Wooden houses built in Bogor
Wooden houses built in Bogor
JAKARTA (JP): A resort in Bogor is claiming to be the latest
in environmentally-friendly housing, with garden homes that
follow ground contours, and leave natural catchments undisturbed.
The houses are built mainly out of wood and only 20 percent is
concrete. Buyers can choose from a number of designs. The concept
also means the homes are built on only 20 percent of the total
plot.
"There are homes near water catchments, and others on hills
for those who don't like living near water," said Pound Sterling
R.G. Harahap, the owner of Pound Media Propertindo.
Buyers get 10 fruit trees of their choice on the 1,000-square-
meter plots. The average price is Rp 120 million (US$51,260).
However the resort area in Bojong Gede, three kilometers off
Jl. Raya Parung kilometer 37, is still limited to graduates of
the University of Indonesia. It is named the "Garden House
Project of the UI Alumni Association."
"On weekends they can take care of their fruit trees, go
fishing or cycling," Pound Sterling, a graduate of the Faculty of
Social and Political Sciences said.
The launching of the project is scheduled for May 5. Minister
of Housing Akbar Tanjung and West Java Governor Nuriana are
expected to officiate the event.
The first phase is prioritized for graduates who can afford
the houses. These high income graduates, many of them government
officials, will then hopefully invest in the project to enable
others to own smaller plots.
Owners will not have the luxury of their own shopping center,
Pound Sterling says, as the highly-educated graduates must play a
role in developing the local community.
"So there's a business and educational side to the marketing,"
he said. "If graduates live here they will have a deeper sense of
belonging to the area."
Security guards and high walls do not exist, he said. The
Alumni Association, led by Haryadi Darmawan, the inspector
general at the Ministry of Forestry, has decided the area must
not be exclusive.
The garden house concept is one that developers are
increasingly seeing as attractive.
Three years ago the Billabong Park View, also in Parung,
marketed "garden homes" on 375-square-meter plots with 15 fruit
trees.
In a recent housing exhibition, "fruit garden homes" were
offered with plots starting from 60 square meters in Krawang, one
kilometer off the Cikampek toll road. Prices for these 21-square-
meter homes, targeted at commuters working in Jakarta, start from
Rp 10.8 million.
Buyers get two to three fruit trees, which already exist on
Citra Kebunmas' plots, which is a former privately-owned estate.
(anr)