No bank loaned them money. They built dream Hobbit Home themselves
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- čas přidán 9. 12. 2023
- When no bank would give them a loan for a sunken dome home, Steve Travis and Jeff Ingram began to build the earth-sheltered hobbit villa on their own, financing each step paycheck to paycheck and getting creative. They used recycled highway signs to lay the forms for the concrete foundation.
They held a "dome-raising" party to erect the I-Beams (purchased as a dome kit). They tied their own rebar for a full year. They lived in a fifth-wheel trailer for 6 years before finally moving into a half-built house.
Their commitment paid off. Today, the couple has spent a decade living mortgage-free in a home that is built to "withstand a nuclear blast," as well as hurricanes and earthquakes (they are in a fault zone). They have no heating or cooling bills since the home is hyper-insulated. “There are 1000 tons of earth on top of the house,” explains Steve. “The weight adds strength to the structure - like an egg, because of the barrel-hauled structure the weight of the earth compresses it and makes it stronger -, but the main aspect is the thermal mass insulation value.” Per code, the county made them put in two bedroom wall heaters, but they have never needed them.
The home is maintenance-free except for having to mow the roof, which now bathes the entire home in green. “We've had people say it must be like living in a cave, but there's light everywhere in this house.”
Because the walls aren’t load-bearing (the barrel vaults hold the home in compression), they were able to create huge windows on three sides of the home, allowing in plenty of southern light: “more than any home we’ve ever lived in.”
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/no-b... - Jak na to + styl
This home is not only cozy and has gorgeous views, it saves money and is built like a tank -- a true shelter from the elements.
tank? cave>
I can’t believe I am watching my friends Steve and Jeff’s house, it is a wonderful house story. Thanks so much.
Can you share with us the square footage of the house (footprint)? It feels fantastically spacious, of course, with those soaring ceilings! What an amazing investment of time, money, BS&T and heart and soul!
@@LouiseAdie-zm2jf The footprint is about 1,800 SqFt
I tried to search for the Colorado steel I-beam dome kit they mentioned, but I failed. Would you be willing to ask your friend for the company name?
It's Formworks out of Durango
The company this man said in Colorado is probably Formworks Buildings out of Durango. Better and stronger structure from the natural disaster and their models are even nuclear blast tested I heard. It could easily cost around 200k but a Great retirement home or anything. A genuine American Dream achieved.
I like people like this- no bank would give them a loan but they created a new alternative
What alternative? They saved and built as they could... the way responsible adults do things...
They had imagination and were prepared to take a risk to make a dream a reality. Banks are not to help much for "crestives" unfortunatelly 🤑
@@halinaleonowicz8038Banks are crooks, they don't exist to help people; they are here to make sure you lose everything to them.
Why would a bank give you a loan for a home that would last at least 5 lifespans and have low maintenance that you would never sell?
Banks are there just for convenience, like birds whaithing for the animal pray to die so they can scavenging what's left......
We have a berm home. German cabinet maker and his wife built it. Banks don't want to make loans, insurance companies don't want to ensure it. We do not have central heat or AC. It is amazing how the home stays @ 65 degrees year round. We have 2 wood burning stoves with our wood being dead fall. It feels so cozy and secure. We do not have the large arched windows. We have skylights. Our horses keep the grass eaten down. I don't know why more of these energy efficient homes are not built when they are so energy efficient. The down side....in the winter when jt is -35 with wind chill and several feet of snow, you want to hibernate and not leave!!
Steve said it well, “All dwellings should be built like this.” No more excessive construction waste, economical to heat and cool, and beautiful! I would love to live in a hobbit shire!
Need more houses like this in tornado alley
Not want people want. They want massive single family homes that are cookie cutter. The market doesn't reflect your idea.
Naaah lets just continue building wood stick houses
Amazing. I've watched your channel Kirsten for years and years. Always impressed by so many homes & structures you've featured. This one is up there in my top ten fave's of your visits to spectacular homes. I love the ceiling - like an unpainted Sistine Chapel or the Mihrab dome in the Great Mosque of Córdoba Spain. It's my dream to build something like this.
I love this home in ways that might take forever to describe.....It has so much of all the ways I have wanted to build a home since I discovered Earth based homes in 1979.....
