Photography: Helen Bankers
You know what I think about people with tiny houses? Tiny houses = big brains (it’s not a saying yet, but it should be). Owners of tiny homes are canny enough to know that small abodes mean less square footage to tidy, less space for clutter, and far less debt.
For Jasmine Burt and Erin Allison-Maxwell, building a tiny house has left them with a manageable financial burden and more freedom to continue travelling the world. How’s that for smart thinking?
How it all started
The couple’s gorgeous cottage, which measures 7.2 metres by 2.4 metres, was devised while they were living overseas. Like many Kiwis on their OE, Erin and Jasmine had started thinking about their future back home and checking out houses online to see what they could buy with their savings. It didn’t make for pretty viewing. The couple had heard of the ‘tiny house’ movement and, after doing some research, found its philosophy spoke to them. Erin had always dreamed of one day building his own home and “something of this scale made it achievable”.
In 2015, they got to work, sketching out a plan and using a free tool on the internet to make models of how their tiny home might look. Before they even picked up a hammer they got an architect to check the few details they weren’t sure about, to ensure their design was viable.
No need for a site
Building their home on wheels was a practical choice. Not only did it give them a standard size to work within (to make sure it was towable), it gave them the flexibility to build without a site in mind. This meant Erin could get started on the house before they’d found the section it would eventually live on. From London, they organised a trailer to be custom-built back home and ordered the timber.
Read the full story here: This Auckland couple had big dreams about living small
The couple’s gorgeous cottage, which measures 7.2 metres by 2.4 metres, was devised while they were living overseas.
The flooring in Erin and Jasmine’s home is Lawson cypress, a sustainable, locally grown timber that looks good, smells good and is soft underfoot.
A wood board covers the sink to create extra spac
The couple chose a modern cottage aesthetic with generous windows for plenty of natural light.
The living area hides ample storage and if you’re wondering where the curtains are, there aren’t any – the couple say their home isn’t cold and they have no need for privacy.
The shorter stairs double as cupboards.
Jasmine says: “If one of us is in the kitchen and the other is reading a book on the couch, it does feel like another room. After I shower I have to tell Erin that I’m coming out in a towel and that the kitchen will be a dressing room for the next few minutes.”
Erin had always dreamed of one day building his own home and “something of this scale made it achievable”.
It was the couple’s dream to live in the bush “even if all we could afford was a dark hole with no sunlight”. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.
The bush setting and views of Auckland clinched it for Jasmine and Erin. One day they will build a smallish house “with an epic deck” but for now it’s the ideal spot for their tiny home and burgeoning vege garden.
The panoramic views across Auckland are one of the best features of the couple’s lush Henderson Valley section.
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