14 Begonia Court

Dwellingup WA 6213

This is the largest Jarrah framed house in Dwellingup. When I went to the council to talk to the building surveyor he asked what materials the house would be made out of? I told him it would be Jarrah, he replied no one builds houses in Jarrah anymore and was surprised that I was. The idea behind the project was to build it as environmentally sound as possible, using salvaged materials and locally source timber. When the block was purchased it was heavily timbered and so was the block next door. Realising this I offered to pay to clear both block if I could have the logs from next door. They were milled at the local timber mill and left to season for 2 years before I started the house, which gave me the time to collect doors, windows and fittings that the house would need. The stone for the footings was collected by me in the local area. The stumps are railway lined, sourced from the scrap heap at the Old Dwellingup Mill. Floor boards are from the Harvey recreational hall that was being demolished and were pulled up by myself. All the Jarrah skirting and architraves came from a house in Byford and were recovered by me. The internal doors are 4 panel solid oregon. Two of these doors come from the Dwellingup Hotel. When fitting one of the doors it had to be cut down and I noticed a small hole in the hinged side of the door at the bottom with an object stuck in the hole. When I removed it I found it to be a bullet of I still have. The house has taken 5 years to build and has been a labour of love. The idea behind the garden is natives only, no lawn, no watering, no mowing and absolute minimal maintenance. The house was built to last a lifetime and more