Farmers make hay with a little house on the prairie

Here’s your chance to take a break while helping farmers to beat the drought and bridging the growing city-country divide.

WAENCOORT,AUSTRALIA ,28 MARCH 2016: Photo of Melbourne social entrepreneur Joep Pennartz with Birregurra farmer Tom Dennis at his farm on Monday 28 March 2016. THE AUSTRALIAN/ LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI

It is a fair bet that when Tom ­Dennis’s great-great-great grand­father took up his pastoral ­selection in Victoria’s Western ­District in 1840 he ­initially lived in a tiny hand-built house.

There’s no sign of it now: the former 4000ha Tarndwarncoort estate where the famed Polwarth sheep was bred, and where the Dennis family still lives, near ­Birregurra, has at its heart a ­magnificent bluestone mansion dating back to Cornish ancestor Alexander’s later years.

But tiny houses are making a reappearance on “Tarndie”, as part of a push by Tom Dennis to develop farm tourism as a flourishing commercial enterprise on the whittled-down family property 150km southwest of Melbourne.

With Melbourne University social entrepreneur Joep Pennartz, Mr Dennis last week took delivery of his first prototype “Tiny House” on wheels to rent out to city-ites looking for a simple and close-to-nature holiday.

“I think it is all part of the growing interest in food and where it comes from; people are genuinely interested now in learning more about how their food and natural fibre is grown and produced,” Mr Dennis said.

“If things like Tiny Houses ­encourage city people to come and stay on farms more and get a better understanding of farmers and farming and the effort that goes into producing their food — as well as them having a new ­enjoyable experience and helping us out financially — I think it’s a fantastic idea.”

The cosy timber and corrugated iron mobile “home” — a room built on the back of a small trailer by Romsey tiny home specialist Rob Scott — sits high on a rolling hill with the green Otway Ranges to the west. Sheep graze around its doorway and nuzzle its fire pit, outdoor couch and cooking area.

Mr Pennartz, whose start-up online business Shacky hopes to co-ordinate the rental of 10 Tiny Houses on farms around Victoria in the next year, says the very small movable houses tap the ­global trend towards downsizing, decluttering, de-stressing and simple living. They are also aimed at helping small farmers supplement their income with low-key farm tourism ventures.

“It’s a bit like glamping except that every Tiny House, every farm and every location will be different, ” Mr Pennartz said yesterday, helping Mr Dennis furnish the snug room with soft bedding, solar panels, heritage lights and a small pot-belly stove.

“It’s really about getting away from city life, the emails, mobile phones … for a simple quiet weekend on a farm; and farmers benefiting from the support and interest of the people who come and stay.”

Mr Pennartz’s Shacky tiny houses project is raising $25,000 via crowd-funding, with a night’s accommodation for every $175 funding pledged. Shacky has bought the first Tiny House to be located on Tarndwarncoort, to prove to farmers like Mr Dennis that the concept works.

Eventually, farmers will be able to buy a Tiny Houses, for about $15,000. Or they could convert an empty shed on the farm, providing it fits the concept of simplicity, and is small. The tiny homes can be rented online for $125 a night, the farmer earning about 90 per cent of the fee for at least three nights’ stay.