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Back in the days when the Midwest was nothing but a sea of grass and Buffalo, settlers would build sod houses by cutting them out of the soil. There were several reasons: (1) it was cheap; (2) the soil with the grasses holding things together, made for sturdy building materials; (3) the sod huts offered a lot of protection against the harsh Midwest winters; (4) there weren't many trees from which to build houses.

That being said, sod huts had their own attractive qualities. The critters that lived in the ground, now lived in and as part of your new house. The sod houses were very dark inside (probably a good thing since you couldn't see all the creepy, crawly critters), so candles and oil lamps and fireplaces were in use. Sanitation was about what you'd expect from an OWS encampment. If you used the prairie grass as thatch for a roof, you had to contend with the critters that lived in the grass dropping on you at various times. And, as winter set-in, the critters were naturally drawn to the sources of warmth inside the sod house.

There are many ways to build houses on the cheap. As I recall, there are whole communities in New Mexico that devote themselves to such “green” homes. That's well and good, but these folks aren't braving -25 degree temperatures and deep snow either. Be it ever so humble, I like my indoor plumbing, running water, central heating, and other creature comforts. You born-again Hippies can keep yours. Thank you, very much.