Two women spent £28k building a tiny mobile home from scratch so they could travel in comfort

MEET the couple who are selling the tiny mobile home that they spent $35,000 (£28,000) building from scratch, when starting a new life in New Zealand.

Jessica and Vannesa Ortiz moved to New Zealand in July 2015 from California and decided that building a tiny mobile house would allow them to live anywhere in the country.

The tiny steel frame home which has been built onto a trailer contains a neat bathroom with shower space that has been lined with corrugated iron and a comfortable composting toilet.

The two-storey property also has a cosy living room with a sofa made from wood pallets, with a ladder leading to the double bedroom upstairs.

Jessica, physical therapist and Vannesa, a fish biologist researched the tiny house movement for years before taking a chanceto do it themselves.

Vannesa said: “Moving to New Zealand gave us the extra push that we needed to actually begin this project.

“Jessica’s dad and step mum moved to New Zealand in 2010 and we made a trip out to visit them in 2011, when we truly fell in love with the country.

“We loved the beautiful landscape, the culture and the people, and the laid-back lifestyle, since that trip, we always knew we wanted to live there one day.

“We didn’t know for sure where in the country we wanted to end up, so building a mobile tiny house seemed to be the best way for us to have our own home but also not be tied to one location.

“We love the concept of tiny houses and living within our means, while only creating a small carbon footprint.”

After years of researching and gathering ideas for floor plans, they began their project in October, 2015.

The couple say that because they were creating a very small space, they were able to use good quality building materials.

Jessica and Vannesa completed almost every stage of the build by themselves, which meant that they had to learn and adapt along the way.

Jessica said: “Because we were building a smaller space, this allowed us to only use the best quality building materials we could find.

“From steel framing, to steel roofing and cladding, and double glazed windows, this tiny house was certainly built to last.”

She added: “There were so many problems to overcome during our build.

“In building our own tiny house, we completed almost every single phase by ourselves.

“In the end, we learned so much and worked together, and now we have a beautiful home to show for it.”

The couple moved back to the USA in November 2016 after issues with their visas and are currently selling their home on TradeMe for $54,855 (£44,032).

She added: “Everyone is impressed by how open and large it seems in person which is exactly what we were trying to achieve.

“We wanted to keep the open feel, just because you have a small space, does not mean you should feel confined.”

For their next project, Jessica and Vannesa are planning on buying an Airstream camper van to completely refurbish.