story RATING |
 5.00 (Highly recommend) from 1 votes (622 Visits) |
Teasdales @ Pelican Lagoon
Our Story
As you catch glimpses of Pelican Lagoon, you suddenly discover an inconspicuous home tucked into the contour of a hillside. That’s us. Our view is surely second to none, as we watch the intriguing life on the Lagoon, the impacts of its variable weather, and the effects of moonlight, sunlight and starlight on its ever-changing surface.
Emilis Prelgauskas has been our architectural guide and mentor in this journey of creating a sustainable house. It began as we commenced the new millennium in January 2000. Our objective was threefold:
1 to live more lightly on the planet,
2 to have a home where family could gather and celebrate life together, and
3 to provide an environment where friends new and old could come and share and recreate.
We took a couple of years to decide on a house site, walking across our 55 hectares of coastline and imagining how a house would feel. This was a period when we watched the changing seasons, the views, the weather and got a feel for the place. Many people made constructive suggestions about where to build. We listened to them all, but in the end it was a combined family decision.
Next we prepared an access road and levelled the site, impacting the landscape minimally. With Emilis’ guidance we imported a prefabricated steel frame from the mainland and had it erected. Expansive colourbond roofing was added at the same time. This was the only work done by non-islanders. Part of our plan was to engage local builders wherever possible. Then came the tanks, 4 x 22,000 litres, and the plumbing to connect them, all installed in autumn to collect water from the rainy winter season.
The slab was laid. An extraordinarily gifted stonemason commenced the curved, rear limestone wall to anchor and protect the house from the strong prevailing southerly winds. Limestone was gathered from the property. Timber work; insulation; iron cladding; expansive, north facing windows; and the all important, carefully chosen, front and back doors were installed. The solar panels arrived and took up a “home” on the roof of the shed and soon the batteries began their work inside the shed and so we had light and power. Plumbing and electrical fixtures were installed. Plastering, modern and minimalist, but challenging to install without symmetrical walls, saw another local tradesperson excel. Meticulous diagonal tiling by a local tiler, blended in with the limestone and glass. The painter applied a soft dusky, pink shade to the walls to enhance the limestone feature wall that has become a much-admired 30 metre long work of art.
At this point we had a remarkable family celebration: our daughter Alice’s wedding. Though not quite completed, the house provided a fantastic venue for 72 wedding guests to enjoy a sit-down luncheon after celebrating the wedding ceremony on the beach, just a 100 metre walk down the bridal path. It was a sort of “hallowing” cum “christening” of our house. It was probably the point at which it became a home.
Eventually the curved wooden wall and the kitchen details in the rich hues of Tasmanian Blackwood were carefully put in place. Slowly and sensitively we transformed our shell into a lived-in home with carefully chosen, simple fittings and furniture. Artwork, all original, moved in on walls and shelves, the pantry was filled with good things, books settled comfortably into the library shelves and the garden evolved.
Its 9 years since we started and our place is still evolving. What is more, as a sustainable home, it really works. Over 500 visitors can testify to that. We love it.
Technical Details on Sustainability
Please refer to these two websites for clear and accurate information on why our home is classified as an effective sustainable home. The first website contains some early photographs demonstrating some of its sustainable features.
www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/pubs/fs813.pdf
The second site is designed by our architect, Emilis Prelgauskas. It includes a photographic essay that tells its own story (click on the picture). Read and enjoy it.
http://www.emilis.sa.on.net/projects/emil_91.htm
Thirteen Features that Make our Sustainable Home Special
1 The warmth and light generated by the design of the house
2 The remarkable views across Pelican Lagoon
3 The stone work designed by Thomas Appleby
4 The coolness and functionality of the stone pantry
5 The LSD lighting
6 The organic, possum proof, no dig vegetable garden
7 The sensuous architectural curves both inside and out – iron, wood, stone
8 The effectiveness of solar power for electrical appliances and the hot water system
9 The extensive revegetation of native forests surrounding the house
10 A delightful, really functional study/office space
11 A kitchen that really works
12 The fact that the house is in tune with the environment
13 Ultimately, that the house makes people welcome and warm and communicative
We may be on Kangaroo Island, far distant from where you are, but we believe we are well worth a visit. If you can come on Sustainable House Day, you are welcome. If you cannot we can be contacted on our email address. teasdale@internode.on.net
Jennie and Bob Teasdale
(August 2009) (
