Tiny cabin stays in WA

WA Things To Do

9 November, 2022 By: Fleur Bainger

Good things come in small packages as the new tiny cabin trend spreading across WA shows.

Getting off-grid used to mean packing a tent, an esky and a camp stove. You’d head out to a secluded spot, knowing you’d return needing a good scrub and looking forward to a comfy bed. Not anymore.

Picture instead a king-sized bed covered in flax linen butted up against a wall of glass, framing an enchanting WA view of hefty marri trees and a hillside raked with grapevines.

To the side is a micro kitchen equipped with gas burners and a solar powered mini fridge, while through a sliding door is a (hot) rainwater shower and composting eco loo. All that - and the kitchen sink - fits compactly into only 15 square metres. Welcome to the age of tiny cabin accommodation.

Across Australia, hundreds of off-grid escapes have been positioned on farms, vineyards and bushland – places you might not otherwise have access to – offering fence-free isolation with a minimal eco footprint.

Tiny cabins tend to be built on wheels, with the ability to be relocated with relative ease and minimal disturbance to the environment. Some have decks with barbeques, others have outdoor baths, but it’s what they don’t have that is perhaps most appealing. At each, there’s not another soul in sight.

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The ultimate secluded holiday stay

Spurred by the tiny house movement and galvanised by the restrictive COVID-19 era, tiny cabins unlock that slice of simplicity and serenity so many crave. Increasingly, people are choosing nature escapes where they can travel more mindfully and shake off the past couple of years of anxiety.

The shift is so widespread, it even has a name: ‘ecotherapy’. Initially just for couples and solo travellers, there are now family-friendly tiny cabins that allow children to roam freely in the great outdoors. Since 2019, rural WA has been joining the trend.

“There’s no neighbour, you’re in complete seclusion in nature and you can turn off your phone and enjoy the peace and quiet,” says Ash Bamford, who, with husband Jon, owns Hidden Cabins. “I don’t think you get that in a regular hotel or a BnB, because you’ve got people around you. Even with camping, there are people on the sites next to you. We wanted that hidden aspect,” she says.

The couple launched their first cabin, ‘Florence’ in July 2021 and added another, ‘Henry’ in May 2022. A third is due to arrive early in 2023, set on an old dairy farm.

Florence is shrouded in the forest of Pinjarup country, an easy 1.5 hours away from Perth in the Peel Region, while Henry is tucked behind rolling hills and vineyards on Kaniyang country in the Ferguson Valley, about two hours’ drive from Perth. Not too far to go, yet just far away enough for guests to unplug. “A little escape to nature is just what you need every now and then to reground yourself,” says Ash.

John and Ash stumbled upon tiny houses when they were researching ideas to create a more mainstream style of tourism accommodation. Inspired by the 2019 Netflix program, Tiny House Nation and having renovated a number of houses together, they headed down the micro path.

“Originally, we thought we’d buy our own block of land and do some regular cabins in the traditional way,” says Ash. “Then we decided we wanted to be in different locations. Partnering with landowners means we can do that and having the cabins on wheels means we can move them around.”

Each cabin is designed to be part of the landscape it’s going into, inside and out. Windows on all sides give the impression you’re outdoors, while being cosy within. At Henry, the chortle of magpies and the raspy squawk of red-tailed black cockatoos provides a calming soundtrack as shafts of fading sun bounce off the mirror-like dam beside the vines.

What's inside a tiny cabin?

As awareness spreads about the psychological benefits of time in nature, demand for this sort of connective approach is only expected to grow. “The experience of a tiny house ties in with that need to slow down,” says Ash. “You don’t need everything you think you do; it can be refreshing and relaxing on its own.”

The ‘cute factor’ may be the accommodations’ defining element: tiny cabin interiors tend to be design-focused, detail-oriented and totally Instagrammable. The two Hidden Cabins are a case in point.

Carefully curated books on chasing the slow life share shelf space with glass jars of spelt pancake mix and bags of locally baked granola. There’s a brew guide for the supplied coffee beans, which sit near a card printed with the message, “There’s no wifi in the forest, but I promise you’ll find a better connection.”

