SELF BUILD & SUSTAINABLE
Building a beautiful LIFE together
in BANCROFT - ONTARIO with love
welcome! thank you for CHECKING us out.
This is our story—one of healing and DEEPER connection with nature. Our vision is creating a beautiful HEALING space where body / mind and soul can experience harmony and peace.
We purchased 45 acres of rural forested land in southeastern Ontario, and in 2020, we left our apartment in Toronto to fully commit to building our sustainable home and retreat space. For four years, we lived in a small camper-trailer, building our dream with our own hands and the support of loved ones. In 2024, we moved into our semi-finished home, and our journey continues…
Through this hands-on experience, we’ve gained valuable skills in sustainable construction and now offer our expertise to others who are renovating or building their homes. Our services include flooring, tile work, kitchen and bathroom installation, exterior insulation and siding, small drywall and painting projects, as well as repair and repurposing work. If you're looking for thoughtful craftsmanship with a sustainable approach, we’d love to help.
We’re grateful to share this journey with you and look forward to connecting.
See our latest fly throughs and images (password: akira)
“We believe that there is a better life for us outside in the wild, where we can catch a glimpse of a deer in the back yard, eat directly from the earth and see the stars in the night sky. It is the beauty of experience we seek in the most challenging tasks and the thrill of creating our own path holding our hearts as compass.”
Ece Savas
Hi, my name is Ece. On this project, I’m the visionary, designer, backhoe operator and comfort creator.
With everything I do, I am drawn to creating beautiful things, experiences and spaces that inspires souls towards healthy, loving, harmonious and fulfilling life. I do this in few different ways; I am a somatic healer, coach, educator and yoga teacher–working at Grails Spring and Tree of Life in Bancroft. I have a Branding Agency called Palindrome Design. And we recently launched a small contractor business where we help our community with our hands on experience.
IVAN DELLALOV
He is the dream maker, problem solver, builder, lumberjack, mechanic, cook and everything else on this project.
Ivan is a professional contractor with 10 years of experience. He is passionate about craftsmanship, social issues and taking care of his family and community. He loves baking and fermenting, making cocktails; holds a Bachelor of Biochemistry from UofT and Plant-Based Nutrition Certification. Ivan also holds two blackbelts in Karate and Tai-Chi. He is the kindest, most hard working, patient and courageous person I’ve known.
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OUR TEAM & RESOURCES
Sustainability Consultant AFFECTING CHANGE
Sandra is passionate about green homes and heathy building design. She is full of knowledge, experience and a genuine interest in helping others and the environment. We’re lucky to partner with her on this project.
Design MARENCO ARCHITECTS + STRUCTURAL GRAVITY ENGINEERING
My dear friends and amazing designers we had the privilege to work with. We considered so many different options when hiring our architects. For us the most important consideration was to keep this project intimate and meaningful. We wanted to work with someone with design sensibility and passion towards what we’re creating. And I found them not too far from my heart. I want to honour their hard work and contribution.
Distributors in Ontario:
Green Building Materials: https://eco-building.ca
Septic Systems: We wanted something light and easy to assemble ourselves. At first we were recommended EZ Flow. But this decision was changed due to our land. We’re on a very rocky & clay type of land so we had to build it up with septic sand and used the Chamber Bed method instead. The product website is: www.infiltratorwater.com/ We found our chambers locally from Kijiji.
Concrete Septic Tank and the Distribution box was purchased from www.brooklin.com whom we had great delivery and customer service experience with.
Windows: Our decision for windows were mainly affected by efficiency, price and sustainability. We were given a great recommendation by South Port Construction for a newly established Favori Windows—great customer service, quality assurance, technology and price. Their high efficiency glazing are made in Turkey—which allows me to support my home country—and the aluminum framing are custom made locally. Windows are one of the two major costs we have and we’re very happy with our decision; hence, avoiding future plastic waste.
Boilers: We did a lot of research on how to heat our house. We had no idea how important this decision was and how interconnected it is to our lifestyle. For us #1 consideration is Efficiency. As a sustainable home we want to leave a minimum footprint on the planet and to be able to burn our own wood. For that we highly recommend the Canadian G-Polar Gasification Boilers by Portage and Main. Great local business and reliable product. Distributor in our area for G-Polar is: http://greenheatingsolutions.ca
#2 consideration is Automation. We want to be able to leave our home for few months over the winter and prevent our home from freezing. With a regular boiler we had to rely on a backup propane system (or electric) to be able to do that. Plus with super efficient walls & windows that we’ll have; there is only a little bit of heating we require. After months of research, we finally decided to go with an indoor bio-mass boiler system—efficient, easy to operate and fits our size & budget. One of the best brands in the market for that is Froling Boilers—the same one the Fogo Island Resort is using. Distributor in our area with great customer service is: https://biothermic.ca/