Yeah when we do ours, it will be earth bermed, concrete slab with pex tubing installed for radiant heated floor and dry stacked, surface bonded concrete block with a moisture sealant. Surface bonding is supposed to be 6-7 times as strong as mortared and it’s more of a DYI thing. Since we have woods, I’m half tempted to get a sawmill and make our own lumber for the roof structure. Timber frame of oak would be nice but not as vaulted ceilings.
Parging the surface of masonry units gives little strength to a wall. Reinforcement patterns vertically and horizontally with grout encased rebar in cells is your first step. Dry laid is weaker than mortar laid for the second step. Surface parging is mainly used in moisture shedding.