garage (our underwear was on the floor and everything was shoved in a pile) and yelling at us that he had not stolen any of our stuff. He acted completely hostile and crazed. I showed him the email from the receptionist Irma confirming the two nights and he insisted that I had to speak to his supervisor Hillary. I forwarded the receipt to Hillary and spoke to her on the phone. She apologized and said she would call me back shortly and that we could wait in the garage. Adam promptly disappeared into the house and left us to go through our stuff and re-pack it. We had to pack everything that was completely disorganized and a mess. It was humiliating, disappointing, and completely shocking. We had been on our way back to the house to watch the sunset and cook dinner and instead we were crawling around sorting through our stuff scattered across the corner of the garage. After 15-30 minutes, Hillary called and said she had booked us for a night at a resort. Adam apologized for "being a dick" and offered us marijuana as a peace offering - it was a completely unprofessional and inappropriate apology and offer. They refunded the two nights to my card and put us up in the resort for one night, but it was not the vacation we had planned and it was extremely stressful, sad, and disappointing. It was extremely upsetting to have our personal belongings gone through and shoved together and then we found things missing. I was missing a pillow, a new box of tea, a new bottle of olive oil, and several magazines - nothing substantial but we were denied the opportunity to look through the house for our things. I don't think it was intentional, but it's impossible for someone else to gather our things together when they don't know what is ours and what belongs to the house. It's completely unacceptable to be treated this way - it felt abusive and dismissive. I hope Earthship Biotecture puts a system in place to ensure staff are trained to be more delicate in this type of situation and to assume it's not the fault of the guest. We fully support the mission of Earthship Biotecture and admire the work being done, but I'm extremely sad that we missed out on the experience of staying at the Earthship without this horrible treatment and stressful disruption. It was the opposite of what the trip should have been and I do not recommend booking stays with them.

We drove by and saw what there was to see from the road. Pulled in and walked around a little, but looks like you cant just wander around as these are residences. There's a tour available, but it was more expensive than i wanted to pay with very limited time to devote. The architecture is pretty cool and is a great photo op. I'd love to learn more!

Cool concept but i am reviewing the self guided tour at 8$ a person which is a joke. Watched a short video describing what an earthship is, saw some plants and got lost looking at structures in their parking lot. Wanted to actually tour a ship. The self tour guide given didn't make much sense. Feel like i could have got the same experience from YouTube and walking around their parking lot for a bit - save your money and perhaps go for the guided tour.. from the reviews on here it might be better?

I first heard of Earthships when I read the actor Dennis Weaver was selling his back in 2004. Earthship? A sustainable home built from recycled materials? As an old hippie I was interested to learn more. I saw the video "Garbage Warrior" on PBS a few years ago and was happy to see the architect, Michael Reynolds was still building. On a recent trip to Albuquerque I decided we had to make a pilgrimage to Taos and the Earthship community. I wasn't disappointed. The young lady working the visitor center was helpful explaining the systems of an Earthship and construction techniques. I was expecting an intern but she is an owner, who learned about Earthships and rented one during winter to make sure they performed as advertised. She said after spending a few nights in freezing weather, and being warm and comfortable inside without additional heat she was sold, and decided to move to Taos to live in an Earthship. They're quirky, colorful and beautiful. Built of old tires filled with pounded dirt and plastered with adobe. The natural wood viga ceilings accent curved walls. And everywhere the light, entering from the south facing greenhouse. An Earthship is self-contained. No utility bills! The home collects it's own water and recycles it 3 times before being sent to a septic system. Filtered grey water is used for the plants in the greenhouse, the plants filter it again and it's used to flush the toilet! Solar panels generate electricity that is stored in batteries, converted to AC and distributed throughout the house. It's magic. Earthships have been built around the world, from high tech European countries to the jungles of the Far East. They are adaptable to any environment. Someday, perhaps sooner rather than later, people will realize what an amazing, progressive concept Michael Reynolds has developed. Someday...

Anyone interested in sustainable living and living off the grid owes it to themselves to visit the Earthship at least once in their lives. Taos is ground-zero for the Earthship movement, it all began here. Earthship structures are now found all over the world since they can be built with recycled cans, bottles, tires, items found anywhere in the world. Rainwater is collected. Grey water systems are in place. Vegetables grow year-round indoors. Energy comes from the sun or the wind. Heat comes from the Earth itself. I came on a slow day and had the entire facility to myself and had a great time taking the whole place in. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon in Taos!

Glass and tires used Unearthly organic shapes To make your new home (a little bit outside of Taos, but worth the short drive...)

