The framer who framed out my house has straw bale house. He has invited me to come look at it, but I have never had a chance yet. Prior to him telling me about his house, I had never heard of a straw bale home. He told me some of the benefits of this type of house (which I can't remember now), but he said the main reason he built it was for the cool factor.

The tale of the Three Little Pigs has prejudiced North Americans against straw homes for centuries. Still, it's a common building material in other parts of the world that have denuded their countrysides of trees. I'm as likely to build one as live in a yurt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ontario Straw Bale Building

It's a gimmick type of build. People don't do it because it's better. They do because they want publicity, they are 'environmentalists' or because they have lot's of money and they can, to show off.

They are getting popular in AZ and NM because of the insulation qualities. They aren't hard to build, so making a barn office and tack room would be easy.

Fireproofing is of course, critical.

Check your local codes and find a source of clean wheat or oat straw (NOT HAY!)

"The tale of the Three Little Pigs has prejudiced North Americans against straw homes for centuries."

One problem with this theory:

The second pig built its home out of wood sticks and ultimately had the same tragic fate as the first pig with the straw house.

Only the third pig used sturdy masonry.

Practical, well, no. It's a lot more hassle to accomplish than standard building practices. And, it's not at all a "low cost" solution to build. It's usually more expensive than stick built. Check with your local building office. Many local does do not allow their construction at all. Also check with your insurance company and be prepared for much greater scrutiny by them during the construction phase. All in all, it's not worth the added problems for most people to deal with.