Pando Speer and Dain Daller Studio Tour October 6, 2025

See the announcement: THE WEAVING MILL Open Studio With Special Guests The Warp Zone!

Dain's & Amanda's Earthship 2025

Off Grid Living on the Earthship with Amanda Speer and Dain Daller - May 9, 2024

from The Tiny House Adviser Less House More Resilience - Tiny Living Podcast with Laura Lynch

Have you ever dreamed of building your own home but felt daunted by the prospect, especially when considering off grid living? Don’t miss this episode! Amanda Speer and Dain Daller join the show today to talk about their remarkable journey building an off grid living Earthship home. They share not only the challenges they faced but also how they overcame them, offering valuable insights into the world of off grid living. From their initial doubts to the triumphant realization of their dream, Amanda and Dain discuss the alternative building methods they utilized, shedding light on the practical aspects of creating a sustainable off grid living lifestyle.

Listen in to hear about the weaving they do and how they seamlessly incorporate it into their off-grid lifestyle. They also shed light on their personal values, how those affected their business and home build, and inventive ideas for creating a similar lifestyle.

Explore the boundless possibilities of Earthship off-grid living with Amanda Speer and Dain Daller in this captivating journey into sustainable living! Join us as we uncover the transformative power of Earthship architecture and its seamless integration with off-grid lifestyles.

In this immersive experience, Amanda and Dain share their expertise and firsthand experiences, offering invaluable insights and practical tips for thriving off the grid. From harnessing renewable energy to sustainable water management, discover the keys to self-sufficiency and environmental stewardship.

Off-Grid Living On The Earthship with Laura Lynch and Amanda Speer and Dain Daller

The Tiny House Adviser - EP 50: Off-Grid Living on the Earthship with Amanda Speer and Dain Daller

Have you ever dreamed of living off the grid, building your own sustainable home, and living in harmony with your values? Amanda Speer and Dain Daller did just that. In this episode of [EP 50: OFF-GRID LIVING ON THE EARTHSHIP WITH AMANDA SPEER AND DAIN DALLER], they share their inspiring journey of building an Earthship home, achieving financial freedom, and weaving their passions into their daily lives.

Who Are Amanda Speer and Dain Daller?

Amanda and Dain are not your average homeowners. They embarked on a life-changing adventure to create an Earthship—a sustainable, off-grid home that’s as beautiful as it is functional. Their journey started with a shared vision of living in alignment with their values of sustainability, creativity, and freedom.

Through hard work, determination, and innovative thinking, they’ve turned this vision into a reality.

Building Their Earthship: A Sustainable Dream

So, what is an Earthship? It’s a self-sufficient home designed to minimize environmental impact. Amanda and Dain’s Earthship is built using natural and recycled materials like tires, bottles, and earth-packed walls.

The home features solar panels for electricity, a rainwater harvesting system, and indoor gardens for food. Amanda and Dain emphasize that starting small and focusing on learning one step at a time was key to their success.

Financial Freedom Through Off-Grid Living

Living off-grid doesn’t just help the environment—it can also be a game-changer for your wallet. By building their own home and adopting a sustainable lifestyle, Amanda and Dain significantly reduced their cost of living. This freed them to pursue their dreams and focus on their passions without financial stress.

Living by Their Values: Weaving Passion with Lifestyle

Amanda and Dain’s Earthship isn’t just a home; it’s a reflection of their values. Sustainability, creativity, and a deep connection to nature are at the core of everything they do.

Making Weaving Work for Their Lifestyle

One of the most fascinating aspects of their story is how they discovered weaving. What started as a creative outlet quickly turned into a fulfilling career. Amanda and Dain now create beautiful, handmade pieces that support their lifestyle and align with their commitment to sustainability.

How to Start Your Off-Grid Living Journey

Dreaming of building your own Earthship? Here are Amanda and Dain’s top tips:

Research and Learn: Start by reading about alternative building methods and sustainable living.

Connect with Communities: Join groups and forums to learn from others who’ve done it.

Start Small: Begin with small projects like a rainwater system or solar panels.

Be Patient: Building an off-grid home takes time, but the rewards are worth it.

Conclusion: Embracing the Off-Grid Lifestyle

Amanda Speer and Dain Daller’s journey is proof that living off the grid can lead to financial freedom, a deeper connection to your values, and a fulfilling lifestyle. Whether you’re ready to build an Earthship or simply curious about sustainable living, their story is sure to inspire you to dream big and take that first step.

The Tiny House Adviser: EP50: OFF-GRID LIVING ON THE EARTHSHIP WITH AMANDA SPEER AND DAIN DALLER

Dain's & Amanda's Earthship 2021

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Today marks the 11th year of building this house. Our personal interpretation of independence day. So much blood, so much sweat, and so many tears. From the ground up with all four earthship DIY books. We had plenty of encouragement to guide us, and the discouragement to propel us even further. It’s an ongoing project but the end is near. We started to pour the last floor today. It would have been done a month ago but we are installing a stone/light feature which will be well worth the time it’s taking: pictures of that to come in a week or two!! And two more coats of plaster on one more wall…the dome interior.. and well done? Really? I think that’s it. We are still building a studio though, so a few more years of hard labor for that giant 600 sq. ft addition.. We have an indoor, self watering tropical paradise. A flushing toilet. A magical shower. A completely self sustaining water system. Solar power. Earth Based, bermed into the ground natural air conditioning. Passive solar heat.. A community. A work at home life. Friends. Non-stop laughs.. And yes, we did celebrate today by working on this house all day. Also, I’m proud to say I’ve had the same pickaxe for 11 years, and used it again, today.