The 1970’s and early 80’s were a great era for earth homes. It’s sad that a genius idea was so frowned upon by the system.
My husband and I did the same kind of thing. we had a 4,000 sq ft round house that took us 12 years. he passed not long after and I moved. that was 18 years ago now.
I'm sorry for your loss. I hope your life is fulfilling again ❤️
12 yrs I couldn't past a year poor boy just got to see his plan culminate then bam wham
I've known about this company for 7 yrs now. The company is called something like "green homes".
They have several pre-made blueprints and kits on their site. They used to post their prices too. I remember the 4 person, 1700 SF build for sale used to be $40,000 or so. That was for the materials and some windows.
They had estimates like so many days construction time with X number of people helping. The frames are all bolt and nut assembly from their diagrams. Their smallest home was a studio that was like 400 SF inside space, and it used to sell for $10K .
So Glad that you found a house from this company that got built and assembled Kristen, I've been looking for years and not found a single one.
Green Magic Homes
I live in this area........love this so much!! I have been in an underground house here in Oregon and what I loved about it was how quiet it was. Those views are to die for!
I think this is the most amazing home you have ever presented to us. I live not to far away in Western Lane County and wish my circumstances would allow me to build something similar. Thank you for show showing this.
What a wonderful house! Six to seven years whilst working full-time is very respectable and besides it takes time for inspirations to mature as you build giving a much more satisfying, 'complete' and harmonious look, feel and vibe.
A true home: so much more than just a house! 👍😀
Kudos to you, Gentlemen
What a creative design and commitment! Views are stunning. I actually considered building something similar but chickened out when I read articles about water issues. Plus, the topography of my land really only allowed for windows on one side of the house. What I love the most about your home are the large windows on multiple sides. I ended up building a gray shake shingle traditional home with white trim and window boxes (I must mention I have a blush pink front door). I built the home with tons of windows and views of rolling hills and a forest. I watch the sunsets from my screened porch every night. It makes me feel very connected with nature. I purchased the land 25 years ago and built about one year ago and I'm in love with the property. Really enjoyed the tour of your home and I completely understand your labor of love.
You should had not feared the water proofing - when done right it will last centuries like the structure. Yes, it may go horribly wrong if done irresponsibly, but it should not be the case when you build it yourself.
@@oakld I'm certain you are right
I wish they would do a follow-up with these gentlemen, and discuss the more nuts-and-bolts aspects of the engineering and building process. I would love to hear what concerns they had that are unique to these structures, and how they addressed and mitigated them.
That was my thought: how does it handle moisture? My dad was telling me a family member had a house built into a hill and had to move because they couldn’t keep up with the dampness.
@@criticaloptimist You need a water proofing of the house - if done correctly there's no moisture getting into the house. This is typically done in form of few layers of each should stop the moisture getting in. The concrete is treated either with bitumen paint, or nano hydro-proofing penetration or covered with asphalt strips. Above is heat insulation, typically XPS, then another waterproofing layer, I. E. PVC thick sheets "welded" together. Then you mqy have a dimpel sheets (glued at the joints) and small layer of gravel (it takes the water away, into draining collectors, such as french drains. Thet may be it with just soil above. But you may continue, with let's say 2 feet of accumulation soil, then another dimpepel membrane and thick geotextile, and maybe to 1 feet of soil above. This will separates upper vegetation layer, preventing it from loosing moisture and keeps ideal and constant moisture level in the accumulation layer, which helps the house to keep great climate. Now, when you do reasonable waterproofing an have modern tripple pane windows on your south-facing exposed side, you would still get moisture in the house - from cooking, breathing, plants,.. But it's not different to any other modern passive or low-energy house, which is also air tight (passive house must even pass a test for air tightness) . You need a ventilation and it's usually done using recuperation unit (ERV, HIV). This is not a professional advice, but I'm in a planning stage of such build and have been researching the topic for couple of years.
This house and the way they built is very inspirational. I love this
That concrete bench top 😍😍😍
Such a beautiful home! Thank you for showing us this masterpiece 🩷
30:00 mark: He should just get some goats to maintain the roof. Lol.
Two mini goats would do the job. They'd keep the blackberries at bay, too.
