Michelle & Brendan from The Off Grid Ireland Dream realized they shared a dream of living closer to the land, so they decided to build a tiny house together and move it from the UK to Ireland where they could afford to buy land to park it. Their tiny house is only 135 square feet and they’ve been living in it full-time for 3 years now.
Their off-grid systems include solar panels, an inverter and batteries, as well as a solar generator. They also have a gas generator for the greyest months in the middle of winter. For heat, they have a small diesel heater that is usually found in vans and trucks, and for water, they collect rainwater from their roof and filter it for daily use.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
They have transformed their tiny home and land into a stunning off-grid homestead. They’ve planted thousands of trees, dug a DIY pond, planted an orchard and fruit bushes, built a covered porch and shed, set up a poly tunnel greenhouse, and they are working on building raised beds with recycled pallets.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
Their tiny house includes a well organized kitchen with custom-built storage so that everything has its place, and a table that looks out over their land through a big picture window.
Image © Exploring Alternatives
They have a capsule bed that they call their day bed. It’s a combination of a bedroom and a lounge living room where they can watch TV and play PlayStation. They opted for no loft, no stairs, and no ladder for accessibility reasons as they age. The room has a big cozy bed, a large entertainment system, and overhead storage.
The bathroom is quite tiny and has a homemade compost toilet, a shower with water heated by an on-demand LPG gas water heater.
Watch the Full Video Tour Below
If you’d like to see the full tour and hear Michelle and Brendan tell their story in their own words, watch the video below.
Highlights
- 135 sq ft tiny house
- Off-grid solar + rainwater
- No loft, single-level living
- DIY homestead with orchard & pond
- Full-time living for 3 years
Resources
- Michelle & Brendan’s Tiny House Tour on YouTube
- Exploring Alternatives on YouTube
- The Off Grid Ireland Dream on YouTube
What’s the smallest tiny house you could see yourself living in? Tell us in the comments.
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When my 320 sq ft home feels cramped it’s a pleasure to see how someone else lives in less.
In my 80’s now and I live ‘on grid’ full time but can relate to what’s been done and ongoing with inventive folks who do actually live in their small homes.
In my younger days I used to be a ‘homesteader’ in WV and I enjoy seeing all the ‘off grid’ and gardens and plantings. I also used to do a lot of canning of garden/orchard products and needed a good bit of space for that plus the storage but we also had a family of three kids then too. Also, we heated and cooked on wood stoves back then. Smart for these folks to think about aging and not including stairs and ladders. I have some ‘loft’ storage that my son (who lives next door) reaches for me when seasons change.
Good work to Michelle and Brenden.