Matt Bain and Jodie Williams' house is 7m long by 2.5m wide and is under the weight limit for mobile houses of 3.5 tonne. Photo / Emily Norman
Matt Bain and Jodie Williams' house is 7m long by 2.5m wide and is under the weight limit for mobile houses of 3.5 tonne. Photo / Emily Norman
The average house size in New Zealand is 149 sqm. But for one Wairarapa couple, they’re happy with just 10 per cent of that.
Matt Bain and his partner Jodie Williams spent last year building a humble abode measuring just 7m long by 2.5m wide.
The build was inspired by the "tiny house" craze, a concept which has taken off in recent years globally, as people decide to downsize their living quarters to upsizetheir happiness.
And it seems to be working for Matt and Jodie who say they are now "living bigger" in the outside world instead.
Their tiny house cost them $45,000 in total to build themselves at about $2,500 per sqm. This matches the average national build price per sqm.
Jodie Williams and Matt Bain decided to build their own tiny house, despite having no experience. Photo / Supplied
The idea to build the tiny house came about when Matt stumbled upon a "random" article on Facebook about a man in Dallas who had built one.
"I sent Jodie the link and she replied back saying she could see me doing that," he said.
"So, that night I drew a pencil sketch and it just evolved from there."
Matt is the managing director of The Sign Factory in Masterton, and although he never built a house before, "in the sign and display business you do learn how to be practical".
"I had a practical knowledge and I wasn't scared of asking for help."
The tiny house is on wheels, which gives the couple a bit more flexibility for location - "though it's not the sort of thing you'd wheel around too often".
They also own the piece of land in South Wairarapa where the tiny house is now situated.
Big is good, less is more, Matt Bain says. Photo / Emily Norman
The first step was to have a custom trailer built - one that was designed to take the weight of the build on the outside instead of taking the weight in the middle.
"Along with how we would build the trailer, there was a long list of questions and a lot of thought put into it," Matt said.
"How are we going to keep it warm? How will we keep it ventilated?"
These, and other questions, were answered as the build progressed - the couple bought a Kimberley wood stove, and have installed a home ventilation system from Holland.
"It is constantly taking the air out of your house, through a ceramic core, and brings fresh air in from outside at almost room temperature," Matt said.
Nearest to the front door of the tiny house is a small living area with two chairs and a white staircase to the right that doubles up as shelving and cupboards.
The couple's mezzanine bedroom is above the kitchen. Photo / Emily Norman
Up those stairs is Matt and Jodie's mezzanine bedroom. It is one of two loft spaces in the building.
