A $1,000 A-Frame Cabin, Permaculture Gardens & an Incredible Off-Grid Life

Eight years after we first visited Murray, Vicky and Gracie in their beautiful reclaimed tiny home, their lives have taken an extraordinary new turn. Now living on an 800-acre intentional community in northern New South Wales, Australia, they have created an incredible off-grid homestead centred around a tiny A-frame cabin, abundant permaculture gardens and a wonderfully resourceful way of life.

Watch our original tour of Murray and Vicky’s first tiny home here.

When Murray, Vicky and their daughter Gracie first arrived on the land, they spent months living in a tent while getting to know the community and the property. What followed was a remarkable exercise in creativity, salvage and making the most of what was available.

Their cosy A-frame tiny home was built using mostly reclaimed, recycled and locally milled materials, including timber harvested and milled on the property and salvaged cold-room panels used to create the insulated shell. Around it, they have gradually built an outdoor kitchen, bathroom, composting toilet, workshop, greenhouse, guest caravan and a growing network of productive permaculture gardens.

Their home is completely off-grid, powered by solar energy and supported by rainwater collection and spring water. The gardens now provide an increasing amount of their food, including bananas, pineapple, turmeric, ginger, herbs and subtropical crops, while chickens form part of an ingenious composting system that returns nutrients back into the soil.

But this story is about much more than a tiny house.

Murray and Vicky are part of an intentional community where around 30 people share an extraordinary 800-acre property surrounded by national park. Each shareholder group has its own area of land while also sharing access to the wider property, infrastructure and resources. It is a fascinating alternative model for land ownership, affordable living and community life.

What we love most about this home is the incredible sense of abundance they have created with relatively little. Reclaimed materials, simple off-grid systems, food production, shared resources and a small home have all helped reduce the amount of money and energy required simply to maintain their lifestyle, leaving more space for family, creativity, music, craft, gardening and the things they genuinely value.

This is sustainable living in a very practical sense. Not perfection, and certainly not without hard work, but a wonderful example of how tiny homes, permaculture, salvaged materials, intentional community and resourceful design can come together to create a rich and meaningful life.

It was incredibly special to return after eight years and see Murray, Vicky and Gracie thriving in this beautiful new chapter of their lives. We hope you enjoy the tour! You can find out more about Headwaters Haven and evernything that this dynamic family are up to on their website.