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From a sea change to a tree change

Johan lived on his 39-foot wooden yawl that he sailed up from Melbourne.

He has now swapped it for his off-grid Cedarspan Loft Barn on acreage in the Northern Rivers region, and has officially made the unique ‘sea change to a tree change’.

“…completely off grid with solar power and hot water, tank water and composting toilet. I recently also installed a wood fireplace for heating”

An easy build

Johan and Cappy purchased two Cedarspan Barns a couple of years ago for their tree change off-grid living goals. Johan wanted a quick solution, so a PreCrafted Cedarspan Barn was the perfect option.

In just a week, his barn was installed to lock-up stage onsite by two carpenters, providing a weathertight space ready for Johan to fitout the interiors at his leisure. He has added a DIY kitchen, cork flooring and a stair case to the loft that doubles as a wardrobe.

“The design was very easy and so were the install instructions…it was very quick to go up.”

The joy of more space

“I lived on a yacht for a year…so it was like moving into a huge space for me”

Johan lived on his 39-foot wooden yawl that he sailed up from Melbourne. He now enjoys the additional space of his Barn home.

Cappy chose the same barn installed on a slab, and personalised it with an Alpine Porch to one end. Cappy’s is set-up as a weekender, and is currently being connected to an existing 100-year-old hut that she is turning into a bath house.


Johan’s Cedarspan is a Cathedral Loft Barn measuring 3.8m x 7.2m.

It features a Board and Batten cladding upgrade to two sides with an alpine porch and decking facing the view. He further personalised the design with aluminium awning windows in “Black” and Colorbond® roofing in “Pale Eucalypt”. 

All measurements are approximate. 


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