The couple said the straw bale house would have been cheaper to build and to heat.

BBC: Willand smallholders win right to build home

Jack Straw, the leader of the House of Commons and a former foreign secretary, said he felt "uncomfortable" at the reimbursement.

FORBES: U.K. Parliament Cries 'Fowl' Over Turkey Cull Payout

But the Democrats are living in a straw house of their own.

CNN: The Devil Is Always In The Details

Straw is now leader of the House of Commons, and he represents a heavily Muslim district in northwestern England.

NPR: Britain's Straw Starts Veil Controversy

Mid Devon District Council rejected plans in 2011 for a straw-bale constructed house on the land because the land was classified as agricultural.

BBC: Willand smallholders win right to build home

When President Clinton invited Arafat to the White House for direct negotiations on the Middle East, Welsh says, that was the last straw.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Straw also spoke at Chatham House, describing the need for global unity.

CNN: Rice: Thousands of errors in Iraq

But Mr Straw replied that he wished to show respect to the House by making the announcement to MPs first.

BBC: Justice questions

But the produce comes from the ranch of owners Catherine and Joe Bartolomei (sister and brother, not husband and wife) just up the road in Forestville, and a quartet of chickens roam the property. (Granted, they live in a peaked-roof house well padded with straw and furnished with a heat lamp.) Then there is that quintessential inn amenity, a house cat.

FORBES: Sonoma Country Rustic Luxe: The Farmhouse Inn