Ebenezer 2025

Ebenezer

Our story – ‘downsizing’ from a rambling energy guzzling high maintenance Victorian weatherboard family home albeit with character charm and space. We live in Ballarat a town proud of it’s history – the block is 1.2 k from the town hall so has a heritage overlay. Building from scratch provided the opportunity to consider what is most important to us. Energy costs both personal and environmental being number one.
To this end insulation insulation insulation was the answer. Our house is firstly a regular timber framed concrete slab house which does not complicate planning laws but has an insulated slab, hempcrete shell and high quality windows. To address the heritage requirements the external design has a gabled tin roof and verandahs with feature timbers – recycled – a modern take on the miners cottage.
The hempcrete obviously provides optimal insulation and is a very good environmental choice but also feels natural, quiet, is low maintenance and with lime render gives character.
The windows are wooden with aluminium cladding – low maintenance – and double glazing but most importantly have extra good seals against energy loss.
The house is all electric with solar panels and battery. It is electric car ready. Cooling and particularly heating in Ballarat is a major consideration. We chose one system to do the job throughout the whole house via ceiling ducts which can be zoned – neat, quiet and less cleaning. It has a heat pump hot water system.
Thirdly an efficient house plan design –
a) orientation -living areas to the north making use of the sun & natural light – utilities to the south needing less heating and smaller windows.
b) despite downsizing the family is actually bigger at times, so designing areas to be multifunctional allowed for a much smaller footprint and kept the price affordable
c) the spaces were purposely designed to fit our existing furniture reducing waste.
d) biophylic design makes use of the natural views and our waterwise garden
Lastly we used natural ie wool and cork floor coverings and eco-fabric choices for curtains and upholstery.
Now we have a calm, comfortable, practical home – Nathers rating 7.9

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2025
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
COSTS AND COST SAVINGS
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
Location
Ballarat Central VIC 3350

View the house tour

Ask questions about this house

Load More Comments
Name
Email
Comment
Leave Comment

Book your tickets here

Important Information

You will need to book a ticket for a specific tour time. This is due to capacity restraints set by the homeowner to ensure the safety of all parties on the day. If you do not arrive at this time you will not be able to tour the home.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PURCHASE TICKETS AT THE HOME.

The exact house address will be emailed to you in the days before the event. Suburb and postcode information is displayed on your ticket.
Renew is a small not for profit organisation that needs to raise money from ticket sales to cover the costs of hosting this event. In some cases the ticket revenue may also be split with the homeowner.

Terms and Conditions

In respect of the homeowners who generously open their homes and share their knowledge we ask that visitors observe these courtesies. By purchasing a ticket you agree these terms and conditions.
By purchasing a ticket, visitors agree to comply with the event terms and conditions to ensure a safe, respectful, and enjoyable experience for all attendees and participating homeowners.

Click here for tickets