TINY HOUSES PROVIDE BIG OPPORTUNITIES

I consider myself a bit of a minimalist. I don’t necessarily frequent Trader Joe’s or take exuberant pride in having my recycling bin overflowing at time of pick-up, but I do drive an old Toyota Tacoma pick-up with 130,000 miles that I will continue to drive until it stops and I will usually wear certain clothing items until they have sometimes fallen out of style only to become popular again.    

It was in this spirit of minimalism that I decided to attend the Tiny House Festival at the Marshfield Fairgrounds this past weekend. I must have looked somewhat precarious carrying around a pad of paper and a pen because the people welcoming me at the gate immediately demanded that I talk to John. 

John turned out to be John Kernohan, Chairman of the United Tiny House Association, who has coincidentally been living in a Tiny House in Georgia with his wife for the past seven years. “We have been all over the east coast with festivals,” said Kernohan. In this particular instance, Kernohan described how his Tiny House Association has teamed up with Miranda’s Hearth of Massachusetts and renamed itself the Big Mass Tiny House Festival. 

“Our big mission is to bring a focus to tiny living,” Kernohan said. “It would be easy to sit on our land and just be satisfied living in our Tiny House. But after the housing crash of 2008-2009, people were in a panic mode.  Some people even had to completely re-evaluate how they wanted to live. These people were struggling with the question of what they were going to do. We want to bring an awareness to tiny living.” 

“Tiny houses, which are often considered to be 400 square feet or less, are rapidly growing in popularity around the country as an alternative to traditional housing,” according to the Burlington Free Press.  “The environmental benefits of a tiny house are often a draw for prospective owners. Many homes are self-sufficient with composting toilets and solar panels.” 

Some states, however, are not on board with the tiny house movement. “While the lifestyle may be appealing, many challenges with zoning and building codes remain,” reported the Burlington Free Press.  “States like New Jersey do not give people the choice,” said Kernohan. “New Jersey doesn’t allow it, probably due its license for gambling which does not comply with the Tiny House Association’s mission,” said Kernohan. “When we attempted to hold our show in New Jersey, we featured a raffle for a significant amount of dog food, but the state stepped in and authorized us to change it from a raffle to a drawing so that it did not interfere with the state guidelines on gambling.” 

A Tiny House can be purchased for as little as $28,000 including construction and appliances. Upon entering a Tiny House, it is actually bigger inside than you would think, although it was hard to imagine living in one when taking into account the numbers of curious visitors. Suffice it to say, having your annual Christmas party at a Tiny House would be out of the question.   

Tiny Houses are, indeed, very small houses complete with virtually everything needed to live. Some Tiny Houses have cozy lofts with beds, most have gas ranges for cooking, and some even come equipped with wood burning stoves. With a Tiny House, therefore, you are trading space, but not necessarily the creature comforts of a standard sized contemporary home.   

“It’s really cool that we get to take something we love and turn it into philanthropy,” said Kernohan.  The United Tiny House Association contributes a large amount of its intake to various charities. “We donate to breast cancer support groups, to homeless veterans, and to volunteer firefighters and first responders.” 

“We have a cause that volunteers get to be a part of, not just work at,” said Kernohan. “We reach out.  We had one school in Georgia provide us with volunteers and we ended up writing them a check for $3,000 donated to their track program for the dedicated work of their students.” 

“Our objective,” said Kernohan,“is to keep growing, to put everybody in the community first, and not just us.” 

As a rule, people are always genuinely proud of their homes. “Some people take photos of their houses to show you. Some people put pictures of their houses on Facebook. In our case, we actually get to bring our homes to the events.” 

Taking the price, the mission, the simplicity, and the sense of adventure associated with Tiny Homes I was somewhat inspired. Visiting the Tiny House Festival provided me at least a minimal amount of interest in purchasing a Tiny House and taking it, well, home with me.