Daylesford 13 March 2005
We spend the day in Daylesford to take a straw bale house tour with the Solar Sisters. Maureen is a wealth of information and very easy to talk to and ask questions of. She takes us to three homes and we listen and speak to two of the owners.
All three houses have their own special feel. One is very ‘modern’, not obviously a straw bale – it is rendered with cement and has clean sharp lines. It also does not appear to have the attention to sustainability and environmental considerations that we would want. But there is no doubt it is a beautiful home.It feels good to be in this house – the light and spacious living areas, strong vibrant colours, deep window sills, wide verandah…
We like the cement rendering in some ways (significantly reduced maintenance), but have read conflicting info on the benefits and pitfalls of cement rendering as against mud or lime rendering. The straw bales don’t ‘breathe’ as much with cement apparently. We will need to do more research…
Another of the houses we visit is significantly more ‘organic’. The mud rendering has been done by hand, cleverly and creatively moulded and shaped to give this house a unique form.
It is hard work – the rendering must be renewed regularly – but this gives the owner opportunities to reshape the walls; a sort of ‘living canvas’. We love the feel of this house, but agree it is not for us.
The owners of the third house we visited were fully committed to low environmental impact, both in the immediate building process and in their long-term approach to lifestyle. I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures of this house for you to see.
Polished concrete floor, deep full-length windows, open-plan living area, wide verandah. Although quite a conventional looking house, it has a solid, grounded feel and is remarkably cool on this nearly 40-degree day.
This house is compact, energy efficient and carefully planned in terms of lifestyle and minimal water and power usage. It has a ‘rota-loo’ (a waterless toilet) because toilets are apparently one of the biggest users of water. We are sceptical about a waterless toilet, but have to admit that this toilet is fundamentally no different from a ‘normal’ toilet! Just no flush! (And, I can assure you, no smell!)
The lime-mix render on this house has been sprayed on. The owners chose this render for its breathability. The air exchange inside the house is increased by not sealing the walls, neither with the render itself (i.e. cement), nor with regular paint.
Our day is too short. We miss out on seeing the chocolate mill, which is also apparently a stunning example of a straw bale building. Well, that’s it, we’ll just have to make the trip again…