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Hazel Is a Gorgeous Tiny House With Full-Height Bedroom and Walkway, and Vertical Garden

Tiny house living is gaining new ground every day, especially among younger people who may not afford to rent in the city or buy a house but are looking to cut down expenses and their carbon footprint and increase their mobility. What was once considered a fad is now an established lifestyle, and there is a lot of beauty in this much diversity.
Hazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprises 19 photos
Photo: Shaye's Tiny Homes
Hazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprisesHazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprises
Beauty is exactly the first thing that comes to mind when looking at Hazel: beauty and functionality, the latter of which is made possible through very clever management of available space and some thinking outside the box. Hazel is not a new tiny, having been completed in November 2019 and long turned into an online celebrity in its native country of New Zealand, but it remains a solid example of how downsizing doesn’t have to mean compromising on comfort.

Hazel is the brainchild and the actual home of championship springboard diver Shaye Boddington. Almost a decade ago, out of necessity, Shaye and her now-ex-husband Tom built their own tiny home, a cottage-style smaller tiny they called Lucy. When they grew apart and decided to go their separate ways, Shaye moved out of Lucy and, after toying with the idea of a home in the city, decided to create the tiny of her dreams.

She completed Hazel in November 2019 and is now offering the same model (with whatever customization desired by the customer and two different layouts for the bathroom) to clients of her own tiny house building company, aptly called Shaye’s Tiny Homes. The 20-strong team behind the company delivers 25 to 30 units a year, offering six models to start with, including the Lara we covered on a previous occasion.

Hazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprises
Photo: Shaye's Tiny Homes
Hazel is a tad more special, and not just because it’s Shaye’s own home, which she now shares with her daughter (also Hazel), or because she designed it with her mother. It’s special because it’s designed to integrate all the details you wouldn’t get from a production series. These include the use of reclaimed river timbers, a vertical garden on her bedroom wall, two sections of living roof, plenty of storage, a custom bathroom that keeps all the “ugly” stuff out of sight, a bedroom with full-height walkaround, and a full-height walkway that connects the two bedrooms.

Hazel offers 14 square meters (150.7 square feet) of living space and is sat on an 8.5 x 2.8-meter (27.8 x 9.2-foot) triple axle trailer with part of the drawbar space also used. It’s 9.2 meters (30.2 feet) long and 3 meters (9.8 feet) wide, with 4.25 meters (14 feet) in height, which keeps it road legal without extra permits. Should Shaye want to, she could just pack up everything one day and move to another location.

Attached to Hazel is a covered deck that expands on the available living space and, to one side, another “pod” with a separate entrance that can be anything from a spare bedroom to an office. Both are movable on separate trailers and are not offered as part of the Hazel layout. Speaking of Hazel, while it offers a somewhat standard two-loft configuration, it’s able to put a new spin on it through lowered ceilings on the ground level.

Hazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprises
Photo: Shaye's Tiny Homes
You walk directly into the lounge, which either opens up completely onto the deck through bi-fold doors or closes off to become a screening room. The kitchen is to the right, fitted with life-size appliances, a breakfast bar, and smartly-designed cabinets that hide the lowered ceiling. Shaye uses mirrors to trick the eye into seeing larger volumes not just in the kitchen but also in the bedroom. The living garden separates the zones and brings an extra note of exotic into the home.

The bathroom is at the opposite end and is partly under the stairs that lead to the upstairs bedroom. Under the stairs, Shaye built cabinets to hide the unsightly elements in a bathroom, like the laundry basket or the toilet itself, so that you get a sleek, spacious, and very elegant room. Hazel has twin vanities with sinks and a 90 x 90-cm (2.9 x 2.9-foot) tiled shower that feels almost luxurious.

One of the bedrooms upstairs is loft-sized, which means you can’t stand up in it. Still, for Shaye’s daughter, it’s just perfect: it has a mattress, a wardrobe, a desk with a chair, and enough room to store toys. Perhaps just as importantly, both bedrooms have doors, which is rather uncommon in tiny houses.

Another uncommon feature is the walkway, which connects the two bedrooms and offers an extra element of safety while also tricking the brain into thinking the house is more spacious than it is. Shaye’s bedroom includes a bed on a platform, surrounded by the full-height walkaround – which was possible thanks to the lowered ceiling in the kitchen, the same sections hidden inside the cabinets.

Hazel, designed by Shaye Boddington of Shaye's Tiny Homes, packs lots of surprises
Photo: Shaye's Tiny Homes
The windows of both bedrooms look out to the two sections of rooftop gardens, in which Shaye and Hazel grow rock roses, succulents, bromeliads, and petunias.

Shaye spent about NZ$150,000 (US$96,525) on Hazel, but that doesn’t include the pod or the deck, goods and services tax, and labor. Prices for tinies from the company start in the same range, but you do have to keep in mind customization. For the most skilled tiny house resident-wannabe, Shaye’s Tiny Homes also sells plans so you can build your own dream home.



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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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