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Current progress on Santa Fe WA.

The Australian rainy season is back, so working hours are controlled by the weather and the availability of WWOOFers/HEPLXers. We start work when the kids are off to school, about 9 am our time and work until about 5 pm.



We are building our "hacienda" in the Santa Fe style and we live in Western Australia, hence the name Santa Fe WA. We fell in love with the style when we lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico 20 years ago. Our walls are now going up, some windows and door frames are in place, rooms are starting to take shape, but much work remains to be done.


The camera is looking to the southeast (north is to the lower left).





Floor Plan and Artist's Sketches

The house, not counting the garage, is 395 sq.meters (4251.75 sq. ft.). North is at the top of the floor plan and at the upper right in the sketches. Our friend, Simon, did a great job with the sketches particularly since he was unfamiliar with the Santa Fe style of architecture.







Training and Information

Our thanks to Joe Tibbets and his comprehensive "Southwest Solaradobe School" which we attended, his information packed "Earthbuilder" publication and "The Earthbuilder's Encyclopedia CD-ROM" which is my bible. He also offers "Adobe House Plans" and many other services.



Earthen Construction

Adobe, mudbrick, compressed earth block, pressed earth block, rammed earth and other clay based materials all take advantage of the thermal mass properties of earthen construction. We have chosen compressed earth blocks (CEBs) and we make our own using an Impact 2001A machine designed by David Lienau and built by Lawrence Jetter of Advanced Earthen Construction Technologies (AECT) in San Antonio, Texas. Both David and Lawrence have been most generous in their ongoing advice and support.



The Scat Trak

Moving the raw clay and the pallets full of compressed earth blocks would be impossible without the use of the Scat Trak made available to us almost every day thanks to our generous neighbors, Rod and Marian Mitchell of Mitchell's Exploration Services.



Designing, Building and Maintaining the Plant

We owe a great deal of gratitude to Ken O"Neill who made my plant design actually work. It would not exist without his welding, mechanical, block laying and numerous others skills.



Volunteers and Contributors

Thanks ,also, to the neighbors, workmates and other friends who have contributed time and/or materials to our project. They include our building consultant, David as well as John and Aileen, Byron and Wendy, Ivan, Red, Stacey, Josh, Donna and Steve, Eugene, Gaby and Helmut, Jamie, Leon, and Sandy.

WWOOFers & HELPXers

Much of the credit for the current progress is owed to WWOOFers and HELPXers. If you are not familiar with the concept, they are travellers from around the world who contribute labour in exchange for accommodation and meals. So far, we have had people from Australia, Holland, France, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Finland, England, Wales and the United States. Each one of them has made valuable contributions and they have become good friends. Our 14 year old son and 10 year old daughter have gained much from the exposure to other cultures



WWOOFers & HELPXers Hall Of Fame

Giri from Holland with our son Joshua

Yasmin from Holland with our daughter Jesse

Aurelien from France

Marcus from Australia

Lynn from the USA

Tae Soon from South Korea

Eric from Canada

Marylise from Canada

Katarina from Germany

Kang and Umi from South Korea

Rita and Sean from Ireland

Jae from South Korea

Sauli from Finland



Ceri from Wales



Jen from England



Tony from Ireland



Greg from France



Doerte from Germany

Emma from Germany



Carrie from the USA



Kristin from the USA



Tomoki from Japan



Suyeon from South Korea



Hansel from South Korea



Martin from Scotland



Dajana from Germany



Roddy from Scotland



Clement from France



Melanie from France



Theresa from Sweden



Joshua from Canada



Tomoko from Japan



Matt from Australia

Louis from France

Richard from England



Steffen from Germany



Maja from Sweden



Zarah from Sweden



Pete from England



Posy from England



Jason from Canada



Barbara from Switzerland & Canada



Scott from England



Rachel from England



Garth from Australia



Heather from Australia



Sarah from the USA





The "Adoberos"

The four of us: Bill, Denise, Joshua and Jesse



Slide Show

If you would like to view a PowerPoint presentation of where we are and what we are doing, click this banner. It may take a little while to download (5.6 MB).





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Watch the kangaroos in our back yard