@@susanbeals7597 👍
I agree, more homes should be built this way! Nice Job Steve n Jeff 🙂
Yep, just live in a trailer for 7 years and spend double the cost of traditional construction.
I like it, just not realistic.
@@eric4903You get a disaster-proof home. Have fun in your stick-built home when there's a wildfire.
@@eric4903 They said ten percent more. And it is very common for people to live in a trailer on site while they build their dream. Tho you don't even need to do that.
@@snowstrobe Maybe 10% if you have nearly no labor cost, like this build.
There is no free lunch, this build has obviously higher material cost and much more labor required.
It would be more realistic if they could have gotten a loan and simply had it built.
And if banks backed these types of homes, they'd be more common and more systems would be in place to make the process easier and quicker.
Fortunately they didn't decide to go the standard, cookie cutter route and pushed boundaries.
@@eric4903
This home is remarkable. I love the concrete counters, and floors, and all of the windows, especially the arched ones. It is gorgeous!
Awesome house.
The way you described the energy you feel is Grounding, being one with Earth, and its like getting a hug from Earth = to Ground into her.
❤❤❤
Was waiting for someone to say this. They are enveloped in the earth. I guess the floors are all conductive cement with no sealer. Didn't hear them mention that.
I drove past this house all the time when I was younger and as a local I’ve always been curious about it, so cool to see it in more depth and come full circle on a channel I greatly enjoy. Keep up the great work!
That Raptor came awfully close to your vehicle !!
Wow! Impressive, innovative, and lovely! And NO mortgage! Bravo!
Thank to the authors and the owners of the house for such an interesting project. So happy for people that don’t accept established rules and do what they want and feel. I personally always felt that common “square box” paradigm of construction are such a mistake that was made once long time ago and continuing now. Squares and triangles are just unnatural, almost nowhere in the nature we can find such forms, but we still use them while building structures where we spend most of our time.
I am building my faeryhouse now. I felt that my heart would break, irreparably, if I didnt get off the grid.
Getting off the grid is a strong motivation, along with no mortgage.
Oh my goodness! I thought I recognized this home! This is our beautiful Bay Road! I grew up on this road and live down the road . Such a beautiful place to live❤️❤️❤️
I've been wanting to build an earthsheltered home ever since I first learned about them by reading Mother Earth News magazine back in the late 70s or early 80s. This desire was made stronger ever since I saw the Hobbit home in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
6-7 years of hard work while living in a trailer... Amazing!
Creative and thoughtful design that makes a lot of sense. I wish we had more homes like this.
How incredibly disciplined and determined you have to be to complete such a massive project. Especially with all the financial and physical roadblocks you may face. This is such a stunning show of hard work, craftsmanship, and passion all married together. Good for these guys. They were told they couldn’t have the life they dreamed of so instead they set out to make it a reality regardless of the challenges. I just don’t have words for how much I admire folks who can do this kind of thing and really dig their heels in and do it right.
So, if I understand correctly, the soil on top of the house acts like an insulating layer. I love this home. The arches provide a high ceiling.
There should be a vapor barrier before the concrete was poured.
@@patrickrussell1888 There is a vapor barrier under the slab.
@patrickrussell1888 Correct me if im wrong but I thought the shotcrete was sprayed on.
@@masterhenry838 Yes, shotcrete is sprayed on.
Imagine a whole TOWN build like this…
That would be truly amazing 👍
A nice couple and a brilliant idea … I especially like the fact that they both lived first on the property to see and feel how the sun and the land looked during seasons … so that they both could then decide how to set it up …
And most importantly, no bank loan 😂
i feel like the isolation and nature is part of the charm, but yeah it would be cool
Admirable. These home owners are so heartwarmingly enthusiastic and passionate.
A very Cascadian home! Excellent profile of Steve & Jeff’s home!
I had to look that up. It’s a sort of natural resource building movement while at the same time an area in Oregon?
@@chickadeeacres3864 Cascadia is a combination of:
* The official name of the “bio region” covering most of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and parts of Idaho, Montana, Northern California. It is used to describe the unique plant and wildlife zones in the area.
* A not-very-serious “secession movement” calling for Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to separate from the USA and Canada and form their own country. (I would say that most people who profess support for this are entirely tongue-in-cheek.)
* A general feeling of a common shared regional identity, usually based on environmental consciousness.