This is about the Earthship VISITOR CENTER. Not about the experience of staying in an Earthship overnight. My boyfriend and I went to the Earthship Visitor Center after reading dozens of stellar reviews of Earthships. Turns out most of the raving reviews are from people who have stayed at an Earthship for a few nights, not people who just went to the visitor center. We expected to tour a functioning house, or at least a model of one, but the visitor center was really just that: a visitor center. You pay $7 to go in and watch a short video about Earthship construction (the likes of which you have probably already seen if you're interested in seeing an Earthship in the first place) and there's also a 15-20 minute slideshow of pictures. There's a place to buy books about construction and other Earthship-related merchandise, you can walk through their garden and you can take a look at their roof-top filtration system. But when they boast about you touring the grounds, all you're really allowed to see is the outside of one Earthship that's in construction. The rest is private property. Bottom line: Earthship biotecture is fascinating and I'd love to live in one. But it's not worth the money to pay to enter the Visitor Center unless you need resources to learn how to build your own.

If you are happening by Taos, NM and want to see an incredible sight, stop by the visitors center for the Earthship. We did and we were not disappointed. These people have pods all over the desert. You can even rent one to stay in. They are truly off the grid. They collect water and use it at least 3 times, they use solar energy and batteries for power, most of their building equipment comes from recycled goods. We were impressed by the self-guided tour and the tour guide who incidentally built her own Earthship all by herself which subsequently took her 7 years to complete. She was all muscle bound wiry and very impressive!

My boyfriend has been obsessed with Earthships since he first heard of them. So on a trip to New Mexico, we HAD to stay in an Earthship. We stayed overnight in the studio Earthship, and were in awe as soon as we walked in. I'll admit I was a little paranoid being out in the middle of nowhere and especially after signing the contract. I worried about what I put myself at risk for or what may happen but I guess they need to protect themselves. The studio Earthship is beautiful and has such great details in the design, me and my boyfriend marveled at the little things like the light switches and the bathroom floor, it may sound silly but these details are not found in other places. You're also left to take care of things on your own after 4 PM unless there's an emergency, not a complaint, just a statement. In that way it's kinda like camping, we also had a lizard and other little critters in the Earthship, except you're actually inside a (way cool and environmental) structure, sleep in a bed and have access to a bathroom and kitchen :) I look forward to staying again and someday having our own! Oh, and DO NOT miss the view at night, it was so clear and beautiful!

These homes are amazing. They use recycled materials to construct the homes, such as used tires, glass bottles, and cans. The homes don't need heating or air conditioning due to their passive solar design, which utilizes the stable temperature of the earth and windows that line the south side of the home. The rain is their water source and they reuse shower and dish water for the toilets. I went with a group of five people and we had a guided tour where we got to see several homes and ask a ton of questions.

This was the middle of our 2 week vacation, before the kids tire of us. It was literally the ONLY thing we booked, long in advance. We winged the rest of the trip because, well, the rest was just gravy. Three beautiful nights in an Earthship. 1. The smell of rosemary when you walked in the door of the house we stayed in. I thought I was at my Grandmas house (not the good grandma, but the one with rosemary). BANANA TREE...that was growing little baby bananas! I took pictures every damn day. So cool. 2. The size of the house we stayed in with our family of 5....huge. 3. Stars. O.M.G. STARS! We were outside for hours looking at them. Having my family of 5 seeing the same shooting stars, there were so many, was worth so much more than anyone can charge. 4. Sunrise, got a taker one day. That kid fell asleep mid rise. I still had my tea, mountains, and fresh air. 4. Realized I don't need so much @#$% in my house to live. New life goals..working on getting rid of tons of things. Simple, sustainable life...here I come, slowly but surely!

We arrived at the demo structure on a weekday morning and bought $14 tickets. It's a small structure, and we viewed a short video about the history of this project. It would've been fascinating if we'd had the benefit of more information, especially about how the plumbing infrastructure was maintained by the hardware in the back hallway. We were basically left to fend for ourselves. The plants look unkempt, and the food production area in the demo building that we saw was sorry at best. A couple of scraggly tomatoes. I have about 100 times more food coming out of my 20' by 4' organic garden at home. Frankly, this place looks like it's experiencing staffing and/or financial issues. The young man at the ticket counter was not busy, but something must have caught his eye. When I bent down to retrieve my dropped and broken sunglasses from the floor several feet from the counter, a few moments after ticket purchase, he left the counter and then proceeded to literally STEP OVER MY BODY while I crawled around on the floor. ( I'm in my mid-60's). Clearly raised by wolves! Generally, a potentially fascinating project, but we first time visitors experienced a far less than ideal presentation.

