Man has been granted great freedom - the freedom to choose between the darkness and the light. Man has been given a soul. The whole visible world is subject to Man, and Man is free even when it comes to his relationship to God - to love Him or to not love Him.
Nobody and nothing can control Man apart from his own will. God wants Man's love in return for his love, but God wants to love of a free Man, perfect in His likeness.
- Anastasia (book 1)
In this note we are going to discuss the various details of housing at Santosha. There have been a lot of questions regarding how the housing will work, and we have been delighted at the level of passion and interest in this subject. Truly, over the last decade or so, people have really gotten excited about all the potential for sustainable housing!
Emily and I are also really excited by all the possibilities we have, using natural materials and designing an eco-friendly house. In particular we must thank Gary Townsend (Emily's Father) who has been our consulting architect for this project. He and Emily have had many late nights discussing, designing and creating designs for housing that will be appropriate for our unique needs. 
While we have borrowed many design elements from existing models of sustainable housing, there is no designs out there yet for the kind of geometric housing that we will be creating. What you will be seeing in this note are brand new creations, designed especially to meet the needs of the Santosha community!
Earthships, Cob Housing and other Designs
Since we have started Santosha, we have had lots of phone calls from people who have been eager to offer assistance with the housing. Many of the conversations I have had are educational in nature, with people who have a lot of experience in this field telling me about all the possibilities and latest developments. I have certainly learnt a lot about sustainable housing in these last 3 months!
I applaud the innovation of any individual who has the creative talents to design housing to be sustainable and eco-friendly, truly this sort of passion is what the Earth needs. There are very few eco communities operating in Australia, and I am sure that one of the main issues preventing their formation is housing, and council approval.
This is why the unique Santosha structures will be comprised of 6-8 sole occupancy units. This is a practical solution that is acceptable to the council and means that we can begin to create Santosha NOW :)
(For more information on this, please read our previous notes '2 - The process' and '3 - Meeting with the Council')
However, because of this, Santosha will not be a community where we can simply take a design like an Earthship or a Hobbit House and plonk them on the land. To put it simply, the housing will be designed to meet the needs of the community, not the other way around.
The Santosha Design
What all of this means in practical terms is that we cannot currently offer people the level of freedom with their housing that we would ideally like. Perhaps in the future, the council will become more enlightened and relax their many regulations. In the meantime, there will be a certain level of uniformity to the housing.
Having said that, we absolutely LOVE the design that we are working with! There are three options available for people to choose from, ranging from Complete, Regular and Basic. These designs build upon each other and include everything that a house needs to begin a family and a new life on your kins domain.
And best of all, they will be CHEAP!
This is the really big plus for our design. Emily and I are not wealthy, and we don't really desire a life of working hard in a job that is not satisfying to our souls just to pay for unnecessary luxuries. For me personally, a kin's domain and a domain community has always been about the land and the garden. However, upon seeing these designs, I know that the house too will hold a very special place in my heart.
Our design is made to be off the grid. This will involve rainwater tanks, solar panels and grey water systems. There will be a slightly higher initial cost, but in the long run will save lots of money, because there will be no bills to pay!
Once the land is purchased and your house is built, the only real cost is food. Lucky for us, food is what we will be growing! Self sufficiency made possible :)
Kit Housing
The reason these designs will be so cheap is that they will be made as kit housing. Kit housing is where a house is constructed as a sort of 'make it yourself' type kit.
This has many benefits that will significantly reduce the cost.
These kits will be constructed in Perth, where labour is considerably cheaper than in Margaret River, and then will be trucked down to our property where we can construct them ourselves. Though some professionals may be necessary from a regulatory point of view, depending on the skill set of our community members, much of the construction can be done internally. I have received interest in our community from plumbers and from electricians.
I don't pretend to have any experience in housing construction, but I look forward to being part of the building process in some way. I want to be part of building my own home, even if I am just hammering some nails in. That way I will know that those nails will be hammered in with love!
