I finally made my way into a strawbale building. The Orofino Winery is less than an hour away in Cawston so we made it the destination for a Saturday outing. John and Virginia Weber are the owner/operators and John was on duty the day we were there. He very graciously answered many questions that he's probably heard a thousand times and let the kids play with his son's wonderful toys (the son wasn't there to have his say in it).
The building was a lot like I expected and hoped it would be. The deep sills and thick walls delighted me most and the cool temperature on a smoking hot Okanagan day was impressive too. I still don't know if I would react to spending a lot of time in a strawbale building, as I'm so incredibly allergic to straw dust. The few minutes I was in the tasting room were fine but the doors were open and there was good airflow. The only thing about the whole scene that worried me was what I felt was a lingering smell of damp concrete (which incidentally, nobody else could smell). I think the building was only completed this year so perhaps it needs more time to cure? Also if the building was heated with wood in any way it would likely end up being on the dry side in short order.
My next stop on the strawbale circuit will be a strawbale fruitstand near Okanagan Falls...can't find a website but this one has a picture.
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