The Shire - Eco-Mobile-Home
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We had a dream to build an affordable house, which is sustainable and
built from natural and localy sourced materials as much as possible.
In 2010 after much struggle with The Findhorn Foundation we finaly
completed building The Shire, an inspirational Ecological Mobile Home.
Here is a blog of our process from dream to reality:
November 2009 - We bought a caravan with the rights to live in Pinridge, at The Park
December 2009- Negotiating our proposal to build an Eco-Mobile with FF/NFD
January 2010- Creating initial sketches for our dream (Eco-Mobile) Home
February 2010- First architectual plans of our Eco-Mobile are created
March 2010- Contacting builders & initial design goes to Park-Planning-Group
April 2010- Final designs made with our builders
May 2010- Final Plans approved by Park-Planning-Group
June 2010- Signing contract with builders. Pre fabrication of our house off-site
July 2010- Blessing and laying of corner stone by Masonic Order AUM
August-September 2010- Building on site
October 2010- Completion of building, and we move in....
November 2010- House Blessing & House Waming Party
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This is plot 234 (at the back of the photo) with the static Caravan that used to stand on it
(Nov 2009)
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This is plot 234 in Snow after the Static Caravan has been removed from the site
(Jan 2010)
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Plot 234 on a sunny spring day
(March 2010)
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These are initial sketches we made for our Eco-Mobile dream
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These are first architectual sketches for our Eco-Mobile
(March 2010)
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THE FINAL DESIGNS, MAY 2010:
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We drew our design in the beach to full scale, to get a sense of it
(March 2010)
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Lucian Preparing the corner stone ceremony (July 2010)
Laying of corner stone ceremony held by the Masonic order AUM and our builders Uwe & Sebastian (July 2010)
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Building - Week 1 - Laying the foundations and constructing the base (August 2010)
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Building - Week 2 - Erecting the walls skeleton and laying the ceiling (August 2010)
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Building - Week 3 - Plumbing & Electricity installed. external cladding inlaid and roof on top (September 2010)
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Building - Week 4 - Insulation and internal wall partitions put in place (September 2010)
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Building - Week 5 - Wood burning stove, water tank & radiators installed and wooden floor layed in (September 2010)
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Building - Week 6 - Kitchen arrived. Wooden cieling in living room. Shelving installed & painting the walls (September 2010)
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Building - Week 7 - Final electric & plumbing fixtures: lighting, bathroom, taps..& living room carpet arrived (September 2010)
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We moved into The Shire at the beginning of October 2010 still without windows or main door, and a few other finishing touches that the builders completed during October. We would like to thanks all those who supported us in this project in many different ways.
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House Warming Party and Events Saturday 20th November 2010:
11:00 - Open house with some music, refreshments and house tours
12:00 - The Traditional Roof Shout to announce the completion of the building, with our builder Uwe
13:00 - Presentation on our one-year process of manifesting The Shire, the highlights, the challenges and time for Questions
14:00 - Laughter Yoga with Michael, to fill The Shire with Laughter
16:00 – Dances of Universal Peace with Manda, to fill The Shire with Dance
18:00 - Bhajan, Indian chanting with Sukanya, to fill The Shire with Music
20:00 - Gong Bath, with Eran, to conclude the day with Sound
This day is open for friends, supporters and all those who are genuinely positive and non-judgmental about us and our new home. You are welcomed to join us for any part of the day or for the entire day.
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DEEP THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO CAME TO OUR HOUSE BLESSING DAY!
WITH LOVE, ERAN LAUREN AND LUCIAN
The Shire
In the Heart of Pineridge,
Between the sanctuary of nature,
And where the Buddha dwells,
On the edge of the Quiet Garden,
Where deer sprint softly on the earth,
And birds sing sweet harmonies,
Is… The Shire!
A place to inspire!
The new home of the Backler family
May it stand strong as a tree,
Let it keep them warm and safe,
Let their hearts fill with joy and grace,
In this blessed place,
May their home shine forth,
May it be A torch, A beacon,
A light-bringer in the midst of winter!
The building of The Shire, like the building project of any house, has been inspiring as well as
challenging. Although we managed to persevere through the politics and bureaucracy of The
Findhorn Foundation, we did feel worn out by the end of the process. We did however receive
an apology from Findhorn Foundation manager, Ana Rhodes-Castro, and NFD director Alex
Walker at the end of 2011 and their promise to support us in our transition out of the
community. This, together with many other personal reasons, has brought us to the decision to
move on and leave the community. We wish to cherish our time in Scotland and all the
wonderful people and friends we made in Findhorn during our time there, and thank all those
who did support the building of our home. Our hope is to sell The Shire, to people who will love
it and care for it as much as we did.