One of the things Benson Sanders-Carter and Sharyna Sharman love most about their home are the sweeping views over a gorge carved into the Palmer landscape.
When the couple built the house in 2021 they wanted it to blend into that landscape, rather than work against it.
“Something that I’m passionate about is being respectful to other life,” Sharyna says.
“We’re not the only things here.
“We’re sharing this planet with a lot of other entities and just because we want to do something doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t do that in a way that still honours what’s already there, or what has lived here before us.”
The home is completely off-grid – powered by solar panels, a battery and a back-up generator and rainwater is stored in six 22,500 litre tanks.
It’s built using straw bales – which are both insulating and fire resistant – and uses solar passive features, including north and south facing windows, double glazing and eave position to control temperature.
Many of the internal fittings are up-cycled – including kitchen benches made from old hardwood pallets, exposed ceiling beams made from timber salvaged from the old Whyalla jetty and a bathroom sink carved from a stone found on the property.
“We used a lot of reclaimed timbers … inside the house to try and lower the new production and we’ve got things like bamboo flooring, which is a more sustainable option than hardwood flooring,” Benson says.
“The stone’s all stone off the property.”
“There’s history in it, but there’s also the lack of mass produced, constant outflow,” Sharyna adds.
The couple says the build was surprisingly affordable – comparable in price to more conventional custom builds.
They built with House of Bales, which specialises in strawbale builds, and say a key focus was lowering their long-term environmental footprint, while working within the landscape. “How much can you reduce that footprint at end of life?” Sharyna says.
“How much of this is going to degrade into nothing?
“In 200, 300, 400 years it’s just going to be gone, you’ll never know that it was here and that’s how we should be thinking.
“… There are so many amazing natural materials in the world that we can use.
“We don’t necessarily need to use resins and plastics and man-made stuff and, yes, in some time and some places that is necessary and perhaps better, but where you can, these natural materials are just as long (living).
“This house will stand as long as any of these modern houses will stand – but at its end of life, most of this will just degrade.”
Later this year, the couple will mark their fourth anniversary living in the house, which, true to their vision, offers all the comforts of a modern home, with a little bit of rustic, country charm.
But it’s the sprawling, rocky landscape, vast skies and wildlife around the home that really speak to Benson and Sharyna.
“I love having brunch on the deck,” Benson says.
“… And just looking out at our gorge.”
“We’ve got a skylight above the master bed,” Sharyna adds.
There is nothing better than waking up on the weekend and you’ve got a little bit of time and we can just watch the clouds …
… and we’ve got French doors that lead out onto the deck and you can actually get that view out to the gorge from your bed.
“It’s just beautiful.
“Or when it’s raining and you can watch the rain actually hitting the glass above you, or the stars at night.
“… I feel more connected to the outside world that way.”
