So far we have built 3 structures:  a barn/workshop, the main house and a cottage. In all buildings we have followed  the priciples of a good ecological Permaculture design.

The barn side of the first building we erected is built using the light earth building method.  Light earth uses a double timber frame structure which holds the roof and has an infill of clay and wood chips. The walls are 300mm deep, which gives a really cosy feeling. This was our test run with light earth and the barn is holding the heat well in winter and keeps it cool in summer.

The main house uses  the same construction method, the infill however is clay and scoria. It is a spacious house well suited to entertaining many people, the kitchen is big allowing several people at once to work together creating wonderful feasts. We mainly cook on a wood fired kitchen range. We have dry composting toilets.

The cottage was built using untreated timber, with double glased aluminum joinery. We have incorporated into the cottage what we have found to work well in the main house. And our education continues.

All buildings run on alternative power, supplied by the sun and they all have solar hot water systems. The drinking water is rain water, stored in tanks, pumped to a header tank and then gravity fed back to us. A gray water system takes care of the used water from the kitchen and the shower. The irrigation for the garden is supplied by a communal dam.