Cost will also be significantly reduced because we will be using the same designs. This means that the cost of the architect etc will be split amongst the whole community. Depending on how much of the construction we can do ourselves, we may be able to limit the cost to the raw materials and transportation of the kit!
The Regular Design
So lets get to it!! Lets see the design :)
They are still rough designs at this stage, but they give a good idea of what they Regular Design will look like when its completed.
As you can see, everything in this house is designed in such a way as to direct the flow of energy towards your domain. Bedrooms 2 and 3 are both facing the domain and will have windows looking out. There is a large verandah stretching the width of the house where you can have couches, a dining table, a hammock or whatever else you desire. I picture myself on the verandah playing guitar, chatting with friends or being with myself, looking out onto what I have created and contemplating the universe.
You can also see that the meals area and the lounge room look out onto the domain. With floor to ceiling windows in this section, you will never feel closed off from your garden. Even the kitchen is designed to look out on the domain!
We have combined the Bathroom/Laundry to save space within the design. The Bathroom/Laundry and Bedroom 1 will have natural light coming in from windows slanted from the ceiling, similar to skylights.
Also, so we avoid spoiling the beautiful view, we have decided that it would be best for the rainwater tanks to be sunk into the ground. You can see from the side-on view of the design that the house is built on wooden stilts. The rain water tanks will go underneath the house.
The Complete Design starts from where the Regular Design ends and gives the house many more options. It is designed so that if you want to build the Regular Design to begin with, you can choose to expand to the Complete Design at a later stage. Perhaps your family will soon be larger, or you want a personal study for yourself. Of course, expanding from one design to another will depend upon the council granting another building license.
These rooms will also feature large windows, so the view from up there should be pretty spectacular.
Notice that in the floor plan of the upper story there is a piece that is sectioned off at the bottom right. This indicates that the floor does not extend this far, but has a void that goes all the way to the lounge room below. This allows fresh air to blow through the house and up to the top floor, as well as Romeo/Juliet type exchanges.
The basic design allows for people who don't have much money to still build a basic structure, which can be easily added to in the future when more money comes in.As you can see from the design, this housing design features a single bedroom, the bathroom laundry and a combined meals area, lounge room and kitchen.
In order for a structure to be 'liveable' by council regulations it must have plumbing, electricity, water and some kind of kitchen. That means, for this design, it would still be necessary to have at least one solar panel and one rain water tank.The kitchen does not need to be a permanent installation. You can buy portable ovens and stove tops quite cheap, and put in a very basic sink. However the kitchen has been designed in such a way so that the oven and stovetop can be installed in the same place for the basic and regular designs.
The idea for the Basic Design came about when Emily and I were looking into our own finances and seeing what we could realistically afford in the short term. This design would allow people to live on their domains for very little money.
Details of the Design
Each individual house within the larger geometric structure will technically be termed a 'sole occupancy unit'.
There are certain council regulations that we have had to take into account in the designs. For example, there is a minimum distance required from any window to your neighbours house.
Another necessary consideration was the walls between houses. Every wall that borders with your neighbours wall must be fire rated and sound proof. The adjoining walls will be constructed of two separate panels and will have an internal cavity between them, limiting sound and increasing safety. All windows and glass doors can also be sound proof.
There is also the subject of what exactly goes in the centre of all these houses? Sunk beneath the ground will be the grey water system, the only amenity shared between all the houses. Having a shared grey water system keeps the cost low, and it isn't necessary for each house to have its own system. There will be two systems for each structure, one functioning as a back up.
Above ground, however, Emily and I have no set idea on what should be there. If anyone has any creative suggestions for how we could best use this space, please email them to us :)
As the houses are made out of wood and on stilts, this opens up future possibilities for modular housing. For those who don't know, modular housing is where a wooden house is cut in two, and transported somewhere else.
In the short term, this may not be relevant, but it could become important some time in the future. A modular house that can be transported somewhere else is a real asset. If the council ever relaxes its regulations, then maybe many years on, people may wish to build a new house. They can then sell their modular house to someone and have it carted away. Alternatively, perhaps they could simply shift the house to a different part of their domain. Modular housing gives us these options.
