I’m proud to say that I have finished my eco-green house in Bali and that it is currently rented through mid-August with guests from around the world. It was featured on two eco architecture blogs: one in Australia…I met Michael Moobs while hiking in 2001 in Australia and his book ‘Sustainable House’ put me on my quest to build a green house. It was also featured on a Singapore-based architectural firm’s site .

I posted many of the best photos are on the rental site AirBnb.

Building a house in a developing country has MANY challenges and it is not for the faint of heart. My story is not EAT PRAY LOVE.

I used an American architect-contractor. Three months into the 12 month long project he bailed out and left the house unfinished and ‘undesigned’ for the wet season. Though I’m an internal auditor for my real job I jumped in last year to save the house by going to small villages and looking for my own craftsmen. One realtor told me last November that the house and land should be sold as ‘abandoned’. I had to make my own design changes to channel water from the various roofs, add overflow pipes to rainwater tanks and many things that auditors typically don’t need to worry about sitting in cubicals in skyscrapers.

Also, I was physically attacked by my housekeeper while I was sleeping who bribed me for money (he wanted $18,000). I had to hire a very good but expensive lawyer to keep his threats at bay and reduce his bribe to $1,500. The first house I made in Bali (in another village), was commandeered by a powerful mafia family who demanded I sell it to them for half of what I paid for the house and land or they would burn it down.

It takes a village to make and maintain a house in a Balinese village. This house is stunning and I could not have finished it without the help of Nyoman Adnyana (who helped me find bamboo and cement craftsmen), Nyoman Wirawan who had the original bamboo floor replaced with cement and stunning terrazzo, and Nyoman Sancita (my house manager) and his friend Adhi who helped select furniture and professionally photographed the villa. Luhnik is also doing offerings and cleaning it daily.