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Elly and Charlie’s off-grid tiny in New South Wales is curved on purpose — a wave through the bush, not a box. The toilet, shower, and laundry live in a separate amenities building, so the house can be almost all kitchen and loft. That was the point: Charlie is training as a chef, and the brief was half the house as kitchen. Their daughter Harmony, 15, lives in a caravan she renovated as a Year 8 project, on the same lot. Around AU$200,000 bought them everything they wanted.
A Treehouse, Rentals, and a Year 8 Caravan
Elly had always wanted to live in a treehouse. Then came the adult years: a marriage breakdown, a property sold together, and no way back into the market. She met Charlie. They bounced around in rentals for years. About three and a half years before the tour, they moved up to this part of New South Wales. Elly wanted nature and freedom. She went back through Bryce Langston’s Living Big In A Tiny House videos and put the idea to Charlie.
Charlie didn’t get it at first — Elly has children. Then she watched the channel. “I don’t ever want to live in a normal size house again.” Even with a big tiny and a massive outdoor area, she can’t imagine a standard house now.
Harmony was a big part of why they came. They wanted her to have more nature and freedom than a town house would give this family. For a Year 8 project — find a new skill, find a mentor, go into the community — she renovated a caravan instead of picking photography or jewelry. It was meant to be a teenage den for art, music, and friends. She spent the year on it, fell in love, and asked if she could live there. That’s her bedroom. She still comes up for meals and spends most of her time in the tiny.
Elly’s son is 19. He’s out of town working down south with family. He loves coming up — a mad fisherman, with camping trips from here.
The Parking Spot That Almost Wasn’t
They had another site lined up. Gravel in, ready to go. The day before, it fell through. The tiny sat somewhere else for weeks. A friend rang with this spot. When they first moved to the area they used to drive this street to the beach — a few minutes away — and Elly told Charlie they might grow old here. The landlords, she says, are amazing.
They didn’t cut any trees, and they planted natives to give a bit back after the disturbance of moving in. The house runs on rooftop solar and tank water. Going off-grid was deliberate: it keeps the bills low and lets them sink back into nature.
A Curved House on an 11-Metre Trailer
The brief to Andy, their designer and builder, was as many curves as possible. They didn’t want a square box. They wanted a wave, already part of the landscape. The trailer is 11 metres long, a standard 2.4 m wide, and 4.2 m high.
You walk in where the roof is highest, so the entry feels expansive. From there it’s kitchen, lounge, or up the stair. The lounge has no built-ins — they thought they’d need the storage, then built the amenities and kept this room free, even future-proofed as a bedroom if they need it. It holds a couch, Elly’s little office, and a small fireplace that Charlie put at the top of her wish list, along with the deck and the curves. At the time of the tour they were getting their first real winter out of the fireplace, and it heats the house fast.
Elly is a clinical nutritionist — gut, autoimmune work, the body in balance. She has an office in town and works from home half the week. Living in this environment, she says, matches what she asks of her clients. Their practice is Health & Harmony.
The Sculptural Stair
The stair is all curves, and more storage than they use. Solar and battery charging in one bay. Clothes. A tech drawer — cables, and a switch-off time for a teenager. The bottom drawer runs to the wall and is the linen press.
Half the House Is Kitchen
Cooking is life, connection, community, and health for both of them. The brief was half the house as kitchen. Charlie underplays it: she’s an apprentice chef, hoping to finish at the end of this year or the beginning of next. Hospitality and cooking were already her work. After they moved here, she decided to qualify. She doesn’t think she would have done that in the old life.
They bought the sink before anything else — a large double farmhouse, after seeing one on a Living Big tour — and told Andy to build around it. No dishwasher. Local timbers he could source. A mix of textures, not too precious. A home to be lived in.
The splashback is old-school Venetian plaster. Elly found a local plasterer on a community Facebook page, asked if he’d ever done a kitchen splashback, and he said no — but he’d try. He kept layering limestone and crushed copper. It went past what they expected.
