Our Favourite Tiny Homes of 2025.

This year we've visited tiny homes that pushed creativity, engineering and craftsmanship further than ever before. I don't know how it happens, but somehow tiny homes just keep getting more impressive. We've seen so much this year. Tiny homes of every shape and style imaginable, from super rustic retreats to ultra-modern designs, from off-the-grid escapes to tiny homes seamlessly woven into city life. We've toured a modern shed home and stunningly converted grain silos, a brilliantly renovated double-decker vintage bus and cozy mountain cabin, a World War II prefab transformed into a beautiful off-grid homestead, a tiny home built on the back of a dump truck and an epic Unimog conversion. We've seen incredible DIY builds alongside beautifully crafted designer homes. We met a wizard living in his woodland and a book lover who turned his tiny house into a personal library, a superyacht captain who created a rainforest retreat and an artist with a secret garden tiny home hidden in the heart of the city. We've even seen a low-tech apartment in Paris complete with mushrooms growing in the shower. With all the brilliant homes we've seen in 2025, picking a top five is no easy task, but let's give it a shot. You can find links to the full tours of each of these spectacular homes in the description of this video. Before we get stuck into the top five, I want to give a special mention to a personal favorite of mine this year, which was Amy's gorgeous 700-year-old cottage in the English countryside. So I know it was built in the 14th century and it would have been for merchants, so they would have come here. The wood, the main beams of wood from this house come from the woods that I live next to, and some pieces like in the kitchen, if you look up at the ceiling, they are the original 14th century beams, which is just mad. Living in this house and being surrounded by all the history, I do think it really does take me back to being like seven or eight. It's that childlike curiosity. I don't know why, but we seem to get to a point where we stop asking questions. I want to know who lived here and ask things and go to the library to meet a historian so I can ask questions. I think it's really brought back that childlike wonder and curiosity that I had when I was in school and you're learning about history for the first time. You know how exciting it is. It's not often that I get to really dive into my deep love of history. As I explored this beautiful cottage imbued with centuries of heritage, I was reminded of the vast scale of human history and the important role that our homes have always played in our lives. And now on to our top five. First up we have Linda and her beautifully designed tiny home on Queensland's stunning Gold Coast. This is a tiny house that feels anything but small. With its generous proportions and thoughtful design, it almost feels like a miniature mansion, perfectly balancing indoor comfort with outdoor living. The layout is exceptional. There's a spacious kitchen, a bright and welcoming living area and a loft level where a walkway links the bedroom to a dedicated home office. Every part of the home has been carefully considered with warm styling and personal touches that give the space a real sense of comfort and character. I love the surprise that people get when they come and see the place because they do have this idea in their head but then when they see it they're like wow this is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be and yeah the space. I've seen little apartments around that's a lot smaller than this and you don't have the natural light at all so it doesn't feel like a small space for me at all. It's really cozy and it's peaceful for me. Linda's tiny house also plays an important role in a multi-generational living setup. Positioned in her parents garden it allows her to stay close, support them as they age and remain deeply connected to her family. It's a beautiful example of how tiny houses can help create sustainable and connected ways of living. Back in the UK in the beautiful Cotswolds we have Lara and her brilliant DIY tiny house. Lara is a remarkable solo builder who has created a warm rustic tiny home filled with heart and personality. Amazingly she built this home entirely from scratch for just 12,000 pounds even milling her own timber along the way. It's a powerful reminder that building an affordable tiny house is still very much possible. To somebody who is watching you right now thinking this is really really cool seeing what you've done but I couldn't do something like this myself what would you tell them? Just do it like I couldn't do it and I've done it like and maybe it's because I'm quite stubborn and very curious so I'm really happy to learn but yeah I had a drill when I started this and I did it. I think it's just taught me that like you can do it you kind of have to believe in yourself sometimes and also I'm and I'm really lucky to have an incredibly supportive family and an incredibly supportive network of friends because I think going into it there are a few people that are just like what are you doing like you have no idea what you're doing this is the most ridiculous thing you're going to like sink your savings into and yeah it's quite nice for them to come over for a cup of tea now and a piece of cake and be like and they love it here. With no prior building experience and plenty of people telling her it couldn't be done Lara decided to give it a go anyway. The result is a handcrafted home that feels deeply personal, simple and full of creativity and charm. Back home in New Zealand Philippa's tiny house built with sacred geometry captured my heart almost instantly. There's something about the curved roof, the stained glass windows and the rounded doors that feels almost hobbit-like. A modern fairy tale home that radiates warmth, character and comfort. Now this is an exquisitely unusual tiny house. I absolutely love the shape. Yeah I'd seen early on because I've researching and doing workshops and things like that I'd seen copper roofs and things and so I wanted a copper roof but that was too expensive and impractical but I love the shape so I got an architect who's involved with sacred geometry and he helped me put it together and it's just got such a lovely feeling to it. The doors and windows I'm a bit eclectic I can't really put myself into a box I just don't like the square ones and it took me nine months to get all my doors and windows together and actually the front door it's got an arch and