What is it really like living in a tiny house with kids?

For Jesse and Esther, their tiny house journey began with a dream shared by many people exploring the tiny house movement in Australia: more freedom, lower housing costs, and a simpler way of living.

But the journey didn’t unfold exactly as planned.

Instead, it became something deeper — a story of building, family life, the world changing around them, and the realities of raising children in a tiny house on wheels.

“We moved in in December 2019,” Esther recalls. “But it wasn’t finished yet. We were still using my parents’ bathroom inside the house.”

Their tiny house was parked in the driveway of Esther’s parents’ property on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. The plan was to finish the remaining work while living nearby.

Then the pandemic arrived.

“When the pandemic hit early 2020,” Esther says, “we realised we needed to finish the bathroom so we could be completely self-contained if we needed to isolate.”

Within weeks, the tiny house became their fully functioning home.

And soon, their small home would welcome another family member.

Building a Tiny House: Budget Expectations vs Reality

Like many people building a tiny house for the first time, Jesse and Esther underestimated the cost.

Their original budget?

“About sixty thousand,” Jesse says. “That was pretty ambitious.”

The reality was closer to double.

“I think roughly it would have been about $120,000 in the end,” he says. “And that’s not including my labour!”

Financial pressure quickly became part of the journey. Rent was consuming the money they needed to finish their tiny house.

“We moved in with Mum and Dad because we were struggling to pay rent and finish the tiny house,” Esther explains. “All our work money was going to rent, so the project just kept stalling.”

Living with family allowed them to redirect money into completing the build, but when the tiny house finally arrived, the reality was overwhelming.

“I remember when it got towed down here,” Esther laughs. “I was so excited. And then I looked inside and thought, ‘Oh my God… there’s still so much to do!’”

For months, Jesse spent nearly every spare moment working on it.

“It was very much a shell,” he says. “There was no bathroom, no kitchen bench, no stairs… lots of things still missing.”

Can You Live in a Tiny House While Finishing the Build?

Many people assume they can move into a tiny house before it’s finished.

Jesse and Esther quickly learned how difficult that can be — especially with a young child.
“You have to get everybody out because there’s dust and preparation, all that kind of thing.”
Esther adds, “there’s just no space for anyone to be.”

Eventually they had to move out temporarily so Jesse could safely finish parts of the build.

A Baby Born in a Tiny House During Lockdown

Just as they were settling into tiny house life, another life change arrived.

“We moved into the tiny house and then found out we were pregnant,” Esther says.

Their second child, Forrest, was born in August 2020 during the COVID lockdowns.

Instead of heading to hospital, they chose a home birth inside the tiny house.

“We put extra supports under the floor and set up a birthing pool right where we’re sitting now,” Jesse says. “So Forrest was actually born in the tiny house.”

The experience became one of the most meaningful moments in their journey.

“My auntie, who’s a home birth midwife, was here,” she says. “My brother was here bringing buckets of water for the pool. And as soon as Forrest was born, everyone could come out and meet him.”

During a time when many families were isolated, their support network made a huge difference.

“In some ways it was the hardest time to move into a tiny house,” Esther reflects. “But in other ways we felt really blessed to be where we were.”

Living in a Tiny House with Kids

When their first child Obi was three, tiny house life felt magical.

“He loved his loft,” Esther says. “Whenever people came to visit he’d say, ‘Come up to my loft!’ He was so proud of it.”

But living in a tiny house with two kids created new challenges.

“Sound privacy has been one of the hardest things,” Jesse explains. “If one child wakes up, everyone wakes up.”

Esther remembers how sensitive Obi was at bedtime.

“He wanted complete darkness and silence,” she says. “So once he was going to bed we couldn’t make a sound.”

Space also became a safety concern once baby Forrest began crawling.

“With the loft ladders it was hard to install proper safety gates,” Esther says. “Eventually it got really stressful because I couldn’t even step outside to hang washing without worrying he’d wake up and crawl off the edge.”

They temporarily moved out for a summer while Jesse redesigned parts of the layout.

The Emotional Reality of Family Life in a Tiny House

Living in a tiny house as a family also brings emotional challenges.

“With four people in such a small space,” Esther says, “if one person has big feelings, everybody feels it.”

Young children can fill a tiny house with energy and emotion. Sometimes the only quiet space was the bathroom.

“If I needed to take ten deep breaths so I didn’t explode,” she laughs, “that was the only place you could hide.”

But the closeness also created moments of deep connection.

“One of my favourite things,” Esther says softly, “was sitting on the couch at night and being able to hear both my kids breathing.”

“It was just so nice to know they were both safe.”

The Mental Load of Building Your Own Tiny House

For Jesse, the tiny house was more than a home — it was an ongoing project.

“He disappears into tiny house brain,” Esther says. “He’s always thinking about materials, what could be improved, what needs fixing.”

Jesse recognises the feeling. “I’m doing it right now!” He laughs. “I’m looking at one of the boards right now thinking, ‘Oh yeah, that one got a bit mouldy when I left it in the weather too long.’”

Living inside your own experimental build can make it difficult to switch off, its like living inside your own apprenticeship.

Why They Decided to Sell Their Tiny House

Over time, Jesse and Esther realised their tiny house dream had changed. Originally they imagined moving their tiny house around and living more flexibly. Instead, they found themselves parked in the same driveway for years.

“We kind of got stuck,” Esther explains. “We had this house but nowhere to move it to.”

Buying land had become financially impossible.

“Even if we stayed here another couple of years saving,” she says, “it still felt like we might never get there.”

Living in close proximity with family also had limits.

“My parents have been incredibly generous,” Esther says. “But we’ve been here for three years. It’s just very close living.”

Selling the tiny house became the next step.

“If we sell it,” she says, “we’ll have the money to move on to the next stage of life.”

Is Living in a Tiny House Worth It?

Despite the challenges, Jesse and Esther don’t see their tiny house journey as a failure. Living tiny helped them save money and live according to their ethics.

Jesse still believes strongly in the idea of tiny houses on wheels. “Since starting building work, I’ve seen houses sinking into the ground and foundation issues,” he says. “With a tiny house on a trailer, if it’s not level you just re-level it.”

Esther also believes the movement has an important future. “It feels like the way of the future,” she says. “Living smaller, using less space, spending more time outside.”

But she also acknowledges the difficulty of choosing a lifestyle that challenges the status quo.

“Tiny living looks beautiful and exciting,” she says. “But what people don’t realise is how hard it is to go against the way society is set up.”

For Jesse and Esther, the tiny house was not the final destination. It was a chapter. And three years on, in 2025 they have another chapter coming – but you have to tune in to the interview to hear about it!