Jules And Matthew Dreamt Of The Good Life In An Eco Home In The Countryside Built From Scrap Materials. Their Dream's Now A Legal Reality...

Matthew and Jules' dream of the good life in their own eco home somewhere in the countryside made from scrap materials is now a legal reality.
It nearly wasn't though.
Because the process was going to use too much paperwork, time and bureaucratic expenditure they decided to try and build their dream house 'under the radar' and not apply for planning permission.
A risky business as neighbours are likely to dob people in for that sort of behaviour.
They used railway sleepers, truck tyres, scrap metal recycled this and that and wooden pallets to build their eco home away from it all in Beaworthy, a little village with a population of only a few hundred in East Devon.
And over a period of five years, while they lived in a tent on-site, they built their dream without using any power tools.
They have a composting toilet but no electricity and no running water. And they have an underground pantry instead of a fridge.
Sure enough, some neighbours complained as they do and for a while it looked like the Torridge District Council would force them to pull down their dream.
But some sort of rare sanity prevailed and a government planning inspector, impressed by the couple's dedication and passion for sustainable living, ruled the house could stay because of it's eco-credentials.
You see. If you can dream it, you can do it... 

Allie and Kevin, Urban Refugees And Hippies From Wayback...

While Freedom Camping at Te Awanga in the Hawkes Bay in recent months, I've been lucky enough to meet many interesting folk and and a few kindred spirits too, as they pass this way.
Allie and Kevin turned up from Dannevirke, an hour or so south of here, to enjoy the beauty of the area and parking in such close proximity to the sea as they head north.
It's the beach that weeps with deserted waves Allie writes, we sleep there because we know we'll be safe there.
Kevin's been living the dream for about ten years and the property he shares with Allie is back to basics. Off grid living with Solar power, composting toilet and laundry done in a bucket before it's put through an old fashioned wringer and hung out to dry in the breeze.
Their vegetable garden supplements their food supply and life is good.
Living outside the system Kevin says is even better than good.
Allie's been on the road since the seventies in a variety of housetrucks and buses. She's currently got a house on the back of a flatbed truck. She's a writer of poetry with some thirty books having been published and used in the New Zealand school system. She's also an artist and a wonderful craftsperson and for many years worked and travelled with New Zealand's famous Gypsy Fair.
I'm delighted there's now a few of Allie's pieces enhancing my tiny home, adding to my collection of original New Zealand art.
Until we meet again. Love and Peace...

Tiny Living Spaces For The Gypsy In Your Bohemian Soul...

Bohemians at heart.
With Gypsy in your soul.
Free Spirits all.
Keep the dream alive...

Inspirational Little Rustic Dwellings For Living Simply And Simply Living...

I wandered as one does, away from the world,
through the woods, amongst the trees, into another beautiful time and place.
And found peace and quiet in Cabinporn land.
It's always good to go there, there's always inspirations for living simply and more importantly, simply living...