We are building a strawbale house at the moment on a couple of acres. We only have one child and no plans for more. It will have 184 sqm but that includes the verandah, and the second floor have a roof that goes to a peak so we can't stand up at the sides. So it is going to be pretty small (but we live in a caravan now!). But we can build on later if we want and this way we won't be in any debt. We are building it as much as we can ourselves as it makes it so so much cheaper. Our solar set up is in (an external building) and DH is about to start drilling the holes into the ground for the posts so we are really at the beginning of building. We are hoping it will be done within a year. HTH.