“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau may well have planted seeds for the modern tiny house movement when he went “to the woods” to live “deliberately.” The 19th-century naturalist advocated simple living, an ideal Heather and Scott Emch fully embraced about five months ago. That’s when they journeyed to British Columbia, Canada, hooked up Scott’s diesel pickup to their custom-built 240-square-foot tiny house and pulled it to Mississippi. It now overlooks a creek bank in eastern Lowndes County, creating a markedly smaller ecological footprint than their former 1,300-square-foot home in Clovis, New Mexico, and freeing up the active couple to do — well, almost anything they want.
“We wanted to simplify and wanted more time for ourselves outside of work, to literally be able to get up and go when we want to, and now we can,” said Heather, moving about the compact home’s bright interior, revealing storage spaces cleverly incorporated into the design.
A lifestyle choice
What is the tiny house movement? At its simplest, it’s a social and architectural movement in which people downsize the space they live in. So-called “tiny living” benefits can include freedom from mortgages, reduced expenses, increased free time, more flexibility to travel and, of course, a less intrusive impact on the environment.
While Thoreau provided some early inspiration, tiny house enthusiasts also credit the movement to architect Sarah Susanka and her book “The Not So Big House” (1998). Earlier pioneers include Lloyd Kahn, author of “Shelter” (1973) and Lester Walker with his “Tiny Tiny Houses” (1987).
While there seems to be no hard-and-fast rule for what constitutes a tiny house, residential structures under 500 square feet are generally accepted to be one, according to tinyhousetown.net. They can be stationary or mobile, as the Emchs’ home is.
Several factors in recent years have fueled the movement’s growth, including the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In Katrina’s aftermath, urban designer Marianne Cusato developed Katrina Cottages as an alternative to FEMA trailers; starting at about 300-square-feet, they soon attracted the interest of developers and planners. Tiny houses have also become popular as guest houses, “granny pods” and even vacation getaways — which is what Heather and Scott hope to use theirs for in a few years time.
Back to basics
Scott is a captain in the U.S. Air Force, an instructor pilot at Columbus Air Force Base. Heather is currently a substitute teacher. When they married four years ago, downsizing was nowhere on their horizon. It wasn’t long, however, before the reality of relocations inherent with military life coincided with a revelatory visit to a fellow pilot’s tiny house in New Mexico.
“Scott and I kind of joked around for a couple of months about getting a tiny house ourselves and having a simpler life,” Heather explained. At some point, the joke morphed into a “what if?” and then into a viable option worth researching. The couple chose a builder in British Columbia and collaborated on the design. While the resulting residence has a footprint of about 240 square feet, it also includes an 11-square-foot sleeping loft and a 7-square-foot loft currently used as a “climb-up closet,” Heather said. Everything fits on a 28-foot flatbed trailer.
“I liked the idea of an efficient space,” said Scott. “Essentially one that can give us all the same amenities of a regular house, but not a huge space or price tag.”
The biggest attractions, he added, were the amount of money the couple would save when relocating and the time it would free up. (They still own their home in New Mexico and currently rent it out.)
“It’s nice to know we’re not tied to another 30-year loan,” Scott added. “This will allow us to save enough money to pay cash for our next house once we finally decide on a place to settle down.”
Both husband and wife agree the change in lifestyle has greatly simplified things. No more of their weekends are spent cleaning house from top to bottom, doing yard work or clearing out a garage. It literally takes 10 minutes to accomplish any kind of weekly chores, asserted Scott.
“So we have a lot more time to do things that we just didn’t before,” he said. “Whether we are taking trips to the beach, or going paddle boarding on the Luxapalila, we always have time to kill when we aren’t at work.”
The Emchs have divested themselves of a lot of “stuff” as well. It’s an aspect of tiny living that many owners find exhilarating. Every item now is one that truly matters. Money spent goes toward “quality, not quantity,” or is freed up to save for experiences, or for the future.
Be realistic
Proponents of tiny houses acknowledge the lifestyle isn’t for everyone. If considering a move, it’s important to go see tiny houses, spend some time in one. What works for singles or couples would be more challenging for a family with children, for obvious reasons. And even couples need to be happy in close company. No problem for the Emchs.
“Even when we had our 1,300-square-foot home, we were always together,” said Heather. “It’s just not an issue.”
When every inch of space is precious, choices must be made, of course. For example, Heather passed up having a dishwasher in exchange for a full four-burner stove and “apartment-sized” refrigerator. She occasionally misses the dishwasher — as well as a bathtub — but those are minor inconveniences. The pros far outweigh the cons.
As for Scott, “I would say the biggest surprise is that I feel no different living in our tiny house versus our normal house back in New Mexico. I thought this would be an adjustment, or even a sacrifice, we were making while we were young. However, now I don’t think we’ll ever live in anything bigger than 1,200 square feet.”
Scott encourages anyone thinking about downsizing to seriously explore the possibilities. It may not mean drastically reducing to the extent he and Heather did, but “just move into whatever size house you can be comfortable in that is within your means,” he said.
The Emchs have no regrets.
“We see it as having everything we need,” said Heather. “We just walk a shorter distance for it.”
ON THE WEB:
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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