Cooking the Books podcast: The pros and cons of a tiny home
A home made from two recycled shipping containers in Central Hawke’s Bay has a deck almost twice as large as the space inside.
But that’s just perfect for Suse Grieve, a yoga teacher, acupuncturist and massage therapist, and her husband, Andrew Rosvall, a project manager.
They started tobuild their 46sq m home with a 70sq m deck in Tikokino on Boxing Day in 2022 and officially moved in September 2023 after living between the containers on the property during the winter.
“We’d need to put our gumboots on to walk from the 40ft container to our bedroom in the 20ft container.”
After a neighbour mentioned they should check out the national Tiny Home Awards, they decided to enter and are now a part of a public vote to decide the finalists.
Rosvall bought the land in Tikokino in 2020 and was going to put a little house on it and sell it but plans changed after they both fell in love with the property.
The couple, who lived in Hastings, found a container for sale and the idea grew from there.
Andrew Rosvall and Suse Grieve say their tiny home has everything they need.
“The idea of being back on land and to be able to move out of town and create this tiny perfect house for us was too much to resist.”
Grieve said they used two containers and Rosvall went to local auctions to find doors and windows and the home started to take shape.
“We wanted it to be a little bit rustic.”
They used the 20ft container as their bedroom and wardrobe and 40ft container as the living, kitchen and bathroom space and turned the potential hallway between the two into the “lobby”.
The tiny home is nicknamed CC, which stands for Comfy Container, something they wanted to incorporate throughout their build process.
“We are outdoor livers and basically our deck is a second living room and in the summer, autumn, and spring we are out there all the time.”
Suse Grieve said the tiny home was very time-efficient to clean.
Grieve said living in a tiny home was a sustainable and affordable way of living.
The only downside was good weather was essential when it came to hosting guests.
The property has a full-size kitchen, which Grieve said was an unusual feature of tiny homes and they had even installed a container swimming pool.
Grieve said one of the best perks to owning and living in their tiny home was the time it took to clean the space.
“I put the kettle on to have a cup of tea and I vacuum the house, and by the time I’ve finished vacuuming the kettle’s nearly finished boiling.”
She said tiny homes were increasingly becoming trendy and “people don’t look at you quite as strangely as they would have before”.
“I used to live in a 550sq m house and everything was an effort and you were always walking to go from room to room to put things away and tidy up whereas now everything is here and it’s the simplest most lovely way to live.
“The reason we wanted to enter the competition was to showcase other ways to live and you don’t need a huge house.”
The couple are entered into the best DIY build. Other categories included best commercial build, most creative design, people’s choice and tiny house of the year.
Voting for the competition closes on September 10 and the five highest-voted entries in each category will make it through to the semi-finals.
The judging panel will judge all semi-finalists on September 17, 2024.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
