A house in Wolffdene that stood abandoned for decades has been renovated to operate self-sufficiently.
Owner of 100 Neagle Road, Steven Purkis, said when his family bought the block several years ago, the building was little more than a roofed timber frame.
“So like 30 years or something, it just sat there with a roof on it, a frame up, and no walls or floors or anything,” he said.
The property was originally purchased simply because it adjoined land the family had already bought.
“We bought it with no real great intentions on anything, just other than to tack on another block of land beside where we were already at,” Mr Purkis said.
At first, the plan was basic.
“We were just going to camp up here,” he said.
“We thought we’d put a bit of floor in one corner so we could sleep our sleeping bags on the floor instead of on the grass.”
But the work expanded, and after two years, the structure was completed and restored into a four-bedroom home.
Mr Purkis said the project aimed to maintain the character of the original build.
“We were trying to pay respect to the original build,” he said.
“We took one of the pieces of hardwood weatherboard off the wall and sent it to a timber mill so they could reproduce the same profile.”
The home sits on about 8.8ha and overlooks surrounding bushland and farmland.
Wide verandahs run around much of the house, and the property includes a shed, dam and space used for animals, including goats and chickens.
The house operates entirely off-grid, powered by solar energy and supported by rainwater tanks.
Mr Purkis said the property had mainly been used by his family as a weekend retreat.
“It’s very peaceful,” he said. “Your nearest neighbour’s about a kilometre away and you’re surrounded by bush.”
