Story - The Mudcastle

Only six weeks after that first meeting, they bought an unwanted triangle of undulating gorse and scrub in the nation with a imaginative and prescient to build. Curiously, the true property itemizing read: "Rural constructing site. Just some kilometres from Moutere Highway, almost 1 acre pleasant undulation contour. Elevated soothing pastoral views. Floor cowl largely fern and a few pines, nothing a match could not clear." Oh, really? It was true pioneering spirit that kept them going via those first few years when they cleared the land and deliberate their residence while living in a single, uninsulated, tin storage. This humble dwelling formed the nucleus from which they fed, socialised with, and gave English classes to up to 12 staff frequently. Even for an ex-restaurateur, catering was no mean feat contemplating there was no working hot water and the only two hot plates could not be run at the same time because the oven.



The ever-altering and multi-nationwide workforce of WWOOFERS (Prepared Staff On Natural Farms) embraced the approach to life that had them boiling a copper for 2 hours before siphoning the steaming water into the outdoor bath. The pleasure of soaking underneath the stars at night time was effectively earned and much commented on, so much in order that an outside bath has been added as a feature to The Peach Suite which allows guests to think about the earlier prototype. The WWOOFERS were an integral a part of the method of making adobe bricks and working on the development of The Mudcastle however extra importantly, perhaps, they saved morale up and the dream focussed. Why clay although? A chance comment concerning the mountain of clay they might have to truck off site led Glenys to the library and the more the couple read about earth building, the extra satisfied they turned that, dimmable LED bulbs though by no means having built something in their lives, this was one thing they may do.



As a bonus, it was found that the clay on their property had the best composition for making adobe bricks and so utilising the earth beneath them as a resource without cement or sand stabilization was to be the first point of distinction for The Mudcastle. Subsequent began the technique of adapting clay sieving and brick manufacturing methods written for EcoLight solar bulbs Australian circumstances and EcoLight lighting effective-tuning them to accommodate the uniqueness of The Mudcastle site. As with most adventures, there were 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 running out of mates volunteering to repeat the expertise, this methodology was shortly abandoned. With the refined course of they dubbed the Cake-mixer Technique utilizing a customised rotary hoe, manufacturing improved to 300 bricks on their finest day. Three rotary hoes and one entrance end loader later, the required 10,000 bricks have been produced for the first part of constructing.



The bricks had been sun-baked in wooden moulds with temperature extremes moderated by polythene covers however there were events when, exhausted, they took the chance of leaving the bricks exposed to the weather at night and misplaced the lot. All a part of maintaining the dream alive. Clive Johnston, Kevin's father and a standard block layer by trade, trained Glenys to block lay the adobe bricks coming off Kevin's manufacturing line and worked alongside the couple sharing and increasing his experience on the way. Opened to new influences, Clive found and perfected a revolutionary building product utilizing waste sawdust and this product has been used for the primary time in the construction of the castle turrets, the second part of constructing. As this new building product was gray and appeared nothing like clay, the couple experimented utilizing an previous pioneers’ recipe they found for making limewash. In true Kiwi trend, EcoLight they used a 44-gallon drum. The recipe incorporated beef tallow with lime and EcoLight dimmable resulted in a white limewash.



This was then tinted to a clay colour with a mixture of natural earth ochres. The process was, doubtless, excitingly explosive and never for the faint hearted and the unusual "earthy" fragrance was, and remains, distinctive. As a pure preservative coating, the unique scent recedes very regularly and company staying within the Gold Turret, as the only inside accommodation area where it has been used, may still discern it. Peter Harte, Glenys' father and energy-efficient bulbs an electrician by trade, has enhanced The Mudcastle with dramatic EcoLight lighting and creative ideas, and was a relentless, encouraging presence in the forward momentum of Glenys and Kevin's dream for many years. Not to be overlooked, Kevin’s mother Margaret helped with cleansing and baking and Glenys’ mom manned a second sewing machine to make curtains for the primary turret. Special design attention was given to sunlines for producing passive solar heating and sightlines to seize views from each room. On one or different stage, all 4 faces of The Mudcastle are graced with interesting joinery, superbly crafted in local timbers by Michael Bender of Riverside Joinery.