LITTLE HOUSE, BIG DREAM

Singaporean interior designer Priscilla Tan builds tiny house to host guests in New Zealand

- Sarah Stanley

There is a cheerful lilt in Ms Priscilla Tan's voice as she describes the 24 sq m house she designed from the ground up in New Zealand's capital Wellington - a place she and her husband Roland Ng now call home.

It has been nearly six years since the Singaporean couple moved to Wellington in September 2019, after Dr Ng secured a position as a general practitioner at a local clinic. The couple, who do not have children, are now permanent residents of New Zealand.

Having spent a decade as a fashion designer and another four years as head of jewellery design at Singapore-based fine jewellery company Choo Yilin, Ms Tan has an eye for detail.

Her move into interior design was a natural progression.

"I've never formally trained in interior design, but I feel that my past work experience counts as hardcore training," says Ms Tan.

The 40-year-old has styled around 500 homes since starting her interior design company, StyledbyPT, in July 2018.

Her passion for design, coupled with a love for hosting, converged in late 2020. With some of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions lifted, the couple began looking for a home that would meet their needs and NZ$800,000 (S$597,000) budget. Until then, they had been renting a three-bedroom house in the city of Lower Hutt.

Known for its natural landscapes, Lower Hutt is located about a 25-minute drive from Wellington International Airport and is one of four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.

"Many of the houses we saw were old and the insulation wasn't that good, so we were very concerned. And new houses tend to be built near other houses, which is a bit strange, seeing as my view would be a stranger's backyard," she says.

"That's what got me researching a bit more. And instead of houses, I found land."