Handmade ceramic plates and mugs add tactile beauty, while fun is found in a draw beneath the bed, where games such as Cluedo and Connect 4 are wrapped in calico bags.

“We’ve intentionally chosen brands that are eco-conscious and the majority of the fit out is sourced from Australian businesses, which I think is really important. Even the mattress brand is B-corp (a certification achieved by businesses with positive social and environmental ethics),” says Ash. “It definitely cost us more, but it ends up being a higher quality finish and it’s better for the environment, too.”

To date, the cabins have been embraced by the 24 to 35-year-old set, though a number of people in their 70s have also tapped into the tiny trend. With cabins currently booked out at least two months in advance, Jon and Ash plan to slowly add more to their offering. “We’re super passionate about it and we want to open up these amazing little spots for other people to visit,” says Ash.

Way out there, in the open air

Another WA business, Heyscape, launched into tiny cabins back in 2019. They now have 11 petit stays stretching from Margaret River to Narrogin, Serpentine, Toodyay and the Chittering Valley. The aim is to have up to 30 cabins - each measuring 18sqm - by the end of next year, in as many locations as possible.

Like Hidden Cabins, Heyscape has adopted human names to personalise the tiny cabin experience. Its first tiny cabin, Joey, sits in a paddock just outside Busselton, on a working farm, vineyard and winery. Native scrub lines the farmland, which is flecked with kangaroos who tussle in tall grasses.

Yawning windows draw the view in to the lumberjack-vibe wood panel interior, which is fitted with a queen bed and all the essentials. Beyond the Colourbond-clad frame, an open wood fire and hammocks strung between trees beckon. There’s not another human in sight, and the mobile phone coverage is reduced to a single bar: enough only to send and receive text messages. It’s a place to deeply exhale.

“They’re popular because people love the design and our lives are so busy, it’s paring back the holiday experience and giving you a proper sense of disconnect,” says Tenealle Harper, Heyscape’s guest experience manager. “It’s also that feeling of having some space. Even though WA is so massive, we’re mostly all hemmed in. To have that room to breathe while retaining creature comforts is rare and quite unique,” she says.

Joey was built in 10 days. Heyscape’s owners, Pierre Sauvignon and Sam Soley, wanted to meld their love of camping and the outdoors with the creature comforts of a shower, toilet and whole bean coffee. “

Originally, it was a wooden box on wheels in keeping with the tiny house look, in the style of American and European reality shows,” says Tenealle. “It was really pretty, but not super practical for the varying degrees of extreme weather you can get in WA. It’s since been refurbished and insulated, in line with the lessons we’ve learned.”

Heyscape have also been working with experts in the field to design an accessible cabin, with one design suited for a family of four and another for a couple, to enjoy being in nature but still surrounded by creature comforts. The two cabins are located in Serpentine and the Avon Valley.

A whole new way to see WA

During the global pandemic, they noticed a hankering from WA tourists to dive into the regions and stay somewhere different. More tiny cabins seemed a logical solution. “We often hear that there’s a lack of good accommodation in the regions, especially in places like the Wheatbelt,” says Tenealle. “The cabins give people the opportunity to explore somewhere they’ve never been, despite living in this state.”

The Wheatbelt has a particular drawcard: a distinct absence of artificial light. Narrogin was added to WA’s Astrotourism Town map in 2020 for its stargazing trail of dark skies.

Each of Heyscape’s two Wheatbelt cabins - set well apart on more than 2000 hectares of cropping land, east of Narrogin - is fitted with an outdoor bath from which to observe the splendour of the night sky. “The star gazing opportunities are insane, there’s a massive lack of light pollution and it’s pretty flat, so you get a really good view wherever you are,” says Tenealle.

She says now that international tourists are returning, they’re also showing a thirst to explore beyond city limits, to “the real WA”.

Heyscape launched its first luxury cabin in the Chittering Valley in September 2022. Called Lauren, it’s a compact haven of customised furnishings, with high-end linens, a deep soaking tub made from half a concrete wine vat and a motorised cinema screen for watching movies in bed. It’s a sign of what’s to come, as more businesses add more cabins to every corner of WA. On that account, it seems that staying small and living simply might just be the next big thing.