IONA TINY HOUSE A DREAM MADE REAL PART 1

THE SECOND ARTICLE, TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE ISSUE 92 OF THE SHED, WILL FEATURE THE INTERIOR OF THE TINY HOUSE, THE EXTERIOR JOINERY AND THE COPPER WORK, WHICH WERE CARRIED OUT USING SOME TRADITIONAL METHODS AND MACHINERY

Architect Elinor McDouall’s vision to transform a 1920s Otago Harbour Board workboat into a tiny house caught the imagination and tested the skills of all the tradesmen who brought it to fruition.

Not your typical wedding cake structure, Elinor’s design turned the Iona on its side and the hull, podlike, now forms the backbone of a unique little bed and breakfast on the Whanganui River, opposite the city’s historic central business district.

Following the curve

Boats are mainly curved, unlike your standard house or commercial building. Elinor wanted to retain the boat shape as much as possible while making something entirely different. The builders and other contractors loved the project even as they wrestled with some of the challenges. How to get your head and materials around curved windows, roof, and walls and make a seagoing vessel weathertight on land?

The project started in earnest in October 2018 and was completed a few months before Covid-19 sent the country into lockdown. Three years earlier Elinor had bought the boat online, sight unseen, from a tug-boat enthusiast in Northland.

“I was fascinated by the idea of making something out of the boat. So I sat down and worked out how I could do that. I asked him how the draught was because that’s really crucial if you’re trying