I found them to be totally inspiring and awesome. I don't know why we don't have these out here in Sedona. The drive out there is beautiful. Keep your eyes open for the rigged up off the gridders past the Earthships on your way to Durango. There are some rugged individualists out there.

We've visited the Earthship headquarters during summer trips in 2000, 2007, and 2008. I always leave a bit more motivated to reduce my impact on the environment. We looked into staying in one of the rental homes but they were a bit more space and higher priced than would make sense for us unless traveling with another couple.

I've always wondered why put toxic tires in your home? My understanding is that the tires are packed with dirt (20 minutes per tire with sledgehammer) for "thermal mass". Adobe bricks are used for TM and have no toxic outgassing. Surely a Genius Architect could have figured out a way to put an Adobe wall below grade, protected against moisture? Beware and Go Green: Instead build with Adobe and The Worlds Most Insulative And Greenest Material: Strawbale. There are strawbale houses in every state in America and many countries around the world. Sorry Mike, but turning people's homes into toxic landfills ain't Green or smart. http://www.archinia.com/about-us/publications/216-earthship-pros-and-cons.html

A strong advocate of tiny living and being self-sustainable in order to avoid being tied to everything, Earthships can do everything in one place. Water catchment, electricity from solar, sewage treatment, aquaponics if desired, and a greenhouse inside behind the long windows, it's a lively machine that runs on its own if put to that extreme. You have to understand that they don't stick with one or two models, they evolve from their mistakes from previous ones, so each structure is different as you progress on their timeline of their builds. I think it's just plain badass. There's even an academy that anybody can study. I've studied there, learned SO many things, and some people carry that knowledge and integrate some of the principles into their own potential build. Ain't nothing wrong with a garbage house, eh? Instead of growing the landfill, try to make those materials useful. Anything is possible, right? Yes, there is wood and cement involved. The use of cans and bottles is to help reduce the amount of cement and wood involved. You see a conventional American house that uses a huge wooden frame placed on a concrete foundation. Earthships are placed on the natural, cleared-of-debris dirt, with a small layer of cement or Adobe as the flooring. And walls are of the plastered tire walls with roof and all. Basically, it's reducing the amount of materials to an appropriate level, focus on a small to no carbon footprint as much as possible. Also, to help those that place concern on off-gassing of the tires, the tires used are old, tossed-out ones, not the brand-new ones you'd smell in a tire shop. And they're sealed in the adobe-plastered walls, like putting a rotten egg in a ziploc bag, it's sealed. Also, the earth-rammed walls becomes a natural thermal mass so it maintains a healthy temperature year-round. Colder it gets outside, the warmer it gets inside, coming from the earth in the ground, and vice versa. Little to no utility bills, hell yeah! Anyway, that's it, for now. Seriously, read up on it. Stop by and check us out!

I have NOTHING but rave reviews! We rented the Phoenix for a girls bachelorette weekend. The house is absolutely stunning... birds, turtles, fish, chickens, fresh fruit, and stunning views. This place is like no other! We had originally planned to go into Taos to grab dinner and shop, but the house sucked us in! We didn't leave all weekend. The individuals who care for the home, plants and animals are very kind and knowledgeable. The staff that takes care of reservations and office management is also too notch. I left my boots there and the very friendly staff sent them to me right away! Talk about customer service. Paula and Irma deserve 5 stars and a nice bonus this year!

My mother has dreamed of visiting an Earthship for years... She has also planned on building one, one day. I'm getting older and before either my sister or I decide to get married and have children, my family and I decided to road trip to New Mexico. While visiting Taos, we found a brochure for Earthship and my mom was totally suprised that she hadn't planned to see it. We drove out to the North side of Taos and were totally in awe to see this amazing wonder. How our lives could be changed if we just used some of the stuff we toss out on a daily basis. Tires, coke and beer cans, strawbales, cement.... all kinds of resources we could use to make a home that runs off all of our natural resources. If you havent seen a house like this, and your visiting... or you live in Taos, it's a MUST do. Maybe one day I will live in one of these as well.

Incredibly cool concept, but the self-guided tour for $8 is a joke. The guided tour is probably the way to go.

$8 to watch a video and a slide show, what a rip off. This place might have began with good intentions but is just rental homes. I talked to a guy who lived in an earthship, he told me the off gas from the tires was so bad he had to leave in the heat of the afternoon.