The fictional “nation” even has its own flag (seen waving outside their home, blue, white, and green horizontal bands with a black Douglas fir tree in the middle,) and even its own “national soccer team” that competes in international games against other “not recognized nations” - some of them equally “not serious,” but some are true attempts at breaking away from their home nations. Like Tibet, Northern Cyprus, Kurdistan.
It was really wise to live there a year and monitor the sun location and height. I think many people are in too much of a hurry to build. If you want extra income, you can rent out the temporary mobile home for extra income. I rent my mobile homes by the room, fully furnished. I can always find reliable renters, and I can always come in and check on the kitchen and living room. Probably a couple of manufactured homes being rented could cover the property taxes and insurance. It's always good to have an extra income stream if you have elaborate dreams for your house. And many people on fixed incomes are thrilled to rent rooms in a manufactured home on a gorgeous site. You can always put the rentals behind trees in the back. I can't imagine doing a project this big without either a loan or a several income streams.
These are my kind of people. Damn it, I love this, all around.
WOW! What an amazing home! The whole home is a artistic work in progress. What a beautiful place to live.❤
Talk about dedication ...
I loved this episode. Steve and Jeff built more than a home; they built a lifestyle that cooperates with nature. Well done guys.
Excellent video. I would love to hear how these unique home build their septic systems. That is never mentioned and is a vital part.
Maybe they have composting toilets.
We have an aerobic septic system. 1,500 gallon, two compartment septic tank. The second compartment has a “bubbler” that aerates the effluent. This then flows into a third, treatment & pump out tank. This contains an ”EZ-Tank” wastewater chlorinator and a pressure pump that sends the treated water (pretty clean at this point) out to 3 sprinkler heads dispersed into the woods.
@@creativeguy3384 Excellent!!
6-7 years living in that trailer??😳😳 Holy moly. Beautiful place, but that waaaaay too long for my liking to build any home. I would be good in a single bedroom home.
What a beautiful place! 🥰🏡👍
This place kinda left me speechless, but after struggling a little while I was able to come up with atleast one word ... WOW.
Reminds me of a sod house / museum that I visited in Iceland.
PS - other then smoke damage, wildfires don’t represent a risk to this house.
This house is amazing!! ❤❤❤ It's like being hugged by nature, sleeping inside. What a neat home!!
I absolutely love everything about this home!! It’s an ingenious and beautiful design!! ❤❤❤
Cheers
Like the design of it. Did they make the plans and structural measurements available. I'm sure others would like a house like that...
well done hobbits' & great raven shot Kirsten! i love your vision.. this is an amazing place!
Absolutely!!! I'm in the process of placing wheels under everything I can - not to facilitate dance parties, but, those of us who are older want to be able to easily move furniture so we can more easily clean! Whatever anyone's reason is, it just seems more logical! Although, I suppose most people would think it strange!
I also lived in a house with a lot of sunlight coming in, too. But living in the Northern Hemisphere the sunlight only reached into ~ 4' - ~ 4.5' into the house - just as this house in the video does, depending on the time of year. I can't afford to build and live in my own house now, but I often wondered about living in a narrow house, where the darkness is "cut off" and the sunlight reaches more into the interior of the house, but, of course, you sacrifice space. However, no worries - there is the mass of the house, which captures the heat - a couple of ways to heat - sunlight and/ or mass of the structure.
The interior is beautiful, with the curved surfaces; and the out side of the house is covered green, which is interesting. But - another sacrifice is that with a right angled home, you have surfaces you can paint, although far more expensive. I'm thinking about the black exteriors of homes in the Faroe Islands, places in Norway - and the beautiful, glossy dark green or black paint on the homes in the island in the Netherlands - Marken. Also, the beautiful whites and blues (Greece and Spain [tiles, too]), or the exterior colors on the buildings in parts of Europe... This family has chosen a different path!
(Oh, yes, as others have mentioned - gorgeous views❤)
All I can think is that arched "window" would be beautiful as stained glass.
I'm building an "underground" house, but coming at it from a slightly different angle.
I'm carving the top off a natural rolling hill and building a slab on grade.
The living quarters will be yet another structure within a concrete and steel shell . . . THEN . . . I intend replacing that natural rolling hill by encapsulating the entire structure with all that dirt I scraped off initially.