WORLD BOAT

AMANDA SPEER, DAIN DALLER

Images courtesy of the photographer, Amanda Speer

Feeling burnt out on city life, artists Amanda Speer and Dain Daller moved from Chicago to northern New Mexico in 2010 to seek a more economically and environmentally sustainable lifestyle. Around the same time that they purchased a plot of land, they learned about Earthships, a holistic home/life design developed by architect Michael Reynolds. To build an Earthship, you must adhere to strict tenets regarding materials, energy sources, garbage and sewage treatment, etc.; however, Dain and Speer work continuously to infuse their Earthship with creativity with the inclusion of decorative elements throughout the home and property.

Much of the artwork built into the home is inspired by the materials that Dain and Amanda scavenge that they repurpose as mosaics, woodwork, curated collections, textiles, and more. Though the duo believe they will eventually complete the home, they are already planning for additional structures, like a separate Earthship studio and then a kiln, as well as development of the surrounding property with outdoor sculpture and landscaping. Dain and Speer’s studio practice is based on fiber work (Warp Zone Weaving); however, Speer describes the home as their “masterpiece.”

Statement from Amanda Speer, August 2019:

We are Amanda Speer and Dain Daller. We identify primarily as artists, musicians, and homebuilders. We became disillusioned with the city life after living in Chicago for almost a decade. It was primarily the lack of prospect for home ownership. We wanted a freedom that urban life was prohibiting. A life with less daunting bills, and people not living on top of people. We took a giant leap and left the city in a tiny muffler-less car in 2009.

We are both self-taught builders. We are influenced by mud building techniques from all around the world and all throughout all periods of time. We built our home in the Earthship stye with the help of an Earthship internship and the four DIY Earthship books written by Michael Reynolds. We have built every component of our house—plumbing, cabinetry, framing, couches—you name it, we built it with our hands. We have dug every bit of dirt out by hand, which is a far less destructive method than using large machinery, and it is also much more peaceful and gratifying.

Dain and I will most likely continue to build into the sunset. We do very much intend to finish our house, yet there will always be something more to do or decorate or embellish. We are currently drawing plans for a huge weaving studio to be added on to our house. We don’t cut corners, so our projects are usually quite slow to develop. It will be another Earthship around 700 square feet and have its own water system for a full dye kitchen.

The work sometimes feels endless and daunting, but we realize we have built an amazing life and environment that even feels unbelievable to us at times. We are fortunate to have been able to do so. We’ve created an environment that only gets closer and closer to being our personal utopia every day. We live and work at home, and remain grateful for this opportunity and try not to take any of it for granted.

Amanda has a BFA from Columbia College, Chicago, and Dain has a BFA from the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. We learned to weave in 2012 at the local Española Valley Fiber Arts Center and have now shown our work around the world. We continue to work, teach, and build in Northern New Mexico.

Materials: adobe, tile, brick, wood, other scavenged materials

Dain's & Amanda's Earthship 2019

Building an earthship in New Mexico with Amanda Speer

Amanda & Dain's Chicagoclimatefest Video

Published on Oct 27, 2016

Earthship video... 6 years into the project.... check back in three years and maybe we'll be done... :)

2017 - 360° tour of earthship

2017 - 360° tour of earthship upstairs

Here's Amanda's blog website:

RaiseHighTheRoofBeamCarpenters.blogspot.com (most recent)

Starting from the beginning (I like to read from the beginning)

And Amanda's YouTube channel:

YouTube - combatbilly

Amanda J. Speer with Dain Daller

Earthship; New Mexico

various natural and manmade materials

This Earthship project creates an affordable, sustainable, home in the Southwestern U.S. The entirety of the project has been conceived and executed purely by myself and my partner Dain Daller. As artists and builders, we have a goal of making a positive impact on the declining health of our planet.

The Earthship is made of rammed earth walls, and a glass front. The glass front face is almost completely south facing. This allows full sun in winter, and no sun, during summer. The tire walls are filled with rammed earth which creates a thermal mass. The house is completely buried on all sides besides the glass front. The structure soaks in heat like a charging battery.

This home is self sustaining. It will use its water five times before it is put back into the earth’s atmosphere. After the water is collected off the roof, it is stored in a cistern. It is then filtered for drinkable water. After the water is used in sinks and showers, it is filtered into the indoor green house. The water then drains into a separate tank. This storage tank is for flushing the toilet. When water is flushed, it drains into a standard septic tank. There is no leach field. Human matter is decomposed and then put into a ground level black water planter, creating a fertilized soil used for landscaping.

For more information visit: http://raisehightheroofbeamcarpenters.blogspot.com