Buyers wishing to live a more sustainable existence may find what they're looking for in a unique, award-winning home at Blackbutt that's now on the market.
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The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home - plus study - is nearly completely off the grid and is located at 14 Penrose Street, Blackbutt.
Scott Rowe and wife Karen built the property about 11 years ago, with an aim of making it as sustainable as possible.
"When it comes to lowering the energy costs, we've got the house down now to costing less than $500 a year in water, electricity and gas combined," Mr Rowe said.
"For example, we just got our quarterly bill for energy, and it was $50."
Its features include solar hot water, a water-treatment station that also acts as a fish pond (and air conditioner), permaculture garden and 28-tree orchid, plus recycled and sustainable building materials.
It sits on a 1370sqm block at the end of a battle-axe, but is still walking distance to the train station, shopping centres and schools.
"The goal was to do it as a demonstration, and put as many features under one roof as possible," Mr Rowe said.
"That was our aim at the time.
"It's built on sustainable building techniques and solar passive design principles, and combining the two, it actually works.
"Ten or 15 years ago it was a lot of theory, and we wanted to put that theory into practice and see if it actually works, and it has worked."
The bricks are made by Timbercrete and incorporate recycled sand and sawdust into the mixture to create handmade and air-dried mudbricks.
Much of the timber has deep history embedded in the grains, like hardwood railway signal towers and floorboards from old homes.
The house has also been designed to heat and cool itself by taking advantage of natural light and ventilation, which in turn reduces energy costs.
"It's a pretty low running cost, and it's very comfortable to live in," Mr Rowe said.
"The temperature's pretty much constant all year round inside the house, and all the features we've put in are just really comfortable."
The property was previously listed for sale in 2017.
It now has a price guide of $1.3 million to $1.4 million.
Mr Rowe said they were selling as they were looking to "take on a new sustainability adventure".
The selling agent is Zest Real Estate director Angie Ritchie.
"This property is a perfect blend of sustainability and local convenience, which is rarely seen in the marketplace," she said.
"I am proud to be presenting this amazing example of eco-architecture to the market."