A 24" x 200-foot tinhorn culvert pipe will be placed such that each open end is placed on each side of the main shell, offering geothermal cooling in Summer.
The dwelling portion will be heated by hydronic pipping within its slab creating a heated floor.
I live in Tornado Alley and my new home will be both tornado-proof and flood-proof as well as feature only noncombustible building materials throughout. I'm trying to come in at under $200K. So far, so good.
I saw the “Cascadia” flag flying.
Love that kind of design , so weatherproof , rodent proof , so efficient using earth to insulate and strengthen … yet most people live in boxes , worry about termites , storms blowing their house over ,or storms tearing up their roof that needs replaced .
I've renovated my home in Orkcore. The look is dominated by red, grey, and brown. Brown leather and brown wood. Grey concrete, grey iron, grey stone, occasionally grey stained wood such as my house number sign. Red leather, sedona red stained wood, a bit of red trim, red painted roof. Dark ages war/hunting weapons such as battleaxes, shields, and spears as decorations. Hide rugs and Navajo rugs. Raw materials and recycled materials such as barnwood tables. Exposed industrial elements such as large bolts where practical and industrial iron brackets. Pointiness added everywhere it can be done safely, such as pointy plants, pointy curtain-rods, pointy fencing, pyramid tacks, horns, antlers.
This the the exact home I have wanted my entire life. Underground, arches, a lot of light. It is beautiful!
If you take your time, explore the alternative and do things in baby steps , you can do your own thing. We have as well ❤
Wonderfully nice build! And NO mortgage!
Hello, my wife and I watched your video and really enjoyed. We have the beamed earth passive solar tire-bale home also with a video on CZcams. Lots and lots of interest. It’s so good to see so much interest in these more sustainable homes. I’m thinking of building 5-6 of the tire-bale homes in an assembly line fashion. I’m of the opinion that these homes to go mainstream and be affordable to build!
We just spoke with a company called biotekt and they make structures like this that are prefab modular and made from recycled plastic, go up quickly and depending on size range from 20k to 140k for the structure itself, we are so excited to get started in 2026 on ours. We live in de beque,CO which is about 5800 elevation, gorgeous view of the grand mesa from our property, it’s an arid desert area and on a mesa itself so can’t drill wells, have to do solar and we will be incorporating water catchment and grey water recycling into ours, the additional benefit is the fire resistance, our area that’s the main weather issue we can have is wildfire and these really reduce the stress of that possibly damaging the home. The systems biotekt does make it faster and easier to raise (6 days for a 2000 sqft home) and they also provide financing for them which makes it way easier than dealing with a bank because banks don’t like to help you if you are different and especially when you can’t connect to the grid. This was a lovely video to watch.
Too unusual to get a bank loan, but still had to install electric heaters in the bedrooms. Bureaucracy is my favorite.
Todays alternatives would be radiant floor heating and that would pass you for a heating element, we are getting ready to build one of these from biotekt in a year in our area and that’s what we are going with
I couldn’t be more impressed! The Pacific NW not my territory…but I love it!
taking the time to do a truly site driven design is the best
Steve says "It's not perfect" I say it is if you like it! My sister was showing me around her new house & in her magnificent yard I would ask, if this or that was a weed. She told me "If you like it, then it's not a weed, It's All Relevant you know." (a lot of people would love having the black/ blueberrie plants, just not on the roof) I would get one of those auto lawnmowers, with a little power station, just for the roof! Maybe to help with the unwanted berry bushes, lay down some chicken wire on top of it & when it weaves & tangles a good hold into the wire, pull the wire up and perhaps take a lot of roots up as well!❤ I Love This Home!!!
In this environment, you soon have a huge mass of the invasive black berry. In a few years, they would have brush started. After decades small trees would be cracking the concrete.
After watching a dozen below grade housing "I don't understand why everyone doesn't live like this".
Me too buddy.
This home isnt below grade, but I agree with your support of below grade living spaces as long as drainage is properly addressed.😊
@@patrickrussell1888 most houses like this I have watched are.
Yes, drainage always needs to be addressed for below grade.
This house isn't, but also drainage and humidity has also been addressed adequately.
A beautiful classical, durable, functional design ...& more.
