Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 21, 2025

A New Kit Home Made From Hemp Blocks

A New Kit Home Made From Hemp Blocks

Coexist Build launches a DIY tiny home that’s designed to be built in just a week.

Shortly after developing the nation’s first hemp house on wheels, Coexist Build has launched the Traveler, a DIY cabin made from hempcrete. The 140-square-foot tiny house kit was created partly in response to the pandemic, says architect Anastasiya Konopatskaya, who founded Coexist Build with her husband, Drew Oberholtzer. "We were struggling to get our work done with two small children at home," he says. "We kept thinking-if only we could have a tiny office in the backyard."



"We call it the Traveler because it will travel to you, you can travel to it, or you travel within it, into your own healthy world," says the Coexist Build team.



Designed to last for generations, the Traveler cabins incorporate heavy timber joinery made by a master craftsman from Pennsylvania. The hempcrete insulation will naturally harden over time, while the exterior components require very little maintenance.

"We have spent 3 years building and designing with hempcrete, so it was only natural for us to combine our experience of building small homes with healthy, unconventional construction," Oberholtzer explains. "And so a ‘shelter with purpose’-a healthy, sustainable space for any need-was born."

In addition to their design practice, the husband-and-wife duo owns and operates a regenerative organic farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania, that doubles as a research and development lab for experimenting with healthy, plant-based building materials.



Coexist Build makes and sells prefabricated hempcrete blocks-called Coexist Hemp Blocks-which are available for bulk purchase from their website. The company produces up to 1,000 blocks a day in their eastern Pennsylvania facility.

Since the hemp industry in the US is still maturing, the couple imports raw materials from Europe with the hope of sourcing locally in the near future. The couple use mineral-based binders to manufacture cured hempcrete blocks in their own facility 10 miles from their farm. All timber used in the Traveler kit is sourced locally from FSC-certified forests and milled by local craftsmen.

"When hemp, lime, and water are combined, it creates an assembly that is mold, fire, and insect-resistant. It’s perfect for climates like ours in the Northeast, but also for humid places like Florida and dry ones like California," explain the couple.



The 140-square-foot Traveler kit can accommodate two queen-sized beds on the ground level, and it also has an additional sleeping area on the loft level.



The Traveler can be equipped with either hemp batt insulation or hemp block as infill.

"Hempcrete helps regulate temperature and moisture inside a space with minimum variation, thus minimizing heating/cooling costs during the colder and warmer seasons-it is estimated that you save about 40% in those costs," they say. "The plaster finish on the exterior and interior requires minimum maintenance in the long run, and in addition, hemp is a regenerative plant with a short growing cycle."

The hemp and wood used in the kit are free from formaldehyde, VOCs, and allergens. All other materials in the kit were carefully selected based on their environmental and health impact. "This is the first hemp-and wellness-based DIY kit on the market," say the couple.



The design for the Traveler takes cues from California modernism with an emphasis on indoor/outdoor living, natural materials, and a sense of warmth.

Pricing for the 140-square-foot Traveler kit house starts at $26,900. Each kit comes with an illustrated instruction manual along with labeled precut parts that are designed to be assembled by a team of two to four people in a few weekends. The only tools needed are an electric drill, a screw gun, and a mallet.

Officially launched on Earth Day 2021, the Traveler DIY kit is now available for preorder with a $500 deposit. Production will begin once a minimum of five preorders has been met.



Traveler diagram. Customers can choose different options for the exterior cladding, insulation, and interior cladding.



Traveler section and plan

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×