Tiny Home Customer Story: Tara Eastwell (Northern NSW)
"I was desperate for somewhere to live. My two teenage daughters and I had moved thirteen times in three years, and I was trying every way I could to get into the rental market. When we finally found somewhere to live and moved in, we were hit by floods and lost everything. We were devastated. Suddenly we had no choice and were living between a caravan and a swag.
For quite a while I had been researching tiny homes as I saw them as an innovative, affordable way to house myself and my daughters. We needed something permanent and my parents agreed we could put a tiny home on their property in Northern NSW.
After looking at about ten different tiny home businesses, I decided to drive to Brisbane to check out Alphaline Tiny Homes and they showed me through their manufacturing site. I was impressed with their experience in the industry and that they’re a family business.
Straight up, I said I needed my tiny home by Christmas – five months away! Other tiny home builders hadn’t been able to deliver until at least March.
The team was so helpful and understanding that I made the decision then and there to go with Alphaline. I was excited, though not really that confident we’d have our tiny home by Christmas as it was a pretty quick turnaround.
The design process with Alphaline was great. To accommodate all three of us, we needed one of the longer styles with dual lofts and I made quite a few modifications. I pretty much redesigned the whole tiny house to suit our needs and lifestyle. For us, this wasn’t a temporary thing, this was to be our long-term home. I added sliding doors, more windows, took out the air conditioning and added a small vanity, industrial tapware, and a composting toilet.
Jason at Alphaline was faultless. He was very accommodating of my changes and really quite amazing considering my Christmas deadline was looming and the business was preparing to close until the new year. He sent me lots of photos and kept me up to date without me having to ask.
As the weeks ticked by, I faced the possibility that my daughters and I weren’t going to be in our own home for Christmas. I rang Jason one day and through tears, told him my story. He shared my story with the production team, and they said, “Ok, let’s do this!”
Two weeks before Christmas Jason and I had a chat and he said there was now no room for error, and everyone was busting their gut. He said he couldn’t send me photos anymore as every time he went to look at my tiny home there were eight guys in there working on it.
It was the last day of the deadline and there were several items that hadn’t arrived to be fitted. I was gutted and I think Jason was too. My dream of having a home for me and my girls by Christmas was slipping away. Later that day, Jason called and said, “It’s all here!”
Once it was finished, one of the owners, Dave, packed up his family, hooked up my tiny home and brought it down from Brisbane to NSW for me, at night… and in time for Christmas! It was carefully placed on my parents’ land and there were tears and hugs all around.
I never met Jason at all through the process but I found out later that he and the team worked around the clock to manage their production schedule and have it for us by Christmas. Even in emails, Jason showed compassion and understanding, while remaining professional. That’s the standout with Alphaline for me. They bent over backwards and went above and beyond.
My tiny home is twenty metres from the water’s edge on a lovely spot in Northern NSW. I’ve become the talk of the town as people stop to look and ask questions. I’m always happy to share my experience and offer people to have a ‘tour’ of our tiny home. I have a lot of builder friends who’ve called in for a look and they’ve all commented on the great quality. In fact, every person who sees our tiny home is blown away.
I’m always spruiking to others that I avoided having to pay $50,000 for development approval by opting for a tiny home instead of a permanent dwelling. Plus I didn’t need to jump through all the hoops to get council approval.
This might sound a bit dramatic, but this tiny home has honestly saved my life. I’d been on an emotional rollercoaster and now I’ve landed on my feet and my kids finally have stability after four years. I can afford the repayments and people can see a smile on my face again. It’s a big community and lots of people say they are happy to see me happy.
Alphaline Tiny Homes has been absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend them. I love my tiny house so much. It feels like paradise, and I don’t ever want to leave."