A New Zealand woman named Ruby was determined to stay on her family’s multi-generational farm. But the 28-year-old didn’t want to be saddled with the kind of hefty debt that comes with a mortgage.
So, she got her parents to give her a trailer, dated a guy who could build stuff, got some hand-me-downs from friends, and built her very own tiny home complex on her family’s property.
According to Comfy Living, the average tiny home is between 100 and 400 sq. ft. and costs anywhere from $12,00 to $35,000 to build.
Expenses for these homes average about $600 per month. But finding appliances to fit these spaces can be difficult.
To ensure that Ruby was mortgage-free by the time she was 30, Ruby built a tiny home and separate units for the laundry room, shower, and toilet.
Ruby’s family, descended from early European settlers, took ownership of the farm in the late 1800s. Back then, it had 700 acres.
They also claimed ownership of the lake and sand dunes. However, they were unable to keep all that land and had to sell some of it.
Their property consists of 350 wooded acres.
This space includes the farm, swampland, rolling hills, and bubbling waterfalls. It’s straight out of a fairy tale.
“It’s amazing when you get out here and it’s like paradise. Every time I come home from work, I feel like I’m on holiday. It’s the best feeling ever,” Ruby told Living Big in a Tiny House.
Ruby, who is a gardener, loves to spend her spare time taking care of her personal garden, riding her motorbike, surfing, and swimming on or near her property.
Her main living space is made from an officer trailer her father, who works in the film industry, acquired.
The inside and outside of the home were painted and updated to accommodate a living space. According to Ruby, she’s hooked up to her dad’s house for power.
Ruby used secondhand items that she bought and that were given to her by friends to fit out the interior of her home.
She had her ex-boyfriend put the 10 m x 3.5 m home together.
The table and countertops were made from pieces of wood from trees around her farm.
Ruby has a generous-sized kitchen with a wood-burning fireplace, a stovetop burner, a sink, a copper backsplash, and cabinets. There’s also a fair-sized refrigerator and dining table.
The living room has a couch that has two seats plus a longer seat that can be used as a sleeper couch. Her coffee table is made from wood.
Her bedroom is quite cozy with a fair-sized bed that has a mosquito net that hangs from the ceiling.
The net serves as decor but is also needed to keep mosquitos out since there’s a swamp nearby.
The bathroom is in a separate unit from the home and is outfitted with stone flooring, a large glass-encased shower, sink, counter space, and wooden accents to give it warmth. She also has an outdoor clawfoot tub.
“It’s nice to look out when you’re sitting in there above the swamp,” she said.
There’s another separate building for her composting toilet, which has a large tank underneath it that must be emptied every few years. The laundry room is also a separate space.
It cost her a total of $55,000 to build her tiny home complex. She is currently working toward making her property a self-sufficient space with a community garden.
Get the full tour of Ruby’s home in the video below!
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