Name: Marcella de Boom
Occupation: Artist
Location: Cullinan, South Africa
Type: Cob house
Size: 970 sq.ft.
Years lived in: 9
>> See Marcella's Gallery!
Marcella de Boom is no ordinary woman, she has built her entire home with her own two hands. The inspiration was "creative poverty", a wild dream of building a home, without spending more than $5000! The dream started to materialize when she met Interior Architect and Cob lover; Dawn McAdam by coincidence. Dawn is a conceptual genius and the two creative souls masterminded a plan in no time.
>> Enter GalleryDawn immediately pushed the boundaries and proposed the addition of a gallery to the cob house dream. Marcella accepted gladly since painting is her bread and butter. They soon realized the only way of fulfilling this dream was to invite help — unskilled help. Any hands were welcome! The building commenced with many enthusiastic volunteers, but as the months passed and the novelty wore off, the volunteers thinned out and Marcella and her daughter were the last women standing!
One year later the building was complete — a beautiful organic home — crafted with love and hands from all around the country. Marcella and Dawn made the unthinkable happen, they built an entire house and gallery for under $5000! If that wasn't enough they almost immediately started on a next project, building a 3 bedroom house for Marcella's daughter! Ladies we salute you!
To see more of Marcella's art visit: Marcella de Boom.
AT Survey:
What are your dreams and desires?: To make good paintings
What inspire you?:Creative Poverty
Favorite Element: All elements
Biggest Challenge: To survive financially!
What Friends Say: It`s warm and welcome
Biggest Embarrassment: Dog pee on the carpet
Proudest DIY: When the house was finished
Biggest Indulgence: A warm bath, a glass of wine and good music
Best advice: Follow your dream
Dream Source: I will buy all the materials and make everything myself.
>> See Marcella's Gallery!
Resources:
Kitchen Hardware: Inherited
Kitchen furniture: Inherited
Accessories: All gifts
Rugs and Carpets: Inherited
Window Treatments: I made all the stained glass-windows myself
Beds: Inherited
Art: Made myself and inherited
>> See Marcella's Gallery!
Thanks, Marcella!
This is indeed amazing. As someone who grew up in a home that was constantly under construction I know that many, many, many, hours went into this. I admire all of your hard work and perseverance, and I think the finished product is wonderful. This home seems to fit perfectly into your life and its site :-) Congratulations on finishing!
view Nancy_Claire's profile
Not that this isn't an interesting house tour, but I would REALLY love to start seeing more DC / MD / VA houses featured in the DC house tours.
view leely16's profile
Fantastic and amazing! it's beautiful!
view sassydo's profile
This is incredible!
view Jean's profile
Quite an achievement. I am impressed.
view rosenatti's profile
Wow. I just adore it when new and interesting house tours are posted on AT. This home breaks the mold. How I would love to stay in that guest bedroom!
view SpanishOlives's profile
I love this building. If you want to see an amazing cob building closer to home, check out the tasting room at Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Maryland (blackankle.com). It is made with cob with straw bale insulation. very cool.
view mamaro's profile