Zemplín

A house on flat land that made its own hill. The soil around it evens out summer heat up to 35 °C and frosts down to −25 °C.

159.5 m², four rooms.

Energy €45 a month.

4 roomskitchenpantrydrying roomwalk-in wardrobegreenhouse 15 m²

Zemplín, flat plot, built 2015–2016

From 485 000 €

Living room of the Zemplin earth-sheltered house, green sofas, wood-beamed ceiling and glazed door to the kitchen

35 °C outside, cool inside.

In the Zemplín region, 35 °C is a normal summer temperature. The soil around the house dampens the daily temperature swings, so the house is designed without air conditioning. The same layer of earth protects it from frosts down to −25 °C.

Bedrooms with windows onto the fields.

Both the bedroom and the children's room have a wide window looking out over the fields and the neighbouring houses. From the bed you see outside, not a wall of earth.

Bedroom in the Zemplin earth-sheltered house with wooden beams, a curved bed frame and a field view through wide curtained windows

Child's room in the Zemplin earth-sheltered house, wooden bed with stuffed toys under beamed ceiling and a field-view window

Rooflights and light tubes
Daylight also reaches rooms without a south-facing wall.
Earth cover
The house is covered by a layer of soil that insulates it, evens out temperature swings and protects the shell from sun and frost.
Ground cooling
The earth around the house damps the swings of the day: measured in late spring, the inside changed 6 to 9 times less than the outside air. The house is designed without air conditioning.
Flat plot
On level ground the soil is banked up around the house and creates terrain that was not there before.

A flat plot will do.

Earth-sheltered house Zemplin with stone-faced end wall, grassy roof, flower boxes and a rock outcrop behind

Earth-sheltered house Zemplin with stone-clad end wall, boulders on the mound and a grassy roof strip, grain field around it

Earth-sheltered house Zemplin with grass roof, solar panels, orange window frames and a mound of boulders behind the stone gable

The plot is flat. Earth was heaped around the house and onto the roof, where grass grows and solar thermal panels heat the water. You do not need a slope for an underground house.

Skylights in the ceiling.

The living room and another room each have a skylight in the ceiling. Daylight comes from above as well, not only through the front windows.

Hallway in the Zemplin earth-sheltered house, wood-beam ceiling, sliding barn door and stone-tiled shower alcove

Living room of the Zemplin earth-sheltered house with beamed ceiling, skylight and green sectional sofa

Green roof
The roof surface is alive. It holds back rainwater, cools itself by evaporation and gives back to the plot the green space the house took up.
Solar hot water
The sun heats the water; electricity or the stove tops it up only when needed.
Storeroom
A cool, stable room for food and water, with no need for refrigeration.

Timber interior surfacesWood on the walls, ceilings or floors, as a counterpoint to the concrete.

Living room of the Zemplin earth-sheltered house with skylight, wood beams, green sofa and hallway with sliding doors — Room with a skylight

Kitchen and dining area of the Zemplin earth-sheltered house, with wood beams, tulips on the table and pendant lights.

Greenhouse, pantry, drying room.

Besides four rooms and a kitchen with dining area, the house has a 15 m² greenhouse, a pantry, a drying room, a walk-in wardrobe and a work corner. Stores, laundry and working from home each have their own place.