John Baxter has set aside $25,000 to build his tiny house. Picture: Mark Brake

But John Baxter says his 14sq m home will have room for everything he needs when it is complete.

“Except for a spa,” jokes Mr Baxter, “there is no room for that.”

In the backyard of a hillside block in Teringie, Mr Baxter is nailing together the 6m x 2.4m house he says could be among the smallest building code compliant, council-approved homes in Australia.

The “tiny house” – which has been built mostly from recycled materials, including timber planks sourced from the Fringe Festival’s Garden of Unearthly Delights – will include a loft bed, a kitchen, complete with a 3m-long bench, and a bathroom.

There are plans for a veranda when the pint-sized property is shipped to its permanent home in the backyard of Mr Baxter’s share house in Windsor Gardens.

“When you have a really small footprint you have to maximise the outdoor space,” Mr Baxter says.

He will discuss the making of his tiny home when he joins dozens of guest speakers and exhibitors at the inaugural World Environment Fair at Adelaide Showground on June 3-4.

John Baxter is building a house that is just 6m x 2.4m. Picture Mark BrakeSource:News Corp Australia

Working in construction, the 31-year-old says he grew tired of colleagues talking about the miniature house movement but “not doing anything about it”.

Tiny houses – which started springing up in the US in the 1990s, and have even spawned several lifestyle TV shows – are broadly classified as homes of less than 100sq m that are easily transportable and typically built for environmental or sustainability purposes.

The home, built from recycled materials, is building-code compliant and council-approved. Picture: Mark BrakeSource:News Corp Australia

“I started looking into the idea and the thing that really hooked me was that people – not just the young, built-environment people, but the old ladies from my church – they got it,” Mr Baxter says.

“They would say ‘I see what you mean … our house is too big for our needs, it’s not environmentally sustainable’.

“Everything that is provided in the housing market didn’t work and this is an opportunity to solve a lot of these problems.”

John Baxter stand where the bathroom will go. Picture: Mark BrakeSource:News Corp Australia

Building the miniature abode has been no small feat.

Mr Baxter started the project at the back of Norwood’s Unitarian Church, on Osmond Tce, in April last year, and expected work to be completed within six months.

“I started work and the next thing I was back looking at the building code or talking with suppliers,” he says.

“But I have now pushed through a lot of the problem solving that takes a lot of time and slows things down.”

He budgeted about $25,000 for the project, but says that does not include the hundreds of hours he dedicated to building the home.

Mr Baxter, who plans to live in the home for the next few years, says the miniature movement is building momentum as a viable housing option – particularly in rural and regional areas.

“I knew it could be done (building the home) … this experiment has shown that I can do it,” he says.

Originally published as Is this Australia’s smallest house?