A Different Kind of "Netcam"

Here is a good view of our "Billy Pugh", the safety net we use as the "second floor" of our greenhouse space. I can't say enough about how much fun this thing is, as well as incredibly useful. Because we have a two story greenhouse, it allows us to enjoy the high reaches of our greenhouse space without negatively impacting the solar gain of the space. The greenhouse is our primary heat source, as well as providing us with humidity in our dry climate, food during the winter, and lots of healthy green, which is important in our dry brown winter environment.


This is a view of one of our "Sky Chairs" (looking to the west). I spend lots of time sitting here relaxing my heart and soul surrounded by the warmth of our greenhouse space.


From this Sky Chair you can see the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, 50 miles away. We really enjoy sitting here in the summer and watching the light show of a summer thunderstorm as it moves up the valley towards us. It is also fun sitting here in the warmth and green and watching snowstorms. Especially since we know that in either case, our power will continue to operate without the interruption of downed power lines or lightning strikes.


This is a view to the east showing the stairs. We use the balcony in the greenhouse as our "hallway" to get around the second floor. This frees up the floorspace in the bedroom/study areas for more usable space and means we haven't used up living area for hallways. Also with each of the two upstairs bedrooms facing the greenhouse, everyone upstairs gets to see the green and take advantage of the sunlight the greenhouse brings into our home.


This is a shot from just inside the windows at the front of the greenhouse. As of June of 2006 you can see the bananas have been trimmed back a bit. This area of banana plants has produced a couple of crops of bananas but is really not in the ideal location, the new set of bananas near the window does much better when it comes to producing bananas, and lots of them!

Here is a link to a page about our first successful banana crop.


another homeowner's net installationHere is an installation of a net in a narrow greenhouse space. As you can see it allows for imaginative uses for otherwise wasted 2-story spaces. These folks get to fall asleep with the stars and wake up with the sunrise, all in the warmth of their greenhouse. An excellent use of the net as both a sleeping and a gathering space.


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Wagonmaker Press
Thomas W. Elliot