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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A cabinet factory in an industrial estate on Victoria\u2019s Mornington Peninsula is possibly the last place you would expect to find Zac Efron.<\/p>\n Pastries were laid out, beers were in tubs, and excited family members looked down from mezzanine offices at Burmak Cabinets\u2019 unlikely visitor.<\/p>\n The Hollywood superstar was there to see hemp.<\/p>\n Specifically, he was there to see the hemp he helped plant, harvest and watched compressed into board, be turned into what will be his future kitchen.<\/p>\n Efron is building his forever home \u2013 somewhere he feels he could start a family \u2013 in NSW\u2019s Tweed Valley, on land he bought in 2020 for $2 million<\/a>. And while he\u2019s not placing every brick, he is taking the building of his super-sustainable six-bedroom home, which will feature the unlikely building material throughout, very seriously.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cTo see every stage of development, and all the intricate details and pieces of the house, is such a fun way to come into a building process,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very enlightening.\u201d<\/p>\n He was in the Hastings factory with his designer, pioneering environmentalist Joost Bakker. The pair became friends when the Ricky Stanicky star was filming his sustainability-focused docuseries Down to Earth, and visited Bakker\u2019s Future Food System at Fed Square.<\/p>\n \u201cHanging out with Joost after that, going to his house, spending time in places that he had built \u2026 I just had this feeling like, \u2018man, if I ever make anything I want to do it with [Joost\u2019s] sensibilities in mind\u2019,\u201d Efron said.<\/p>\n So when it came time to build a home on his Tweed Valley land, it was a no-brainer to reach out to Bakker.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd [he] did say, \u2018I want you to really push your ideas as far as you can,\u2019\u201d Bakker said.<\/p>\n Efron hadn\u2019t seen exactly how far those ideas have been pushed yet \u2013 he landed in Melbourne from Miami the day before, and refuses to let Bakker send him photos, despite saying the last time he saw the site it was \u201cjust weeds and trees\u201d.<\/p>\n The house \u2013 dubbed \u201cFutureCave\u201d \u2013 is being built with blocks made of composited hemp and recycled oyster shells, contains walls made of compressed agricultural-waste straw, marmoleum surfaces and yet more versatile uses of hemp throughout.<\/p>\n Efron\u2019s wholehearted embrace of Bakker\u2019s philosophy has been already been a game-changer for the industries supplying the designer.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean Zac\u2019s support \u2013 to get Zac on the farm, to get Zac at the factory \u2013 it\u2019s given them confidence,\u201d Bakker said.<\/p>\n ForestOne, the manufacturer supplying the boards for the joinery, has transformed its factory in Benalla to work with hemp, investing in research and developing new equipment to update their processes.<\/p>\n Efron\u2019s kitchen is Burmak\u2019s second project for Bakker \u2013 they recently produced hemp cabinetry for Futures Studio at Woodleigh School, in nearby Langwarrin South.<\/p>\n These projects have allowed the factory to explore new processes that will translate to future hemp construction.<\/p>\n An earlier version of the material meant upgrading from saw blades that cost about $500 to ones that cost almost $3000. But this has meant other savings, with additional benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cOur staff like working with it,\u201d Burmak Cabinets managing director Brad Kyle said, noting the sweet, biscuity smell in the air in the factory after a board was cut.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional chipboard or MDF, hemp board doesn\u2019t contain formaldehyde, which means it\u2019s safer for workers both in the factory and on building sites. And it\u2019s more sustainable throughout the process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lose about $30,000 a year in offcuts with traditional board,\u201d Kyle said. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of money for a small business.<\/p>\n \u201cWith hemp, we can send these back to the supplier, where it\u2019s broken down and remilled into new board. There\u2019s effectively no loss.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Professor Rachel Burton, who specialises in plant science at Adelaide University, said it felt like hemp was finally on an \u201cupward trend\u201d towards becoming mainstream. But it has a way to go.<\/p>\n She said despite being legalised in 2017 for agricultural use, legislative hurdles remain. Unlike most crops, a licence is required to grow hemp, and each crop needs to be monitored. In some jurisdictions, it\u2019s illegal to feed it to animals.<\/p>\n Add to this few processing plants close to crops, limited seed stock and little diversity in the cultivars available for specific climates, and \u201cit\u2019s hard for farmers to say, \u2018OK, is this going to be economic for me\u2019,\u201d Burton said.<\/p>\n This is despite hemp being a regenerative crop for agricultural soil.<\/p>\n Doug Rennie, whose potato and garlic farm in Hillston in western NSW provided the material for Efron\u2019s home, started growing hemp for soil regeneration about five years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt blows your bloody mind, the differences you see in the soil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When he realised it could also be a \u201ccash crop\u201d \u2013 something that made money, not just restored the soil \u2013 there was no obvious supply chain. He cold-called people in the hemp industry, eventually meeting Bakker.<\/p>\n This led down a path of custom-building his own harvester and processing facilities on the farm, the latter of which took two years. But it\u2019s only now looking like it might pay off.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a good crop for farmers to grow, but for us at the moment, there\u2019s just no supply chain. There\u2019s no market for the end material,\u201d Rennie said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frustrating. It\u2019s an amazing plant,\u201d Burton said. \u201cIt takes somebody like a Zac Efron to do something like this and wake people up.\u201d<\/p>\n Efron recognises the power his celebrity brings to the project and industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a steward of the environment,\u201d Efron said. \u201cAnd it feels like we\u2019re helping [these companies] naturally go where they wanted to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, it\u2019s also about helping Efron to end up in a place where he wants to be, after a lifetime of never finding a place he could settle, he says<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like there\u2019s motivation for me in accomplishing a build like this,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd wanting to live in a space like this in the future, and have a family one day.<\/p>\n \u201cA future home in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Efron\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6a424f00bd046a72eb3b17bf6d1eafa22d37bfa4.jpeg\")
Efron\u2019s home will feature hemp throughout, and many of the suppliers and producers are using the material for the first time.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n![\"Actor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/51191191d209944058097e8b7303e881c7f50e5f.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Efron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/935589bf20e280a8f6049d5aaa84cf26efaa6530.jpeg\")
Efron and Bakker on a piece of the hemp board cabinetry Burmak is building for the home.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/62b52b33057b8f9ca13850691284faa394c3234c.jpeg\")
An example of hemp joinery at Woodleigh School on the Mornington Peninsula.Earl Carter<\/p>\n![\"Sandra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778912350_523_46bf5dd00115797e3654155979a51d245ebd6550.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Efron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d8c3363df64c9815d46633a2ab80281587351152.jpeg\")
Efron had been on the farm to see the hemp going into his cabinets being harvested, which Bakker said was probably a first for any modern home builder.Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n