About this home:

Built nearly 30 years ago, as an experiment in sustainable building, these 5 homes act as a catalyst for change, leading by example. They worked together during the build in stages rather than all building their own house - aided by the repeated linear plan. Each house has 5 earth-sheltered bays with a south-facing conservatory spanning the whole elevation. They have negligible bills as the design ensures they don't need heating. They are completely off-grid for water and almost completely off-grid for power. Each family works 300h/year on the consultancy business, and 300h/year on the land and maintenance. They grow most of their fruit, nuts and vegetables, keep bees, chickens and sheep, and have a swimmable lake with carp.

Planning Insights:

24 months at planning

They had to plant lots of trees around the site boundary to obscure the visual impact from the road. The position of the houses was dictated by a potential archaeological site where the sheep are currently living. The main challenge was getting permission for the wind turbines, which took over 4 years. They most likely won't replace the turbines as solar is more efficient, since the trees have grown, and there is a local village turbine they could buy into.