The living space available for the caretakers an 800 square- foot one room cabin that we affectionately call "the barn" The space is "mostly" modern. It has electricity, which is all supplied by solar panels and a windmill.

It  also a 7 cubic foot chest freezer (one of the most energy efficient models available) which we actually use as a refrigerator. This is achieved by running it for three hours per day during the peak sunlight hours, which allows allows the chest freezer to act as an ice box/refrigerator.

Running water at the kitchen sink is fed by the same pipes as our shower (see below).

The rest room facilities consist of homemade composting toilets made with either wooden or metal frames with attached standard toilet seats. The wastes are collected in plastic 5 gallon buckets with leak tight lids (separate buckets for urine and feces, it is a challenge at first, but you get used to it). The urine is diluted ten to one with water and used as fertilizer on non-nitrogen fixing trees. The feces is buried in another garden area and becomes soil within a few months.
 
 

A view of the cabin from  the Northeast.

 
 

The Kitchen Area

 
 

 The "Dining Room"

The "Multi-Purpose Room" where you can exercise, or read by the light of the setting sun.

The Bedroom

The view from the kitchen window.
 
 
 
 
 
 

This little guy is one of our common house geckos (yes, they are really called that). These creatures are found in peoples' houses throughout Hawaii, and are often very welcome guests because of the numbers of insects they consume daily while walking up and down the walls.

 
 

Last but not least on our tour of the cabin, the shower. Kind of reminds you of the shower in the "Herbal Essences" shampoo commercials; a literally "organic experience!" The outer perimeter is a horseshoe shaped wall made entirely out of lava rock. The water is pumped to this area through black rubber pipes, which heat the water using solar energy. Because of this, the temperature of the water varies by time of day, being cold early in the morning and after dark, just perfect in the late morning and early evening, and scalding hot midday. There is a outside shower near the resevoir that one can adjust the hot and cold. The hot water is made by the solar panels and is available 24 hours a day.

	Sure, it looks like it has seen better days, but we assure you that this bus is sturdy and water tight!
Iris has worked very hard to make the inside as comfortable  and "homey" as possible with the help of a little white paint, some curtains, a nice soft bed, and ample shelving.