NEXT AVENUE - SPECIAL SECTION
When my husband, Dale and I moved in 2007 to our 480 square foot lake cabin in the Ozark Mountains, we had no idea we would accidentally become trend setters. Our original plan was to build another 1,000 square foot home and use the cabin as my office and a guest house. Then the Great Recession hit. Dale was laid off and we learned during that winter we could live pretty comfortably in a tiny house. We did build a separate 320 square foot studio to use as my workspace and a guest house for friends and family. What’s Happened to the Tiny House Movement? By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell
In 2009, I created the blog, Living Large in Our Little House, and wrote a book by the same name.
When Dale died in 2018 and I tried to decide what my life would be going forward, I lost touch with those involved in the Tiny House Movement. "We're still here," says Kent Griswold, 63, who lives in Bend, Oregon, and is founder of the Tiny House Blog, believed to be one of the first blogs about tiny houses. "The movement hasn't stopped growing, it's just not in the public eye as much anymore." Art Laubach, organizer of the Colorado Tiny House Festival, says the festival has grown from builders showing 28 homes the first year in 2018 to 55 to 65 homes in the following years.
“The movement hasn't stopped growing, it's just not in the public eye as much anymore.”
"Anytime the economy is down, alternative living options go up and when things are unstable, people are looking for a more stable way to live," he says. When I was able to evaluate my own circumstances, the only downside, really, is the remoteness of my tiny cabin. The land and eventually, our tiny house, was our dream. Once I found ways to make it My Little House, I decided I'm still right where I want to be.
"We were hoping to have more builders after COVID this year, but they were all too busy,” he explains.
Laubach says due to the pandemic, which has made people re-evaluate what is important, retirees, mature widows and single women are driving much of the demand today.
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