The trendy American-style ‘tiny house’ concept is not so relevant in Australia where it makes more sense (and costs less) to buy and renovate an old caravan or bus compared to building a quaint little boxy structure on wheels good enough to pass road vehicle registration! Instead, many smart-thinking people wanting to downsize or live mortgage-free are using a certified Class 1 Backyard Pod kit as a tiny house kit to create a compliant secondary dwelling on an existing property.
Brad and Kirsten needed a chill-out rumpus room for the kids, a late-night media room for watching footy and Netflix, and somewhere private for guests to stay. However, their compact backyard was mostly taken up by their swimming pool. They had a lightbulb moment… “We need a pool house!” This would be a multi-purpose space…
David and Mark have a beautiful property not far from Ballina in northern NSW, where they provide family respite accommodation. They had one respite cabin on the property, made from an upcycled mining donger (pre-used demountable building). But when the time came to create a second and even better cabin, their options were limited. Their…
The term ‘granny flat’ shouldn’t deter anyone from enjoying the privacy and security of a modern-day garden apartment on the family property, even where N4 wind rating is needed. This spacious, stylish ‘man-pad’ is the home of someone who returned from serving overseas in the defence forces. The goal was to create a 1-bedroom fully…
Some councils that don’t permit granny flats for potential renting may allow a DPU (dependent person’s unit) to be built on the property to accommodate a family member if certain structural and situational conditions are met. A customer with a lovely home on Melbourne’s desirable Mornington Peninsula purchased a 3m x 8m Backyard Pod kit…
Our customer needed a granny flat so an elderly mother could be cared for close to the family home, whilst still maintaining her independence and privacy. The list of needs included a spacious bathroom with plenty of storage for linen and towels. A queen-sized bedroom, with ample wardrobe space, and an open plan living/dining with…
Sharon’s elderly mother had a final wish – that her daughter would have a place to call her own. It followed for Sharon to build a Backyard Pod on her son’s property at Mount Tamborine on Queensland’s Gold Coast. When creating her ‘forever home’, Sharon did lots of research on kit homes and granny flats,…
In this busy world of ours, we could all use a little space to breathe. With more and more of us working from home, it can be difficult to carve out time for rest, respite and wellbeing in our daily lives. Jade is another happy customer who has invited some breathing space into her life…
In Melbourne, the challenge of extended family living was resolved by cost-effective completion of an approved granny flat (DPU) in a Backyard Pod. A working mum with a young son was living with her mother and grandmother. After her grandmother passed away, it was time to re-assess living arrangements for her mother, her son and…
DESCRIPTION: Pod kit size 4m x 11m with internal layout as follows: dual entry with 2x double-glazed sliding doors 2150mm x 1800mm kitchenette approx 2.3m-wide 1800mm-wide with sink and integrated waste; built-in microwave with cooktop over; wall cabinets over for additional storage; medium-sized fridge located on the opposite partition wall open-plan living/dining area approx 3.85m x 5.9m, flexible furniture placement…
A family in Brisbane needed a ‘tiny house’ for a grown-up daughter still happily living-at-home, yet there was no space available in the yard behind the house. Our challenge was to come up with a backyard pod design that would fit neatly into the property’s driveway-width side lawn area. After viewing the property via Google Satellite,…
The owner of a contemporary-style renovated home on a large block in Five Dock, Sydney, was tired of mowing the unused rear section of the backyard, behind an existing swimming pool and pool-shed. This valuable land was simply going to waste and a nuisance to maintain. An old garden shed in the far corner could…
A parent was quick to recognise that an adult son, soon returning from overseas travel to resume studies, would benefit in many ways from having a separate study room with kitchenette, bed, wardrobe, and ensuite built for him on the family property in a trendy inner-Melbourne suburb. He could occupy it for a few years…
At Mermaid Beach, a couple with an established home wanted to explore the option of building a granny flat in their backyard. They could rent it out for the time being, and use it themselves if the maintenance of the main house and swimming pool ever became too onerous. This idea is gaining popularity as…
We’re often asked: “Do you have some completed backyard pods we could look at in Sydney?” The answer, theoretically, is “yes” as there are completed backyard pods all over the place in NSW, VIC, and QLD – home offices, teenage retreats, hobby workshops, granny flats, even whole houses put together using our pods. In practical…
Well, we’ve been saying it for ages, so it was no surprise when Channel Nine News featured Backyard Pods with the headline: “The mini real estate boom emerging in Queensland”. It’s not just in Queensland, but all over Australia – the backyard pods revolution in housing availability and affordability – it’s already here.
Where did all these tiny house TV shows come from? Spawned by global pressures of population growth combined with diminishing resources, the growing interest in tiny houses seems to be more than a passing fad, and possibly indicative of what will become the new normal in housing solutions. Post-GFC America would lay claim to declaring this…