Tiny homes are becoming more popular as people become more conscious of caring for the environment and reducing their carbon footprint.
While not exactly a tiny house, this featured cottage showcases how tiny house design principles can be used even when building a slightly larger home.
Couple Holly and Benj built “The Nook on the Hill” in Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia, which is about 250 km away from Melbourne.
Benj grew up in the area and eventually bought the property from his mom.
Their home was featured on the YouTube channel “Living Big in a Tiny Home,” where Holly and Benj gave a tour of their lovely home.
The house is 4 meters by 6 meters large and 6.5 meters tall and is surrounded by a beautifully-landscaped garden filled with native plants to attract local wildlife and birds.
They built the Nook small but tall to minimize the impact on the land and keep their footprint as small as possible.
They also want to live more consciously and intentionally, which is very important to them.
What makes this house extra special is that they built it themselves with the help of friends and family members.
Holly and Benj built the house over five years, and it took them approximately 5,000 hours to finish the home.
They call it their “labor or love.”
The gardens around the house feature a cast-iron bath that Holly and Benj enjoy using at night.
The Nook also overlooks Grampians National Park, giving them a spectacular view from the inside or the outside of the house.
Several special highlights of the home contribute to what makes this house unique.
First, most of the materials used were reclaimed to give them a second purpose.
All the bricks used in the home are 130-year-old, handmade bricks from an old bakery nearby.
“Any timber you can see in the house has been sourced from somewhere. It’s had a previous life,” Holly shared.
This includes using wood from a primary school basketball court, an old bridge, and a warehouse.
While the house is small, they have a full-sized kitchen.
Holly and Benj love to cook, so having a functional kitchen was a must for them.
The bathroom is another unique feature of the home.
They chose colorful tiles to give the house a splash of color. Benj tiled it himself after learning how to do it on YouTube.
“We knew this was going to be the smaller space in the house, and we wanted to play around with that and get big splashes of color,” Holly said.
It took them about a year of searching before finding the right tile design.
Benk made the basin in the bathroom.
The couple began doing pottery during the build for fun and as a creative outlet.
“We were looking for a basin for a while, but we couldn’t find one. So, I asked my pottery teacher if I could maybe make a basin. She had a bit of a heart attack, so I made two of them,” he said with a laugh.
To go to the second floor, they built a wooden spiral staircase with small shelves for book storage.
Upstairs, they chose to put a full queen size bed because it also gave them additional storage under the bed.
There’s also a cozy bench facing the windows where Holly loves to read.
Another of the home’s main features are huge windows that showcase the spectacular views of the national park.
The home runs on solar power and is almost off-the-grid.
They have a huge water reserve that provides enough water for their needs and to care for their garden.
The outside of the house features a service wall, where the washing machine is also placed.
This is a great idea as it saves space and also does not interrupt the peace and quiet of the house when it is running.
The Nook on the Hill is truly a special place.
“It’s hard to put into words what it means now. It’s seen us through some difficult times in our lives. When we first moved out [here], my dad passed away about a year before. During the process of the build, Benj’s dad sadly got diagnosed with cancer, and passed away after we managed to finish the build. It’s been a really healing space for us,” Holly said.
This almost-tiny home cost $140,000 to build, including all the furnishings.
The view of the mountains, its stunning garden, and its cozy and functional design makes this home priceless.
Watch the full house tour of The Nook on the Hill in the video below!
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