John Cadney and Marnie Moon have never had a permanent home. So John, a carpenter, has rolled up his sleeves and decided to build a house for his family with his bare hands.
For 16 years, John, Marnie and their children have camped on land owned by Marnie's parents, because they could never afford to buy a house in the area where they live. So now they're building their own place.
After much searching for the right kind of house they settled on an environmentally friendly four-bedroom log cabin.
The whole thing was imported from Finland as hundreds of pre-cut bits of wood. All John had to do is figure out how this kit house fits together!
For seven days a week, 12 hours a day, John's been on a mission to get his family out of the corner of his old workshop and into their first proper home. After seven months of self building their new home is complete.
The Finnish log house is a split roof contemporary eco home made from square cut logs, and it's been designed very much in response to its rural setting by John with the help of an architect.
At its heart runs a wide hallway lit from either end by large windows. Every surface in the property is timber, stacked logs are visible everywhere and every wall is structural. The two full height hall walls support the cantilevered roof, forming a timber frame.
The house has just one floor. To the left of the hall there's a master bedroom and bathroom for John and Marnie, providing some privacy and a little glamour.
On the other side of the hallway the three children, for the very first time in their lives, get their own bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. For the young Cadney-Moons this promises to be one of the most exciting aspects of this house.
Probably the most important area of all is at the far end of the hall. A large sitting room and dining area where the whole family can relax together. And off this there's an open plan kitchen.
The exterior is clad, of course, in timber, which John and Marnie have painted a colour which helps root the house in the surrounding landscape.
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Want to be a self-build guru? Then read on....
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