Northern Rivers Tiny Homes owner and operations manager Allison Rainbird sees tiny homes as a solution to the future of housing. 

Registered as caravans, they are perfect for eco-minded people ready to downsize and embrace minimalistic living, without a lot of possessions.

Allison and her team of builders and carpenters are putting the finishing touches on their showcase tiny homes, ready to display them at a Tiny Homes open day at Clunes Hall on November 30.

Allison Rainbird outside 'The Clunes' tiny house.

The beginning

In 2018, Allison Rainbird was surfing the internet one day and found information about tiny homes – and she thought she’d like to build one and put it on land as a holiday home for herself.

“I love vintage caravans and I was renovating my 1929 house at the time,” she said.

“I’d never renovated before and I was looking for period fixtures and materials to do the work.

“I really wanted the renovation to be authentic to the period.

“So I started looking for some solid building contractors to work with, who were engaged in the build and cared as much as me about the finished product.”

That’s how she found the builders and carpenters now working with her in the business.

As a homeowner and a renovator, Allison said she’s a “perfectionist” and is always looking for the right finishes and materials for each tiny home her team creates.

“Lots of times I have an idea for something, but my builder says it won’t work, but that we can do a different version of it,” she said.

Inside 'The Clunes' tiny home.

Where to build

When Alison was looking for somewhere to set up her Northern Rivers Tiny Homes business, she said it took a long time to find somewhere tall enough to accommodate building homes inside.

“I needed something at least 4.5 metres high with a roller door and there was nothing in the region,” she said. 

“I even looked as far as Tweed Heads.

“So I started work in my driveway.

“We were going through a research and development phase.

“I’d be in the house on the web chasing materials, and the builders would be outside building and would call me every now and then to make decisions.”

In August 2018, finally she found a workshed in the Lismore industrial estate with an outdoor and indoor space - perfect for tiny home building.

Working with builders and carpenters Martin Shields, Iain Wills and Phil Smith, as well as local electricians and kitchen cabinet makers, she kept building her tiny homes.

“I’m so happy I found people to work with who were engaged in the build and who wanted the challenge and bring something of their own to it.”

“My team suggests things I would never have thought of – like adding in a mobile home outdoor bbq and shower attachment.

“I love their ‘can do’ attitude.

“Sometimes, they will all be inside the tiny home building at the same time, in a tight space all working around each other on electrics, plumbing, kitchen and floors.”

Research and development

While she was in the research and development phase of working out how to build efficient tiny homes, Allison attended a Tiny Homes open day in Melbourne, where she got a lot of ideas. 

The tiny homes are about 4.3 metres high, 2.5 metres wide and weigh up to 4.5 tonnes.

“Martin who was the man behind the open day gave us a lot of tips we learned from his problems in building them,” she said.

“We bought our first trailer for moving the homes from him.”

“A 3.5 tonne tiny home can be pulled by a Landcruiser,” she said. 

“We can create and modify designs as needed.

Inside 'The Clunes' tiny home.

Perfection

Being a perfectionist is one of the reasons Allison has built beautiful, practical and energy efficient tiny homes.

Her eye for detail has created small buildings with matching colour schemes all the way through the wood work, bench finishes, trimmings, appliances and tiny details such as the toilet pipes being hidden from view.

“It’s the tiny details that matter,” she said.

“I want people to have the impression of a quality build.

“I wanted a house light and airy, where you don’t need air conditioning because the design lets the air flow through.

“There are windows set high up in the walls to allow cross ventilation and keep the house cool. 

Allison said when her team fitted the compost toilet, Allison said she didn’t want to be able to see the pipes, and her builder found a way to make it happen.

Options

Each of the tiny homes Allison and her team are building have their own names - named them after tiny towns in the local area.

“We love being a local business and being known for being local – we even buy materials local as much as possible,” she said.

The deluxe model is called The Clunes and the new, cheaper model is the Larnook.

“The deluxe model has all the extras and costs about $125,000 and can sleep five people across three areas,” she said.

“The basic model costs about $99,000.”

