Wilderness House and Ferart Studio 2017

House Notes – Wilderness House and Ferart Studio

This hand built bespoke house and studio, set between Margaret River town and Prevelly Park coastline, is featured in the September 2017 issue of Owner Builder magazine (see attached article).  Situated on 3ha of once degraded farmland purchased in 1987, the site is now regenerated with bush and trees for wood production.  The building and land development have been an ongoing project over 25 + years, using up-cycled and natural materials, adding solar and wind power, developing food growing and preserving, beekeeping and chickens.  Since open for SHD 2016 there have been improvements and upgrades.  Some of the projects we were working on last year – new irrigation system, new driveways and paths, new gardens and ponds, new fencing and new pizza oven to mention a few, are now finished. You can see them in operation.

The house includes a steel tower salvaged from a local mineral sands mine, and karri beams from the old Port Authority building in Fremantle, and so on…We have a home office for a sustainable design consultancy (Ferart Design), an up cycled art studio and shed/workshop and accommodation (Ferart Studio), a camp kitchen, outdoor bathroom and campground space. The food gardens include fruit, vegetables, herbs – wicking beds, water gardens, rambling natural spaces – largely developed using local materials and resources. The buildings and property are a work in progress, a sculpture in itself.  The house and land care have been part of our evolving sustainable lifestyle over more than 30 years.

Come prepared to see a creative project in action, not necessarily a finished and immaculate work! We have lots to share about up-cycled building, food gardens, creative approaches, using what you have or can find, affordable approaches, the sharing economy, and sustainable lifestyles. We can also talk about how we have made lots of mistakes, learnt from experience, and dealt with such issues as poor soil, limited water supply, and growing knowledge with experience.

We have lots of stories about the different features of our place and you can learn about them when you visit.  We have a range of bespoke furniture and home wares made from up-cycled materials. You can see and experience these.  If you are thinking about building your own house or living a sustainable life come and talk to us. If you want to get serious about making your ideas real we have a consultancy service to help you.  We will be doing a demo lighting of the wood fired pizza oven at 3pm on SHD if you would like to watch…

If you would like to find out more click here to see a short interview about the owners and Wilderness House and Ferart Studio.

The Owner Builder magazine recently wrote an article about how this home was built and the story behind it.Owner Builder_Wilderness House and Ferart Studio

Margaret River Homes List

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2016
2017
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Efficient lighting
      Draught proofing
      Efficient appliances
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Shading
      Cross ventilation
      Thermal chimney

    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Vent in central tower
    • Active heating cooling:
    • Ceiling fans
    • Water heating:
    • Solar hot water (flat panel)
      Wood fire wetback

    • Water heating:
    • Outdoor bath with woodfired water heating via old fashioned copper/fire place
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Underground storage
      Above ground storage
      Greywater system
      Stormwater management
      Low flow shower heads
      Drip irrigation
    • Underground rainwater storage type:
    • Soak, bore
    • Underground rainwater storage Size:
    • Fluctuates
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • Rainwater tanks, groundwater tank
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 180,000L rainwater, 5000L groundwater continually refilling with windmill
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Corrugated iron, steel, concrete & bricks, timber, glass, found objects, plastic
    • Sustainable materials:
    • Timber, Glass, Stone, Limewash, Upcycled concrete & bricks, salvaged marine debris
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Bricks
      Concrete
      Aggregate
      Timber
      Windows
      Doors
      Paving
      Insulation
      Glass
      Kitchen/bath cabinets

INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Ceiling
      Internal and external walls
    • Ceiling Type:
    • Zincalume
    • Internal / External Walls Type:
    • Rammed earth, stone, mud brick, zincalume, gyprock
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • Renewable energy used:
    • Solar PV grid connect
      Wind
COSTS AND COST SAVINGS
    • Cost estimate of sustainable home/features:
    • $450,000
    • Estimate of annual savings:
    • 50%
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • House 132m2, studio 85m2
    • Window and Door Types
    • Upcycled windows, leadlight, recycled glass, recycled doors & windows (timber, timber frames & aluminium)
    • Universal Design Features
    • Adaptive design
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 3
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Drip irrigation
      Water wise plants
      Edible garden
      Organic
      Permaculture
      Composting
      Native plants
      Green walls
      Bee keeping
      Chickens
      Aquaponics
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Up-cycled natural materials, timber, stone, natural finishes e.g. lime wash, home made polishes
Location
Margaret River WA 6285
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
      Granny Flat
    • Project Type:
    • New Build
      Renovation
      Retrofit
      Continual Improvement
    • Builder
    • Owner builder

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