After 7 Years in Tiny Houses, They Built Their Dream Earth Home
In this week’s episode, we meet Brenna and Charlie in Western Australia, and their story is such a beautiful evolution of tiny house living. After seven years spent in tiny homes, they’ve now built an extraordinary straw bale and cob earth home, designed not just for themselves, but for the people around them too.
Their home sits within an intentional permaculture community near Denmark, a place built around shared values of earth care, people care, and a way of life that prioritises connection over convenience. With no fences, kids running free, community dinners, and shared land filled with forest and springs, it’s the kind of community so many people dream about, and it’s easy to see why.
What Brenna and Charlie have created here is a natural home that truly works with its environment. The design is passive solar, with thoughtful shading and protected outdoor spaces for a wet climate, and the house stays beautifully comfortable without the kind of heating costs most of us are used to. They’ve combined straw bale insulation, cob thermal mass, and even a lesser-known technique called light earth to fine tune the home’s performance, while an attached greenhouse helps regulate temperature through the seasons. It’s practical, calm, and deeply nourishing to step inside.
A huge part of the magic is how much of this build was salvaged and recycled. From industrial double glazing that shaped the front of the home, to reclaimed timber, demolition finds, and even old shower screens repurposed into greenhouse glass, this is a build driven by creativity and determination as much as it is by good design. The end result feels both beautiful and grounded, and it’s full of clever details, like an outdoor sink for coming straight in from the garden, a homestead kitchen built for cooking, preserving and hosting, and a pantry that happens to be the same size as the tiny house truck they once lived in.
They’ve also created a studio and guest accommodation, helping address the rental pressure in their town while making it easier for friends, helpers, and community to plug into life on the land. Brenna, a permaculture illustrator whose work connects art with sustainability, and Charlie, a musician known for weaving environmental themes into his performances, have built a place that supports creativity while also serving a bigger purpose. Even the budget tells a story here. This wasn’t built with unlimited resources, but through hard work, community support, and a relentless commitment to doing things differently.
More than anything, this episode is a reminder that when you build a home, you’re not just building shelter. You’re shaping a life, and sometimes even creating a space that can hold far more than one family. If you’ve ever wondered what comes after tiny house living, this is such an inspiring glimpse into what’s possible. You can find out more about Charlie's music here, And Brenna's artwork here.
