Hank Thierry and partner Carrie guided by the spirit of DIY

An off-grid home-build 17 years ago cemented this couple’s love.

Hank and Carrie Thierry in their Mansfield home.

Hank Thierry once read that “every man should build a house, plant a tree and raise a child” and he’s been true to that mantra with partner, Carrie.

“It was a somewhat romantic concept, but I always knew I wanted to build a house,” Hank says.

So, in 2004, long before tiny homes became fashionable, Hank, Carrie and their daughter Belle, then aged eight, built an off-grid, 6m x 15m home on 48ha in the foothills of Mount Buller, near Mansfield.

“What is nice about living in a home you have built yourself is you have an attachment to every part of it,” Hank says.

“I still recall selecting and felling the trees that make up the main post and other beams that support the house.” 

Carrie vividly recalls living in a 3m caravan for a year during one of the coldest winters on record while they built their home.

“We woke one morning with the caravan covered in snow – our shower was outdoors under the stars and we bathed Belle in a horse feed bucket in the caravan,” she says.

“We loved it and we still fondly remember that year as one of the best in our lives.”

Hank and Carrie established Swiftcrest Distillery on their Mt Buller property. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The thermally efficient two-bedroom house has an open plan upstairs with a loft and television, computer and sewing area. A 3m-wide veranda runs across the front of the house.

It sits on a waffle pod concrete slab with insulated 220mm thick concrete walls based on a Danish design.

“We imported state- of-the-art casement argon gas filled double glazed windows direct from Germany that have a unique locking seal that excludes air penetration,” Hank says.

The roof is lined with 75mm styrene, like a fridge, and 20mm pine lining boards which provide consistent internal temperatures.

Solar panels run lights and appliances like a normal house while a backup generator automatically switches on if the power draw is over 1800W.

“We still like our big screen TV and blender – we have just found a more environmentally friendly way of running them,” Hank says.

The couple also established Swiftcrest Distillery on the picturesque property and produce organics-based vodka and gin with plans for whisky. At pre-booked spirit tastings guests sit under a glittering chandelier at a polished antique dining table.

Spirits from Swiftcrest Distillery. Picture: Zoe Phillips

“It’s the crystal-clear water and Mansfield’s unique climate that makes the spirits special.”

The couple, who both have fine arts degrees, have a love of old furniture.

“We think if you can buy well-made furniture, you become its custodian and the furniture will live on,” Hank says. Treasures include a large throne-like embroidered covered chair made by Hank’s great grandparents in the 1800s.

“The brass chest we use as a coffee table is over 400 years old – it was a Dutch seaman’s chest that would have travelled the world and was bought by my mother at Amsterdam antique market and given to us as a wedding present,” Hank says.

Says Hank: ‘It was a somewhat romantic concept, but I always knew I wanted to build a house.’ Picture: Zoe Phillips

Their antique French armoire houses a collection of handmade quilts – some made by Carrie – and displays fine art ceramics, created by Belle.

Even the bathroom sink has a story, it is a re-enamelled 1930s art deco original they fell in love with and lugged from house to house before it finally found its forever home.

“We recycled an old blackwood kitchen as our new kitchen while the fiddleback blackwood dining table and sideboard in the distillery is from the 1930s, the same maker made blackwood ­furniture for The Lodge in Canberra.

“There is a story behind every part of the house and every piece of furniture we own, and we love it,” Hank says.