Baraka Blog
How We Built Our First Home:
A Small House Designed for Two
A Small House Designed for Two
When we decided to build our own home at Baraka Forest, we kept it simple: a small house designed just for the two of us. But simple didn’t mean cutting corners — it meant being thoughtful about every decision.
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Off-grid Living
Planning With Purpose
We built the house completely off-grid. We installed solar panels and battery storage for electricity, and we collect and filter rainwater for our water supply. People sometimes assume off-grid living is ideological, but for us it was purely practical. Our location is somewhat far from the main electrical grid, so going off-grid was actually the easier and more sensible choice.
Every detail of our home was chosen with intention. For our large dining table, we sourced old cable spools from a local electrical shop — repurposing materials that would otherwise be discarded. The central staircase spirals around a pole made from an acacia tree we felled from our own forest. The stair supports are branches from other acacias we harvested and carefully shaped — a time-consuming process of felling, drying, and selecting, but one that grounds our home literally in the land we’re building.
For the exterior siding, we used Yaki Sugi — an ancient Japanese technique of burning Cryptomeria wood in a very specific traditional way. The result is stunning and incredibly practical: this blackened wood siding doesn’t need renewal and can last for decades. It naturally protects the house against humidity, insects, and termites — because the wood is burned, it’s essentially dead, and nothing wants to eat something that’s already gone.
Every choice — from the repurposed cable spools to the Japanese-burned siding — reflects our philosophy: design that is beautiful, practical, rooted in nature, and built to last.
Every detail of our home was chosen with intention. For our large dining table, we sourced old cable spools from a local electrical shop — repurposing materials that would otherwise be discarded. The central staircase spirals around a pole made from an acacia tree we felled from our own forest. The stair supports are branches from other acacias we harvested and carefully shaped — a time-consuming process of felling, drying, and selecting, but one that grounds our home literally in the land we’re building.
For the exterior siding, we used Yaki Sugi — an ancient Japanese technique of burning Cryptomeria wood in a very specific traditional way. The result is stunning and incredibly practical: this blackened wood siding doesn’t need renewal and can last for decades. It naturally protects the house against humidity, insects, and termites — because the wood is burned, it’s essentially dead, and nothing wants to eat something that’s already gone.
Every choice — from the repurposed cable spools to the Japanese-burned siding — reflects our philosophy: design that is beautiful, practical, rooted in nature, and built to last.
We asked Jules’s brother Louis to help us with planning and design. As a carpenter and engineer, he understood Jules’s building abilities and vision and was able to create a simple yet informative plan that brought structural integrity, stability, and practical material sourcing into focus.
We chose Cryptomeria — Japanese cedar — as our primary building material. It grows in abundance here in the Azores, which means it’s affordable and readily available. What makes it exceptional is that it’s lighter than pine but stronger. We also made a smart decision about windows: we sourced secondhand windows first, then designed the house around their actual dimensions. This approach meant we weren’t trying to force custom sizes or waste materials. Once we knew the window dimensions, we could design everything else to fit perfectly.
For the dimensions we used golden ratio proportions — five by eight meters. The ground floor houses our kitchen combined with the living room, plus a small toilet and sink area. The upper half of the space features a bedroom and a working desk, connected by a spiral staircase that winds around a central pole.
Summer 2023 gave us a five-month window of reliable weather and minimal rain. It was tight timing, and Jules pushed himself hard — often doing heavy lifting alone because he didn’t want to constantly ask for help. There were challenges along the way, but the constraint of time also kept us focused and moving forward.
We chose Cryptomeria — Japanese cedar — as our primary building material. It grows in abundance here in the Azores, which means it’s affordable and readily available. What makes it exceptional is that it’s lighter than pine but stronger. We also made a smart decision about windows: we sourced secondhand windows first, then designed the house around their actual dimensions. This approach meant we weren’t trying to force custom sizes or waste materials. Once we knew the window dimensions, we could design everything else to fit perfectly.
For the dimensions we used golden ratio proportions — five by eight meters. The ground floor houses our kitchen combined with the living room, plus a small toilet and sink area. The upper half of the space features a bedroom and a working desk, connected by a spiral staircase that winds around a central pole.
Summer 2023 gave us a five-month window of reliable weather and minimal rain. It was tight timing, and Jules pushed himself hard — often doing heavy lifting alone because he didn’t want to constantly ask for help. There were challenges along the way, but the constraint of time also kept us focused and moving forward.
