Building our own home was a massive project, with many frustrations and setbacks.

We bought our land in 2000, spent three years living in a small 6 x 4 metre site office, and then another fifteen putting it all together in slow stages. It’s been a steep learning curve for us both, but we have been happy with the results and wanted to share them for others embarking on the owner-builder-on-a-tight-budget saga!

My archival stuff from this period is all listed on this site under ‘Pages’, but I’ve decided to put it all together in a blogpost to create a category, which I will then build on in the near future with descriptions and photos of various parts of the project, such as the provenance of many of the recycled and upcycled materials we used, and the rationale behind our various building decisions.

From the Sydney Morning Herald, 2017:

https://lizhalldowns.com/nature-conservation-sustainability/euphoria-our-treehouse-in-the-forest/

Submission for Logan Conservation Award for Land For Wildlife Members, 2017:

Eco Award Nomination Statement, March 2017

Winning the ‘Logan Eco Champion Award’ for the build, 2017:
https://lizhalldowns.com/nature-conservation-sustainability/a-win-for-our-eco-dwelling-project/

Article published in the UK about the vision and the early stages: https://lizhalldowns.com/nature-conservation-sustainability/who-needs-cows-when-you-can-have-koalas/

And a wild bird story, orignally published online in Thylazine, from the middle stages:
https://lizhalldowns.com/nature-conservation-sustainability/the-trouble-with-harry-by-liz-hall-downs-kim-downs-thylazine-2008/

And, some of our wild friends, a reminder of why we practice ‘sustainability’: