Five Canberra architecture students built a 13-square house with their hands as part of fulfilling their degree, The Canberra Times reported on this day in 1977. The house had the additional benefit of saving the future owner more than $10,000.
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The students conducted hours of research in the library and decided to use the lengths of telegraph poles to support the house.
The Canberra College of Advanced Education students built the house for John Durst, a Phillip College art teacher. Durst paid about $15,000 for the materials and labour for the house compared to the $25,000 he would have otherwise paid.
Once the building has been completed, Durst planned to use "autonomous" dwelling where it only needed the wind, rain and slope to keep it running.
The students constructed the walls through double layer mud bricks compressed with a 20 tonne force through a one-man operated Cinva Ram.
The students' mentor, John Favre, said "the Cinva Ram was a marvellous invention - weighing only 60 kilograms, it was just light enough for the average Colombian farmer to chuck it on to his wife's back to carry it home".
By the previous day, the students had made 2000 bricks and only needed 1500 more. Favre produced the 127-page report that the students had written during the 15-week semester and it contained all the details and requirements of Durst's wishes.
The students decided to use a solarscope for the house to maximise the sunshine effects. The eaves cut out the summer sun but allowed winter rays to heat the slated-tiled concrete floor that retained heat at night.
One of the biggest problems that the students faced was to come up with plans that the Yarrowlumla Shire Council would approve.
It was one of the main reasons that the "telegraph poles" were used to support the house as it might have taken a few months of negotiations to convince the council that bricks from the Cinva Ram could support the roof.
The house was displayed to members of the public in a free seminar about owner-built homes. The students received about $7000 (more than $45,000 today) as profit for their efforts.
Peter Adamson, one of the students, said "we're not going to build any more houses, but this is certainly going to help us design a lot more".
