Simon Dale has carved a small house for his family out of a Welsh hillside.
Simon Dale, 31, carved a home for his family out of a Welsh hillside. All it took was a chisel, a chainsaw, a hammer and 3,000 Euro (about $4,080).
“My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self-belief and perseverance and a mate or two to give a lift now and again,” says Dale on his website.
Dale, his wife, and their two small children were able to move into their eco-friendly, handmade dwelling four months after the start of the project. Their house takes the DIY movement to a whole new level.
“Being your own architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land,” says Dale, “rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry.”
Sure, the house has a compost toilet and a wood-burner for heat, but it is not a fly-by-night, makeshift shack in the woods.
The walls are insulated with hay bales and covered in lime plaster, electricity is solar-powered, and their water supply flows down from a stream nearby. The reciprocal wood rafters create the sense of living inside an expertly woven basket with a great view.
“Looking back, there were times of stress and exhaustion, but definitely no regrets and plenty of satisfaction,” says Dale’s wife Jasmine Saville.
Dale is currently working on a new home for the Lamma Project, a volunteer organization that promotes low impact development in the UK.
See more photos and details about the house on Dale’s website.