Choose your own Timeframe
Modular Housing
As the houses are made out of wood and on stilts, this opens up future possibilities for modular housing. For those who don't know, modular housing is where a wooden house is cut in two, and transported somewhere else.
In the short term, this may not be relevant, but it could become important some time in the future. A modular house that can be transported somewhere else is a real asset. If the council ever relaxes its regulations, then maybe many years on, people may wish to build a new house. They can then sell their modular house to someone and have it carted away. Alternatively, perhaps they could simply shift the house to a different part of their domain. Modular housing gives us these options.
For those who have read our note '3 - Meeting with the council' you will recall that they suggested that two of the houses (one on each block) be built straight away, while the other two be built in five years. They recommended this because they thought that it would take about five years for the fruit trees to grow and bear fruit.
They also mentioned that it was vital that we prove to the council that we are using the housing for its intended purpose, workmen's accommodation. They were concerned that it might be set up as a bed and breakfast or some other kind of hospitality business. Of course, this didn't concern us because we will easily be able to prove that everyone living there is indeed working the land.
However, it left us with the impression that the council would be reluctant to approve all four houses at once, without us first proving that we are working the land as we claim to be doing. We are not sure exactly how rigid the council will be when it comes to this timeframe. However, so far we have been using this as a guide for planning our housing timeframes.
So, there are two options for building your house on Santosha and you can sign up for either one. The first option has 14 places available for building your house straight away. The second option also has 14 places, and this option is for people to build their house in five years time.
The two houses that will be built first are the two northern-most structures that you can see in the community layout.
They also mentioned that it was vital that we prove to the council that we are using the housing for its intended purpose, workmen's accommodation. They were concerned that it might be set up as a bed and breakfast or some other kind of hospitality business. Of course, this didn't concern us because we will easily be able to prove that everyone living there is indeed working the land.However, it left us with the impression that the council would be reluctant to approve all four houses at once, without us first proving that we are working the land as we claim to be doing. We are not sure exactly how rigid the council will be when it comes to this timeframe. However, so far we have been using this as a guide for planning our housing timeframes.
So, there are two options for building your house on Santosha and you can sign up for either one. The first option has 14 places available for building your house straight away. The second option also has 14 places, and this option is for people to build their house in five years time.
The two houses that will be built first are the two northern-most structures that you can see in the community layout.
Owner Builder
Owner Builder is a term that signifies someone who has decided to personally oversee the construction of a house themselves, as opposed to hiring a construction company for example. This means that all specialists, labour and materials etc is independently sourced by the owner builder. This option reduces overall cost. One of the other benefits of Owner Builder is that a building license is granted for a longer period of time. Once you have a building licence, you must begin building within six months. The licence will then last for two years.
Each person will be responsible for finishing their own house before the building license expires. However, there will need to be a name on the Owner Builder license, someone who is coordinating the project as a whole and who can liaise with the council. Emily will be in this position.
She has meticulous organisation skills, and an eye for smaller details (skills that I am still developing). She is also very passionate about sustainable housing, and understands the designs better than anyone.
Owner Builder is a term that signifies someone who has decided to personally oversee the construction of a house themselves, as opposed to hiring a construction company for example. This means that all specialists, labour and materials etc is independently sourced by the owner builder. This option reduces overall cost. One of the other benefits of Owner Builder is that a building license is granted for a longer period of time. Once you have a building licence, you must begin building within six months. The licence will then last for two years.
She has meticulous organisation skills, and an eye for smaller details (skills that I am still developing). She is also very passionate about sustainable housing, and understands the designs better than anyone.
And so there you have it! We hope you are as excited about our housing designs as we are. Sustainable, cheap and made of natural materials :)
Man has always intuitively felt the true beauty and perfection of the eternal, and that is why even a King surrounded by luxury and personal palaces have always needed a garden. This is a truth that has remained unshakeable for millions of years of Man's life on the Earth.
- The Energy of Life (book 7)
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