We try our best to keep pollutants out of our home, but when we read about Kathy Hemenway's "safe house" in Snowflake, Ariz. we realized how much farther some people need to go to keep their homes healthy.

Hemenway suffers from what is referred to as "environmental illness" — she is especially sensitive to air pollutants, perfumes, gases, and chemicals. Because of the illness, she moved from her home in the Bay Area to Snowflake, Ariz where she was able to build her own "safe house."

The new house has no paint on the walls, no carpet on the floors, no plywood, no particle board, no tar-paper, and no pesticides. It also has radiant in-floor heating and a mostly steel frame.

Read more about Hemenway's illness and her home in Snowflake here.

Image: Randy Reid / For The Times