By Brad Beckstrom AKA The Frug.
Sometimes it just takes a few pioneers to get a movement started. These early adopters often do things in the extreme, they set benchmarks. For example, last week I met Dee Williams. Dee spoke at WDS in Portland Oregon about selling her three-bedroom home and building an 84 square ft. tiny house.
She spoke about her discovery of the tiny house movement. In her presentation, Dee didn’t spend a lot of time on architecture or zoning. It was really about her 10 year journey towards a leaner lifestyle. It was more about how living in a tiny home helped her spend more time in the community, get to know her neighbors, and learn how to build something. It wasn’t just a house she was building, it turned into a small business called Portland Alternative Dwellings and later a book The Big Tiny.
The Appeal of a Tiny Home
There’s something deeply appealing to me about smaller dwellings. Maybe it’s Dee’s eight dollar electric bill or zero property taxes. But, more likely, it’s just a simplified lifestyle. See the thing is, I don’t live in a tiny house. We have a rug in our family room that’s bigger than 84 square feet.
If you read this blog, you’ll know that I’m on a quest to simplify my life and get rid of excess stuff. In this quest, the Tiny House Movement found me. Simple, modern, prefabricated houses started popping up in Dwell Magazine years ago. Then I read about a project at Auburn University where students were challenged to design homes that could be built for $20,000. [Read more…] about Living Small. How The Tiny House Movement Found Me.