The Clunes 

The extras in the deluxe model are details such as black accents, french doors, and an extra mezzanine level for storage or sleeping, which Allison said takes a lot of extra labour to build. 

“It’s great if you have kids and we can make changes to the design depending on what you need.

“I insisted on having proper stairs to the upper sleeping area. 

“I thought about children and older people who don’t want to be climbing up a ladder.”

In the kitchen near the bench are USB plug in points, next to the conventional power points. 

“Everyone needs to charge their phone and you don’t want lots of chargers taking up space,” Allison said.

“Colour matching was a big focus.

“There’s a black stainless steel fridge, but this can be customised. 

“The deluxe lounge has a wide seat you can tuck your feet under, not like the skinny caravan seats.

“There’s a spot for a TV and a TV connection.

“The cheaper versions have a click clack lounge.

“We can also build cheaper options where the roof is not so high.”

Inside 'The Clunes' tiny home.

Social housing

If people from social housing organisations want tiny homes for people to sleep in and they need disability housing, Allison and her team can change the design.

“We can make it all on one level, with a bathroom wet room for someone in a wheelchair – this also can cut building costs and make it cost effective,” she said.

“We can also design tiny homes as emergency housing, where people use it for sleeping and the amenities are outside. 

“It’s cheaper to build bunk beds in these too.

“We’re open to anything people might want.”

“Social housing tiny homes is a great opportunity to give back to the community and give people who can’t afford homes a second chance

“In a flood town, a moveable home on wheels could be an ideal solution” 

Game changer

When building her tiny homes, Alison said she wanted the fridge to be as close to full size as possible, rather than a small bar fridge that might be found in a caravan.

“People living a sustainable lifestyle will have more fresh produce than packaged cupboard food, so they’ll need a bigger fridge,’ she said.

“It could be a game changer.’

Her tiny homes are designed to stand alone and be ecologically friendly and off the grid with a water tank and solar panel.

There’s a compost toilet, LED lighting, energy saving fans, hot water system and oven, thick walls for insulation.

“But in summer if someone wants AC or a microwave, it’s easy to plug the home into the power supply,” she said.

“They can plug into the electricity and use a hose connection for water, just like a caravan 

“They are good for people who want to live harmoniously on the land and reduce their footprint.

Learning

In two years, Allison has learned so much from renovating a house to building tiny homes.

“I understand now how to communicate with builders,” she said.

“I speak in millimetres now.”

Regulation

Allison said the tiny homes industry is unregulated at the moment, but her team builds to Australian building standards.

“It’s the safest way to build something this big and heavy,” she said.

“People love the idea of tiny homes and they might see the American ones on the TV – but they are not the same as here. 

“Some people might think a deck on top is a great idea, but it would need a lot of heavy structural materials and we want to keep the house as light as possible.’

“It also needs to move around so we have used screws instead of nails to allow for the movement.”

The future

“In this region, people can’t afford normal housing and can’t live like that anymore,” Allison said.

“People who want to be less materialistic and own less possessions want to be part of the tiny house movement. 

“If you can’t embrace that, then the tiny house living is probably not for you."

In a fairly new industry, fitting tiny homes into a regulatory structure in council planning will be one of the future challenges.

“Tiny homes can be a good option for people renting on AirBnB, or who have teenagers, elderly parents or extended family,” Allison said.

“You can put it on land where someone has space.

“It’s ok to be used on a sporadic basis, like for seasonal accommodation for woofers.

“If it’s a secondary dwelling for a member of your household, it’s ok.

“But if you are living on vacant land alone, you’ll need approval from the council.

“We urge people to meet council regulations before committing to buying.”

Tiny homes open day

Northern Rivers Tiny Homes is having an open day on Saturday, November 30 at Clunes Hall. 

On display will be two completed tiny homes on wheels and there will be a talk at 10am.

Food and coffee will be available to purchase and there will be a jumping castle for the kids

You can just show up or register before the day on Eventbrite for a chance to be in the running to win a beach house holiday at Wooli.

For more information, visit the website https://www.northernriverstinyhomes.com.au/