Building an Eco Home with Straw Bales and Traditional Timber Joinery

This film follows the building of a beautiful eco home by wonderful owner builders Adam and Sian in Victoria, Australia. It’s a stunning traditional timber frame home combining timber joinery, strawbale and cob. And it radiates with the wholehearted love they poured into designing a sustainable home of their dreams, and then building it.

If you’ve been following us a while, you may recall that seven years ago we made a film about Adam and Sian’s first home, The Handmade House Truck. Their new forever home is even more special.

We shot this film sporadically over four years, which is a really long production run for us! Each time Jordan visited his homeland of Australia, he’d check in with Adam and Sian to catch up on the build. And the inevitable story that has developed around it.

That story included the birth of their first child alongside the unexpected death of a beloved family member. Both events weaving into the story of joy, heartache, community connection, frustration, and love that’s become as much part of the house’s structure as the straw and cob and timber. Aside from the craftsmanship, beautiful aesthetics, and sheer naturalness of this building, we really love that it’s urban. You don’t get to see so many natural buildings in this setting. Perhaps seeing more eco homes like this created using natural building techniques will shine a light on the waste and toxic materials so prevalent today’s house construction.

This timber frame home serves as an inspiration in so many beautiful ways, as do its owner builders Adam and Sian!

This story was filmed on Gadubanud country in Victoria, Australia. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this land and pay respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.