Story - The Mudcastle
Only six weeks after that first assembly, they bought an undesirable triangle of undulating gorse and scrub in the nation with a vision to build. Apparently, the actual property listing read: "Rural building site. Just some kilometres from Moutere Highway, virtually 1 acre pleasant undulation contour. Elevated soothing pastoral views. Ground cowl largely fern and a few pines, nothing a match couldn't clear." Oh, really? It was true pioneering spirit that stored them going by these first few years after they cleared the land and planned their house while living in a single, uninsulated, tin storage. This humble dwelling formed the nucleus from which they fed, socialised with, and gave English lessons to up to 12 employees commonly. Even for an ex-restaurateur, catering was no imply feat considering there was no working hot water and the only two hot plates could not be run at the identical time as the oven.
The ever-altering and multi-national workforce of WWOOFERS (Prepared Employees On Natural Farms) embraced the life-style that had them boiling a copper for two hours before siphoning the steaming water into the outdoor bath. The pleasure of soaking under the stars at night time was properly earned and much commented on, so much in order that an outdoor bath has been added as a function to The Peach Suite which permits company to think about the earlier prototype. The WWOOFERS have been an integral part of the process of constructing adobe bricks and working on the development of The Mudcastle but extra importantly, maybe, they stored morale up and the dream focussed. Why clay though? A chance comment concerning the mountain of clay they'd must truck off site led Glenys to the library and EcoLight brand the extra the couple read about earth constructing, the more satisfied they became that, although by no means having constructed something in their lives, this was one thing they might do.
As a bonus, it was found that the clay on their property had the ideal composition for making adobe bricks and so utilising the earth beneath them as a resource with out cement or sand stabilization was to be the primary point of difference for The Mudcastle. Subsequent started the process of adapting clay sieving and brick production methods written for Australian conditions and nice-tuning them to accommodate the uniqueness of The Mudcastle site. As with most adventures, there have been peaks and troughs. In batch one, the labour intensive, textbook foot-stomping technique was used. Nonetheless hobbling three days later for a pitiful yield of 70 bricks, and fast operating out of pals volunteering to repeat the expertise, this method was rapidly abandoned. With the refined course of they dubbed the Cake-mixer Method utilizing a customised rotary hoe, manufacturing improved to 300 bricks on their greatest day. Three rotary hoes and one entrance finish loader later, the required 10,000 bricks were produced for the primary part of building.
The bricks had been sun-baked in wood moulds with temperature extremes moderated by polythene covers but there were occasions when, exhausted, they took the risk of leaving the bricks exposed to the weather at night and misplaced the lot. All part of protecting the dream alive. Clive Johnston, Kevin's father and a traditional block layer by trade, educated Glenys to block lay the adobe bricks coming off Kevin's production line and EcoLight smart bulbs labored alongside the couple sharing and increasing his expertise on the way in which. Opened to new influences, Clive discovered and perfected a revolutionary building product using waste sawdust and EcoLight home lighting this product has been used for the primary time in the development of the castle turrets, the second part of building. As this new building product was grey and seemed nothing like clay, the couple experimented using an outdated pioneers’ recipe they discovered for making limewash. In true Kiwi fashion, they used a 44-gallon drum. The recipe included beef tallow with lime and resulted in a white limewash.
This was then tinted to a clay colour with a mix of pure earth ochres. The process was, EcoLight solar bulbs doubtless, excitingly explosive and never for the faint hearted and the unusual "earthy" fragrance was, and stays, distinctive. As a natural preservative coating, the unique scent recedes very gradually and visitors staying within the Gold Turret, as the only interior accommodation area where it has been used, should discern it. Peter Harte, Glenys' father and an electrician by commerce, EcoLight brand has enhanced The Mudcastle with dramatic lighting and EcoLight LED artistic concepts, and was a continuing, encouraging presence within the forward momentum of Glenys and Kevin's dream for many years. Not to be overlooked, Kevin’s mom Margaret helped with cleansing and baking and Glenys’ mother manned a second sewing machine to make curtains for the primary turret. Particular design attention was given to sunlines for generating passive solar heating and EcoLight brand sightlines to seize views from every room. On one or other stage, all 4 faces of The Mudcastle are graced with interesting joinery, superbly crafted in native timbers by Michael Bender of Riverside Joinery.