THE STORY OF OUR DREAM…
Years ago, we made an offer on a small piece of land just outside Cape Town. The property has biodiversity servitude and a lovely view of Table Mountain as a backdrop.
Our dream was to build a well-insulated home from mostly recycled material. We aimed to use almost no water in the building process and to become totally reliant on solar electricity.
It took two years for the necessary sub-division to be processed. During this time we stayed in a converted barn, living cheaply and saving towards realising our dream – due to the unconventional nature of the project, neither building loans nor insurance were available to us. We saved conscientiously and requested a family loan.
The project was also not without its pitfalls. The conditions were sandier than expected and the road we built used much more crushed concrete than we had initially budgeted for.
We could not contain our excitement when the structure was finally in place and interior work – truly sculpting our home – could begin. Once the roof was up, it really started looking like a house.
We received a frantic call on the afternoon of 19 March 2018 – our house was burning down. A welding spark had ignited a heap of waste insulation next to the house. The flames were spurred on by a strong wind and quickly spread to the house itself. We did everything we could with help from neighbours and the fire department, but nothing could save our house.
Everything burned and melted.
It will not be easy for us to recover from this personal tragedy, as we poured all our savings into making our dream a reality. But we still believe in this project and are determined to salvage the situation.
We want to sincerely ask if you can help us towards rebuilding our house.
Structurally, our whole house revolved around using Maersk refrigeration containers. However, we are hoping for any form of aid to restart this project.
We are most willing to endorse and participate in any public relations or house modelling/showing campaigns should that would be of interest.
Thanking you in advance for your contributions.