Owner(s): Kandi Wood
Region: Barrie/Muskoka/Parry Sound
Municipality: Oro Medonte/Orillia
Web site: http://orilliastrawbale.blogspot.com/

Number of bedrooms: 3
Number of bathrooms: 2
Usable floor area, square feet (interior): 1458
Building footprint, square feet: 1750 +garage 500
Number of stories: 1
Occupancy date: april 2007
Cost per square foot and what that includes: Around $160 - 170. Costs escalated for many reasons: firstly, the building department delayed us at least 5 months, (which meant we lost the prime building weather months, which put us slap in the middle of one of the wettest falls on record). Delays, additional excavation and aggregate for heavy equipment to be able to get in to the site; down time for workers; alternate living arrangements due to the delays; increase in material costs (i.e. copper went up 300% last fall), etc, etc, etc. These are some of the unseen expenses. The project got to the point of no return, so you just have to figure it out.

Builder arrangement: Both owner and contractor
Main contractor name: Havencraft Homes
Designer's name: Dale Brownson
Structural engineer's name: Kenny Cryer
Structural engineer's firm: Blackwell & Bowick
Length of time to build (start to occupancy): 8 months
Volunteer participation: 0
Ease of obtaining a building permit: Very difficult


Other roof system info: gable

Straw type: Wheat



Paints used on bale wall plaster: silicate paint

Mechanical systems info: wood stove, drilled well Geothermal heating, with radiant in floor system
Electrical systems info: grid tied
Other green features: passive solar; geothermal
Anything else you'd like to share?: This was the most exciting, stress-filled, expensive, rewarding roller coaster ride of my life. Now I sit on my porch and wonder at how I made it thru.. but here I am, in my element, at peace within, in my new home. Quitting was never an option, nor a consideration. Yes, it was worth it!!