Home owners insurance differs from automobile insurance. With automobile insurance you're required by law to have the insurance coverage to protect yourself and other drivers if you were to get into an auto accident.
With a home you're not affecting anyone else should your home be destroyed by something. So if you own your own home free and clear without a mortgage you don't have to have insurance coverage on the home.
But it's not wise to go without home insurance if you can afford it. If your home burns down or is destroyed some other way then you'll need a lot of cash to get back into another home and you'll be losing all the money you spent to buy your home.
Home owners insurance is usually pretty cheap and I don't recommend going without it.