Candid Tiny House
Candid Tiny House is an Australian podcast about the real experience of building, living, and advocating for tiny houses on wheels.
Hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses, the podcast features honest, candid conversations with people who have built their own tiny houses in Australia, taken workshops or online courses with Fred, and navigated the full journey from planning to living tiny.
Instead of glossy social media posts or idealised tiny house tours, Candid Tiny House focuses on the realities of designing, building, and living in a tiny house that is both a safe road vehicle and a comfortable home.
Across the series, guests share lessons learned, challenges overcome, and insights gained — from technical building tips and budgeting, to problem-solving, community support, and the physical and emotional demands of a tiny house project.
You can also watch video interviews, tours, and build footage on the Fred’s Tiny Houses YouTube channel, and see photos and articles about each build on the Fred’s Tiny Houses blog.
Season 1 – Building Tiny Houses on Wheels
Season 1 introduces listeners to clients who took a Fred’s Tiny Houses trailer, workshop, or online course and then built their own homes.
These interviews dig into the reality of the build:
- The financial costs and savings
- What they wish they knew before starting
- Injuries, setbacks, and community support
- Creative compromises and innovations
Season 1 focuses on DIY builds in Australia, giving builders practical lessons and inspiration for designing a home that works both on the road and year-round.
Season 2 – Advocacy in Action: Changing the Law for Tiny Houses
Season 2 is a documentary-style series that tracks a small Australian town’s three-year journey and two attempts to change local laws to support tiny house living.
Listeners follow the advocacy process from start to finish, learning how grassroots communities can:
- Build awareness and support for tiny house-friendly policies
- Navigate local councils and legal frameworks
- Organise campaigns and gather community backing
- Turn setbacks into victories
This season is a how-to guide for tiny house advocacy, showing that change is possible when communities work together.
Season 3 – Life After the Build
Season 3 revisits past clients who have now lived in their tiny houses and can reflect on the full journey — from early building stages to everyday tiny house life.
Guests share stories of:
- Families living with children and even having home births in tiny houses
- Builders achieving financial freedom by reducing housing costs
- People who used their tiny house build as a stepping stone into hands-on construction skills
- Couples and individuals adapting their design as their lives evolved
These candid conversations offer invaluable insights for anyone considering a DIY tiny house build in Australia and show the real rewards — and challenges — of tiny house living.
Candid Tiny House – Real people. Real builds. Real stories.
Hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses, supporting Australians to build their own tiny houses, advocate for tiny house-friendly policies, and learn from people who’ve walked the path before them.
Episodes
22 episodes
ARCHITECTURE Student's First Tiny House: Lars E6, S3
In this episode of the Candid Tiny House Podcast, Lars shares the honest reality of designing and building his tiny house on wheels while studying architecture at university — and why applying standard house-building logic to a vehicle nearly c...
DESIGNER DIY Tiny House: Alex & Harrison E5, S3
At just 22 and 23 years old, Alex and Harrison designed and built a beautifully refined DIY tiny house on wheels in Australia — learning resilience, problem solving, and perseverance along the way.In this episode of Candid Tiny House, th...
AMAZING DIY Tiny House with No Expereince: Tyson E4 S3
No experience. No shortcuts. Just determination.In this episode of Candid Tiny House, Tyson shares his journey from dreaming about van life to building a fully off-grid, 8-metre tiny house on wheels—despite having no prior build...
Tiny House Tree Change to Financial Freedom: Nick E3, S3
What happens when home ownership becomes a financial trap?Nick flipped the script—and found freedom in a tiny house on wheels.Nick’s journey into tiny house living didn’t start with a dream build—it started with the weight of a mortg...
DIY Tiny House Expanding: Aaron & Amanda E2, S3
What happens when a professional builder takes on a tiny house on wheels?In this episode of Candid Tiny House, we sit down with Aaron, a carpenter and builder, and his partner Amanda, to explore the realities of building ...
Two Kids in a Tiny House? Jesse & Esther Reflect on Building, Parenting, and Moving On
In the first episode of Season 3 of Candid Tiny House, host Shannon Schultz sits down with Jesse and Esther to reflect on their experience building and living in a tiny house on wheels in Australia — with two children.This candid ...
Season 3! Real DIY Tiny House Build Stories
What’s it really like to build and live in a tiny house in Australia?In Season 3 of the Candid Tiny House Podcast, host Shannon from Fred’s Tiny Houses sits down with past clients who have taken the leap — buying a trailer,...
[BOOK CLUB] Tiny: A Memoir About Love, Letting Go and a Very Small House by Louise Southerden
Hello and welcome to this bonus [book club] episode of Candid Tiny House! It’s a special occasion because one of our DIY builders, Lou Southerden, who you might remember from Season 1 Episode 4, has written a book about her journey of b...
Uptake, Obstacles and the Future
This episode we are looking at present day uptake of the tiny house local laws, and we talk about some of the remaining obstacles to overcome when it comes to tiny house living and hosting in our area.We examine the grey water proces...
How To Change Tiny House Laws in Your Area
This episode, we will reflect on the key turning points and factors for success from this campaign, so that you can be well armed with a best-practice set of pro-tips to help you create meaningful change in your home town and increase affordabl...
Inside Local Government: How Mount Alexander Shire Legalised Tiny Houses
In this eye-opening episode, we delve into the groundbreaking decision by Mount Alexander Shire Council to legalise tiny houses on wheels. Featuring a detailed interview with Councillor Rosie Annear, who was Mayor at the time of the law change,...
New Campaign, New Strategies
This is season 2 of Candid Tiny House where we peek behind the scenes of the successful campaign to change tiny house laws in Central Victoria, to show you how you can campaign to replicate the changes in your home town. Kaz Neilson is ...
First Attempt at Changing Local Tiny House Laws
This is Candid Tiny House, hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses. Usually this is a podcast interviewing people about their tiny house builds. This season, Season 2, we are doing something different. Last June, in 2023, the ...
Introducing Season 2 : The Advocay Season
This is Candid Tiny House. I'm your host, Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses. You might have heard that last year, our local government, Mount Alexander Shire here in Central Victoria, changed their local laws to essentially legali...
Bonus: Michael Bartz (Canada)
Michael Bartz built his tiny house on wheels in Canada. He built the trailer too. It took him four years and now he lives in it with his partner and their three cats. This is a bonus episode where we compare notes between bui...
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Jim
Jim wanted to be able to stand up in his bedroom loft, so he commissioned Fred’s Tiny Houses to come up with a design that included a pop-up roof that can be elevated when his tiny house is parked; and lowered when it is being transported. Insp...
Anna & Rowan
Anna & Rowan built their tiny house on wheels in Canberra and moved it up to Newcastle where they now live. They built on a 7.8 meter Protruding Wheels Guard trailer and have recently added a deck and verandah that more than doubles the liv...
Lou
Lou built her 7.2m long tiny house on a Fred’s Tiny Houses flat top trailer in the Northern Rivers area in NSW with the help of her partner and a retired tradie friend. An award-winning travel writer, Lou had no prior experience building, desig...
Bree & Lucas
Bree and Lucas DIY built their beautiful, fully-equipped 7.8m long tiny house in Bree’s parents’ back yard on weekends over a two year period, while they both worked full time. Hear about their:Experience using the lig...
Deon & Marine
Deon and Marine DIY built their 7.2m long tiny surf house in Northern Beaches, NSW. Keen to build a tiny house on wheels that supports their surfing lifestyle and their eco values, Deon and Marine learnt on the job and adapted to their changing...
