[NewMexLurker]

..."The windows of a properly constructed straw-bale house must be appealing...big wide sills, wide enough to sit on"...

You are right - the windows in such a house are wonderful. Very often people will put cushions on the extra wide sills and they do actually sit there. The walls, windows, and doorways in a properly constructed straw bale house are very similar in appearance to an older adobe house (the walls are often thicker in older adobe houses than in newer adobes).

I think my wife will not count her life as complete until we build and live in at least one straw bale house here in New Mexico.

[Mamzelle]

If you can find some inexpensive vacation/rural property, putting up a getaway cabin yourself can be fun. Small in scale, it's an opportunity to work off a lot of fantasies. I'd also think that this straw-bale technique might be suitable for a barn or kennel or other livestock shelter in the southwest.