We want to be carbon neutral and sustainable, but we don’t want to give up our creature comforts. We’d like to be as self sufficient as far as possible, but again without compromising lifestyle.
The house will be big – we love large rooms – and will be built alongside the dam. Three bedrooms – master, daughter and guest bedroom. Study for Mark, Study/craft room for me, sitting room for daughter, gym, large open plan kitchen/dining/lounge and double garage to act as a wood workshop for Mark, and a large covered alfresco area.
There will be a shed to provide cover for the cars, and storage for the mini tractor, slasher, trailers, canoes etc. It will have a north oriented roof for the solar panels, and an equipment room for the solar gear.
There’ll be a 130,000 l water tank to collect rainwater from the roof, and a septic system to treat the waste.
There’ll be a snake proof fenced area adjacent to the house for the dogs.
On the land to the south where nothing grows because the topsoil was stripped and gravel exposed, we’ll build some raised beds for vegetables.
In a clearing to the front of the block, we’ll plant blue gums for fire wood. These will be the first trees we’ve planted that aren’t from seed taken from the block, and that are not indigenous. We want to preserve our native ecosystem, and that means not collecting fallen wood or cutting down dead trees, since these provide valuable habitat.
We recognise that we’ll use a lot of resources to build the dream, which is itself not really sustainable, but once we’re done….
Off Grid Living - Building the Dream 