Michael Crouch, Lawrence resident and Kansas University alumnus, stands in front of a wall that he constructed of cob - a material composed of clay, sand and straw - in his North Lawrence backyard. Behind the wall is another cob building he created from natural materials.

A Lawrence resident has taken an interest in cob.

Not the thing that corn grows on, but a building material.

Michael Crouch began experimenting with the material composed of clay, sand and straw after reading a magazine article about it 10 years ago.

Crouch described the clay as “kind of a magical substance.” As opposed to dirt, which would just wash away in the rain, the clay keeps its shape and can absorb water over a period of months or years. Eventually, it will wash away, too. But if it is protected, the clay stays intact.

“A lot of people just don’t think it will work here or have never even heard of it,” says the 33-year-old Crouch, a Kansas University alumnus.

Crouch says cob can be used to build livable houses, but the building process could take awhile. For example, it took him three months to make a child’s playhouse.

“As far as a building method, cob is one of the lower ones,” Crouch says. “But the finished projects are natural, sturdy and reliable – even livable. With a roof, a cob house can endure even in places such as Lawrence.”

People have known about and lived in houses made of cob for centuries, Crouch says. Sky rises made of cob have been found in Yemen that are thought to be nearly 1,000 years old, and Crouch believes it to be the oldest of all building methods.

“The modern American does want different things than someone living in Africa or 1,000 years ago,” he says. “But it’s proven to be adaptable; it’s an adaptable material.”

The magic of cob certainly isn’t as well-known in Kansas as it is in many other places around the world. However, Crouch is doing his part to revive its use in the area.

He has completed five major projects in the Lawrence area: a garden bench in East Lawrence, a play house for his friend’s son, a yoga room in West Lawrence that was inspired by a Japanese tea house, and two paintings downtown in which he used cob as a finish.

He also has made countless structures in his backyard in North Lawrence by stacking straw and reinforcing it with the cob mixture.

“My goal is to educate people on the virtues of natural building,” he says.

To do that, Crouch plans to pursue natural building as more of a career than a hobby. He plans to learn more by attending various workshops this summer. But he says the best way to learn about natural building is by trial and error.

“There’s no one to really teach me, ‘Well, this is how you do it,'” Crouch says. “It’s more like, ‘Hmm, I wonder how this is done?’ So I have to think a lot harder about it. And it’s rewarding.”