The opening window to the deck was in the brief too. Breakfast bar on one side, stools on the other. Friends, family, neighbours — the indoor and outdoor rooms work as one.
Bath and Laundry Next Door
They didn’t want a toilet or shower in the house. Once Elly went down that path, Charlie leaned in: rustic, indoor-outdoor, all the way. Andy came up with the amenities building. It’s almost the size of another tiny. Everything moves — the amenities, and the deck, which arrived in cubes.
In summer they can shower outside as well. The covered deck is bigger than the floor inside, and they say they couldn’t have lived tiny without it. It’s where they live three-quarters of the year.
Moving the wet rooms out is a smart trade in a tiny house. Bathrooms and laundries take up a lot of space for the time you spend in them, and they bring plumbing, moisture, and ventilation into the main living area. Putting them next door freed up half the house for the kitchen and kept the curved shell simpler to build. The cost is a short walk outside at night or in the rain, which works well in a mild coastal climate and less well somewhere with harsh winters.
A Loft in the Trees
Upstairs you can stand. They wanted a cocoon. Andy made it bigger than they expected. The bed has an integrated headboard and storage. The job of the loft is sleep — tranquil, among the trees. From the bed you see the curve of the roof. Elly got her treehouse.
They’d been in the house just over a year at the tour. Vegetable gardens and a food forest are underway; they’ve been eating from a tank garden for six to eight months. Next is more natives, grey water, and a better compost than pallets stuck together.
Home Details
- Owners: Elly and Charlie, with daughter Harmony (15) in her own renovated caravan
- Location: off-grid bush block in New South Wales, Australia, a few minutes from the beach
- Designer and builder: Andy
- Trailer: 11 m long x 2.4 m wide x 4.2 m high
- Layout: kitchen taking up about half the house, lounge, sculptural storage stair, standing-height loft
- Amenities: toilet, shower, and laundry in a separate building next door; outdoor shower in summer
- Off-grid systems: solar on the roof and tank water
- Outdoor space: a covered deck larger than the interior floor
- Cost: around AU$200,000, which they say bought everything they wanted
What Makes This Tiny House Special
- Curves everywhere, so the house feels like a wave in the bush rather than a box.
- Moving the bathroom and laundry next door freed up half the house for a chef’s kitchen.
- A loft tall enough to stand in.
- A teenager with her own renovated caravan bedroom on the same lot.
- A huge covered deck that works as a second living room most of the year.
For more Australian tiny living, see the cabin built from what survived a bushfire, a family’s straw-bale and cob earth home, and CozyCo’s off-grid Esther.
Watch the Full Tour
Bryce Langston of Living Big In A Tiny House walks the bush block with Elly and Charlie — the curved house, the amenities building, Harmony’s caravan, and the kitchen they built the rest of the plan around.
Learn More
Elly and Charlie’s Curved NSW Tiny House
Video tour: This Amazing Tiny House Does Everything Differently! on YouTube
Channel: Living Big In A Tiny House (Bryce Langston)
Episode page: livingbiginatinyhouse.com
Elly and Charlie: healthandharmony.net.au · @healthandharmonynutrition
Highlights
- A custom curved, off-grid tiny house on wheels in New South Wales, a few minutes from the beach
- Toilet, shower, and laundry in a separate amenities building, so about half the house is kitchen
- A chef’s kitchen built around a double farmhouse sink, with a Venetian plaster splashback
- A sculptural storage stair and a loft you can stand up in
- A covered deck bigger than the interior, used three-quarters of the year
- Their teenage daughter lives in a caravan she renovated herself, on the same lot
- Around AU$200,000 for the whole setup
Explore More
- She Bought 25 Acres at 21. After the Bushfire, She Built This Cabin
- After Seven Years Tiny, They Built a Straw-Bale and Cob Earth Home
- The Esther by CozyCo: A 29 Ft Off-Grid Tiny Home
- 400 Sq Ft Eco Tiny House with a Private Office
- Video Tours
- Off Grid
Would you move the bathroom out of your tiny house to make room for a bigger kitchen?
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Alex
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