Absolute Epic homestead- one for the annals
What a dream home. I love Newport, Oregon too.
Kirsten, you guys have done it again!
Brilliant building and i sincerely wish modern homes could be built like this, because of how insulated this is...
Wouldn't need so much oil etc
Paycheck to paycheck. Better than any mortgage usery rates for sure
Make do, but make it beautiful! Nicely done ❤
Those PNW storms are no joke. This sturdy structure is great to withstand them.
I like the concrete counter and support for wood stove.
He needs another "fireman's pole" entrance right through that skylight which would be awesome!
That steel is working hard.
love this design,what a beautiful home.
I just love the intro with your drive through Newport. The area is simply stunning.
Such a beautiful space, and a really swell homeowner!!
Absolutely loved this so much. One of my childhoods dad had a business making and selling the equipment to spray that concrete so of course he built their family a massive home using it. Also, the gentlemen shared enough details about the location that I was able to find the house on Google maps in less then 5 minutes.
What a fun person. I dream of a life like this.
One of the most beautiful and thoughtful homes. These guys have created a phenomenal home! I would love to see builders move to this type of construction. It makes so much sense, especially with climate change and rising costs of living. I can’t believe the banks screwed them on the loan issue. They can’t think outside the box. That needs to change. Who are bankers to know what is feasible? They could do a little google search of earthen structures and all the advantages.
I love this home. It's beautiful
I've read that some people call them earth ships
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOME....VERY UNIQUE!!! VERY CREATIVE!!!
so nice to see people with ideas and follow through, no matter how long it takes. Love this ingenuity.
Anybody else getting Frodo vibe,,,its giving Frodo Baggins.......
beautifull build , In switserland you have many simulair vetsch houses love them but in holland we have so many rules and regulations, hard to construct sometrhing simulair love your vieuw fantastic
I'm quite sure you can do it Holland, but with "German" level of engineering. No crazy foam forms and shotcrete, probably only good old plywood forms and poored concrete. Proper engineered insulation, waterproofing, draining, etc. And you do need a large plot too and I think they do not come cheap in the Netherlands :(. I am planning an Earth sheltered and covered house too and have no problems so far. In the en It's a concrete long bungalow that just happens to be covered with Earth on top and from 3 sides...
So worthy as a home or even a barn. The ability to off grid is great too.
It's dreamy imo
I've got a family member that has one similar to this. They built it 30-40 yrs ago and a love it!
I am totally I'm love this little hobbit hole! Just breath taking! Great content and great job on your home guys! ❤
P.S. i wish i could comment on the ads on this video. Just stupid, The Rock telling us that the gov owes us some money! Free money!
Shit, do they not realize somebody has to pay for it! Like us tax payers. Lets all add to the
$34,000,000,000 deficit!
I think not! 🙄🙄🤢🤮
NOTE:
No reflection on the author of this post !
Your home is amazing and beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
I have been down this road a few times coming from Newport and going to Toledo. It is a lovely drive. The home is lovely and so unique. Thank you for sharing.
Simply a masterpiece...I have no words!!! Talent! Talent! Talent! You are such an artist...an Old Master!!! I wish I could say what my head is swirling with...It is beyond beautiful! This house is a gift to others to see such beauty!
Thank you for sharing this with us!
Wait until the nosy retired neighbors that have nothing better to do than complain about everyone report them to county officials and then the whole thing gets bulldozed.
"...cause why hand crank, if you can...oh" 😂
Wow! That was incredible.
those cloudy windows are bird savers, we used old shower screens in similar condition, large clean glass had mud thrown on it to protect the birds, they are now just frosty looking and the slugs and snails feed on them leaving clean trails.
AMAZING!!!! This is the best dome home I've ever seen!
The milling of the trees was a convenient way to reduce the carbon footprint of the structure. But then the building is said to last hundreds of years so even with all that steel and concrete it probably has a minimal carbon footprint. It is quite a unique and beautiful. home.
This one was amazing to learn from. Thank you for your amazing work!
Stunning home and beautiful view, seems like a couple of great guys who get it done.
Always a treat to watch these videos I wonder how you find unique projects like this only thing is your pacing or runtime i know you have your own ways of storytelling but i am sure you could do even more than this in storytelling by-the way video production and all are top notch