Zuzu - New Zealand’s coolest Tiny Home house truck

Zuzu is owned by Jude Cairncross who has kindly offered to share her story with Kiwi Tiny home - Lifestyle Magazine. Jude has provided answers to the many questions our readers seem to have. Hope you enjoy Jude’s story and the images of Zuzu her awesome mobile tiny home.

Q. Why did you decide to live in a tiny home? and why a house truck?

My son and I had spent a lot of time at a Central Hawke’s Bay beach in a caravan, but when he got a bit older and didn’t come out so much anymore, I decided to have a look at some of the other amazing spots there were in the country and bought my first campervan. I still kept my house, but when I got sent out of town for work, I ended up living in my campervan to cut down the commute. The lifestyle got really addictive and I decided to do it full time as I wanted to have quality of life rather than quantity of money.

I have lived in campervans for the last eight years but didn’t like how cold and small they always seemed. There was no room to welcome people into my space, and nowhere for my family to sleep if they wanted to join me. This was a huge thing for me as my mum has slowly been losing her sight and had to sell her campervan so I wanted her to be able to come with me if she wanted. I also wanted my son Brodie to be able to come and stay if he wanted.

I had been watching tiny house programmes on TV for a while and really liked the look of them and started looking for land to put one on but in the end I decided I didn’t really want to give up my travelling lifestyle so decided to get one built on the back of a truck. I looked for a good second hand truck but couldn’t find anything suitable. They were always either too short or too old or just too much trouble so I decided to buy a new truck instead.

Q. How did you decide where to park your tiny home? Was it hard to find a location?

As my tiny house is on a truck, I don’t have to find a permanent place for it. I try to find picturesque places to park up for a period of about a week, then travel to another spot. Locations are easy to find and I love having wonderful places to stay.

Who built your home? How long did it take and did you have a budget?

With a budget of $100,000 (this got almost doubled when I decided to buy a new truck) I looked at a few different tiny home builders, but once I found Le Workshop in Napier I knew I wanted one of theirs. I loved all the wood, both inside and out, and the negative black detailing. It took a bit of convincing to get Francois and his team to take on this build as they have always in the past built their homes on trailers. Their previous builds had always had a certain shape and usually had a loft. Because mine was going on a truck, it meant having to keep everything to one level and a flatter roof line.

Because their product is so much in demand, I had to go on a 6 month waiting list but I used this time to plan my layout. Due to start the build in June of 2019, we had a bit of a holdup waiting for the truck company to engineer the frame for the tiny house to sit on. Francois used the time to build the windows, doors and cabinetry. That took up about 4 weeks, then once the truck arrived, the house got put together pretty fast. All up it took about 10 weeks altogether but then it had to go through the certification stage so it was roadworthy. That took another month and is a story by itself! Once it was roadworthy, I took it over to a friend in Whanganui who made it self contained. That took a further 2 months. I moved in 21 December 2019 in time for an Xmas visit to my family in Wellington.

What choices did you make in terms of your Tiny Home design and materials used to build it?

I had complete control of how I wanted the inside design to work, but the actual materials of the build I left to Francois as he had a tried and true formula that I liked. The frame is steel, needed to be strong with the large windows and French doors, and the cladding is treated cedar. The window and door frames are all cedar, while the inside walls are whitewashed ply with negative black detailing between panels. All windows are double glazed safety glass, the floors are laminate wood look, and the benches are bamboo.

What was the final cost?

The total cost of the build, including solar setup, self-containment, new truck and tiny home was just over $176,000

How long have you been living in your Tiny Home?  Tell us what you think about living in a Tiny Home?

I have been living in my tiny house truck for just over six months now and am loving it. The huge back window and high roof means I have a real feeling of space and the amount of light coming in on even the gloomiest days is amazing. The windows also let in the sun which means that I am always warm and toastie as the house is really well insulated too. I have a wonderful Little Flick fire which keeps me warm on cold winter nights and is a real focal point of my living space.

I don’t have a mortgage, pay rates or electricity bills, and my biggest expense is diesel when driving from one gorgeous spot to another, and firewood when I haven’t been able to find any dry wood while on my daily foraging walks.

The only downside to my dream existence is the amount of people who feel it is okay to knock on my door and want a tour of my house. Sometimes I get up to 10 people a day all wanting to look around. I have learnt to avoid eye contact, and if they are rude enough to knock on my door I tell them I don’t invite strangers into my house. I had a little sign made up by the door that says, “Yes, I know it’s cool but this is my home so please respect my privacy”. Hasn’t worked unfortunately.

Why would you recommend to others to join the Tiny Home movement?  What should they be aware of?

Everyone who goes along this track does so for different reasons. My reasons are a bit different to others but if you like a simpler life, without huge bills, then I can definitely recommend it. I would, however, be a bit worried about having to find somewhere to park my tiny house if I wasn’t into the travelling around. I haven’t had to deal with the problems people have with councils, but am very glad it is something I don’t have to worry about just yet. Hopefully, by the time I am ready to put my house on land, there will be some sanity around this issue.

A great big thank you Jude for letting us share your story - We think your Tiny Home on Wheels is awesome!