Tiny House, Big Style
August 17, 2010 by Kenya Brantley
Filed under At Home, Everyday Living
When I first heard of Jay Shafer and his “tiny houses” I was so intrigued. How could anyone possibly live in such a small space? He currently lives in an 89 sqare foot home in Sebastopol, California. Jay has been living in tiny homes since 1997 and eventually started his business, Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. But as I began to understand the challenge of using this space effectively, I was so impressed!
These homes range anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000, and about $15,000 if you decide to build it yourself. The average square footage is about 150 sq. ft. That’s it…that’s all you get! I could not imagine all four of our family members in this tiny house! There is actually a video on the Tumbleweed Houses website where Tim is showing the inside of his home, and I was thinking to myself, “No wonder he’s so fit! With all of these tiny plates, and the tiny fridge, and the tiny stove, I could easily lose those last ten–the “Tiny House” diet plan! But I think having a lack of space forces you choose between what’s important and what is, simply, fluff. In addition to reducing your impact on the environment, I really believe that living a simpler lifestyle could actually be quite fun!
Do you think you could live in a tiny space?
Kenya Brantley is the owner of Greenhouse Redesign. She is thrives on her love of family, her passion for interior design, and discovering things that she does not yet know... Kenya also keeps a blog at http://www.kbgreenhouse.blogspot.com.
$46,000 for 86 square feet! How many acres does this come with?
The entire point of anyone even moving into something this compact would be because they couldn’t afford a HOUSE. Or maybe they had bad credit. But $30,000-50? I don’t think so. You could about get a used mobile home for that. Other than THAT, this would have been a single, poor person’s dream.
Because I could definitely live in one if it meant my independence and affordability for me, but I have zero building skills to even build one myself & save $. Besides, someone that would need one to actually LIVE IN (like I would) would also mean having to buy property to put it on. Which is getting very scarce and expensive nowadays. If it were like the old pioneer days, you could just drag one of these and sit it about anywhere. Can’t do that now…live off the land, that is. And if it weren’t for CODES, these would be perfect (except price) for putting on a relative’s or friend’s property.
I don’t know if I could last that long, Jill!!!
Incredible! I could live in one for a week…wonder if I could get one on my property in Maine?
Thank you for your comment, Bonnie!!!
Not sure I could live in such a small space – maybe if there was a big outside space for a garden! I once visited (near Savannah) the “Smallest Church in America” which is 10×15 feet and accommodates 13 people! Very cute church. Thanks for showing us how we can do with less.