then that six months later I came across the bedroom door that's also got an arch. Who would think? Brilliant yeah yeah I can certainly see that sacred geometric influence in this home just the proportions are so beautiful and I'm such a sucker for round roofs as well I just think they look so good. There is something I think that innately connects us as humans to living in rounded spaces because nature isn't square so the more that we can round in our spaces I feel like it adds a level of comfort to the design. It's like it wraps you around doesn't it gives you a big hug. Philippa is a remarkable woman and I truly loved spending time with her. You can always tell when you've met a kindred spirit and I felt that straight away with her. When you meet someone that can talk with penguins you know you've encountered someone very special indeed. She's lived a big adventurous life and one of her most meaningful achievements is building this home a deeply personal space that truly nurtures her soul. Next up we have Mark's stunning widebeam houseboat in London. Mark has created a beautiful floating home on London's canals. With a background in construction he designed and built this widebeam boat himself shaping it into a modern minimalist space made for full-time life on the water. Inside the home feels light, calm and effortlessly functional. Clean lines, clever storage and a timeless aesthetic set the tone while a full-sized kitchen and washing machine make everyday living easy. Large windows sit right at the water's edge filling the space with natural light and ever-changing views of the Thames. I wanted this boat to feel modern, clean. I'm a bit of a clean freak. Yeah and just be chilled with the river and quite minimal really. I'm quite minimal in how I live my life. The best times of my life or some of the best times I would say of my life have been on and around the boat for sure. The calmness just being there, the water, the nature. You don't have the traffic, you don't have, it's just a more chilled way and I think it rubs off on you in every aspect of your life. I'm a more chilled person than I was 10 years ago for sure so I think I've absorbed the calmness of the water. This home perfectly reflects Mark's love of thoughtful design and simple living. Every detail has been carefully considered to create a space that feels peaceful and refined. Though close to the city, life on the water offers a sense of calm and connection that's hard to find in London and on a personal note I've long been drawn to the idea of living on the water. Exploring the English canals on a narrow boat has been a taste of Mark's life on the water. I can honestly say that I'm more obsessed with the idea than ever before and for our number one highlight this year we have Phil, a true master craftsman who spent four years building one of the most remarkable DIY tiny homes we've ever featured. Two things is a. I did it entirely myself, b. the complexity of the build so I really wanted to join two trailers together that were truly mobile and so I had this crazy idea of how I'm going to put them together but I wanted to look beautiful as well so I wanted to look seamless inside and that was far more complex than I ever could have imagined and so you know four years later that and I went completely over the top like I've handmade everything from the axles up the whole thing's automated beautiful finishes inside like all the timber I've made it's just there was so much work that went into it which has created a really unique beautiful product but uh four years later Set on his own land in South Australia this minimalist home is breathtaking in both its design and its engineering from automated ventilation systems to machining his own screws and even building a crane to lift heavy components Phil has pushed DIY tiny house building to an entirely new level every detail reflects his commitment to craftsmanship modern design and purposeful living. It was a brilliant journey I really loved how much I learned through the process was that a smart idea to go build that probably not but did I enjoy the process of getting to learn electronics and like writing the code for that yeah absolutely that was really cool like you know it's some of that stuff I'm really proud of and so now it's done and the pain's over I can look back like yeah this is really cool it's fun to play with and some of it I'm still sort of you know tweaking and refining but it is a cool little project that I sort of lives on as I continue to tweak some of that stuff so yeah ups and downs but um beautiful journey as well. One of the things it forced me to learn was um I think acceptance which almost sounds a bit cliche but like the house is inanimate right you can't negotiate with it and so you'd hit these difficult parts of the build and I'm very much I just got to keep going and just like push through it's like sometimes you can't and that for me is frustrating but you can't get angry at it because the house just is what it is and so you hit this like seriously difficult challenge and you kind of need to accept that's what it is and you need to then accept it's going to take the time it takes to work that out which I think probably then translates into then life and learning to work with people like you know it's accepting people for more who they are and have a little bit more patience for that so I think I was pretty good with perseverance it definitely taught me a bit more but um acceptance and that was just through brute force it's like you're not going to win this argument mate this tiny house is packed with ingenious small space design high-tech innovation and deep personal inspiration Phil has built an unforgettable tiny home and one that for me will forever raise the bar in what's possible and that's a wrap for our 2025 season what an amazing year it's been I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's appeared on the show this year and of course a massive thank you to you our amazing audience for coming along this epic journey with us if you have a favorite tiny home we've featured this year please do let us know in the comments and let us know what you'd love to see more of next year 2026 is already shaping up to be huge and I cannot wait to see what we'll discover together until then though we want to wish you a very happy new year Rasa and I will now take a short two-week break before we get stuck into our brand new season we can't wait happy new year to you much love from Rasa and I and we wish you all the best for 2026 we'll see you soon