House of the Day: Colorado Home Is Green and Gorgeous

In honor of Earth Day 2012, this home's not only cute as a button, it's also incredibly eco-friendly! Nestled on 35 acres above an evergreen canyon west of Trinidad, Colo., this super-sustainable straw-bale home is about as environmentally green as you can get.

Most days (about 320 per year), the sun warms this neo-Southwestern home with its 2-foot-thick, R-55, straw-bale walls. While outside temperatures might reach 90 degrees in the height of summer, the interior temperatures will never exceed 78 degrees when windows are closed during the daytime!

Additionally, the home's energy-efficient, passive-solar design is supplemented by an in-floor hydronic heating system covered by Italian terracotta ceramic tile (and that massive, gorgeous, kiva-style fireplace). The home also features an in-floor boiler, a rainwater catchment system with 2,400-gallon storage, a drip-irrigation system for gardens and flower beds, and energy efficient appliances throughout. Whew!

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Green features aside, it's just so pretty. The entire 12-room home is handcrafted with one-of-a-kind solid maple, mission-style doors with rain-glass lights, solid cherrywood kitchen cabinets and hand-carved garden gates.

Best of all? This amazing 4,788-square-foot green home is only $490,000.

Edgar J. Trommeter has the listing.

Click on the images below to see more homes for sale in and around Trinidad, Colo.

See more Houses of the Dayon AOL Real Estate.

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