What exactly is a 'tiny house'? | Amy Henion | TEDxNortheasternU
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Amy Henion believes tiny houses could be the ticket to the freedom and security she and other young professionals need to succeed.
Amy Henion, like most college students and recent grads, isn't sure what the next few years will hold While fretting about how she will manage to pay the bills while still being flexible to new opportunities, Amy stumbled upon a potential solution to her concerns of high rent and poor mobility: tiny houses! In this talk Amy shares the benefits of tiny living, and the history of the ever growing tiny house movement in America.
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"gateway dream" is a brilliant way of putting it. i just discovered the whole tiny house idea literally yesterday, and i am already sold. it makes so much sense, for all the reasons you outlined.
Thank you. I've been OBSESSED with the tiny house idea. I plan to buy a small plot of land while I build my tiny home. Money wise, I should have the land paid for about the time I have put the final touch on the home. It's a scary and liberating feeling to choose this way of life. But for some of us, it seems to be the solution to our problems. Often, confronting our problems IS scary and liberating. Great talk. Thank you again for having it!
Great talk! Very good points about human interaction.
I lived in a 29' travel trailer on my 5 1/2 acres for 4 years while building my 2,600 square foot house. Within days of visiting a friend who'd purchased land to build, I sold my 900 square foot home and bought 5 1/2 acres of raw land. Without any building credentials or drafting experience I designed our 2,600 square foot home and my (ex) husband and I built the house together. It took 4 years to complete. It was the best experience (short of being a mom) of my life so far. I sold the trailer when we moved into our home and sold the home a few years ago.
I loved my trailer but look forward to building a tiny home in a few years when we officially retire. I've been encouraging my (now) 18 year-old son to build a tiny house. He has the skill and support. Living this way makes so much sense for a young person especially if they are an outdoor person.
Jay Shaffer now lives in a small home with his little family and uses his tiny house as a studio. Tiny living is a great way for young people to live life and expand their options. Tiny living is also a great way for seniors to live. Very low maintenance, low utility bills, and you can move to a community of other tiny house owners.
Don't over think the process of building. You can research the process to death and never actually get to the construction.
Great talk, Amy! I hope you've started or finished your thow by now. I've been living in mine for over a year, and am so very happy to be in it. I'm using mine as my final home, designed to be adjusted to any physical condition I may develop as I age. There's room for a wheelchair, and my bed is, of course, on the same level as everything else. The bed and the plumbing are the only permanent installations, and even they could be modified, if necessary. You can't do that in an rv. And mine was made with non-toxic wood and other supplies. I have a loft for storage, which will become less necessary as I age. I'll read those books, use those clothes, and sew that fabric, and pass it all on as I go. What a lovely way to spend the rest of my days!
Amy this is amazing. Thank you so much. I've always said I want to live in a trailer for awhile but this is 100 times better! Wonderful presentation. Thank you
This is also a HUGE movement for people of my generation, the early Baby Boomers who can't afford to retire as things stand. We're in the midst of selling our big house and going tiny ourselves so that we can retire early and live the life we want to live while we're still young enough to do so. Huge movement. It's a revolution.
Holy shit! Here we were living in a tiny (well, actually pretty small 500sf) house and spent years dreaming of a big house we couldn't really afford. Until we decided we're very lucky instead, without being snotty or sounding superior either, for the past 32 years. We own our little house free and clear (inherited) and it's a snap to heat and cool. Lots of light inside with skylights and super efficient windows and heat-saving shades. We've been living responsibly and "green" since 1982, before it was fashionable, with super efficient appliances, LEDs, extra-heavy insulation and taking advantage of passive solar with Trombe walls. We're planning a new installation of solar panels for more hot water within the next year or two. Wow, who knew our little cottage could be part of a trend?!?
Everybody we know lives in huge behemoths that are a nightmare to heat and cool, and their taxes and utilities are out of this world.
(These are couples without kids, with no prospect of them for various reasons.)
I hear you Cruithne... I too have a 500sf SMALL house... (plus a 'seasonal' room we expand into during good weather). There are no LEGAL issues, as there are with Tiny Homes... I own my own land and no one can order me to move off my land.
Also I would have no problem selling it for a decent price on the 'normal' housing market.
All things considered.. SMALL often makes more sense than TINY when looking Long Term.
Ahead of your time! Or smart at not getting drawn in to the big bill cycle.
A really well presented, passionate and informative introduction to the tiny house movement. Thank you!
Great talk, Amy! Best of luck with your future endeavors!
I always tell ppl, "own your shit, don't let your shit own you"
I'd like to have 2 or 3 tiny houses to make a tiny neighborhood on an acre of land.
mixflip That's a very doable & legal business model. Thanks for sharing.
I built my tiny house for 6500$ used 2x4’s from Home Depot and full plywood. 24x8.5’ best thing I ever did, esp when your partner leaves you. Future you will need somewhere to live in the bad times. I built mine on a old 24’ travel trailer frame was like 4000 pounds over weight and the trailer made the trip np, follow your dreams anything is possible
This is amazing. I'd love to have my own tiny house. And my future spouse would have his own to. Sounds like a dream!
Great Job Amy!
Thanks so much, Deek!
Amy Annette Henion I wish this was possible in Morocco, and I agree with u on the idea that we r controled by the stuff we own....
Great job Amy!
This is so cool. I've always wanted something like this.
Get your Tiny Certified and watch the "Placement Doors" open right up for you. You can even place it on your own land as the primary structure in many areas!
A very passionate presentation, but a few caveats:
1) There is nothing that a tiny house can do that an apartment does even better, especially if you are younger or older without children and a lot of "stuff".
2) There are many well built, smaller urban and suburban homes that meet the criteria for tiny houses without having to use yet more resources. Many of these homes are less than 1000 sq ft; many are about 700 sq ft. Remember families of 4 lived these homes and now they need tender loving care to shelter young people.
3) The impetus on finding a landowner who will allow you to use utilities. Other wise you need to buya patch of land, which is truly expensive.
4) Finally, it's not a new idea, but it is an idea worth working towards :-)
you can fit a family of 3-4 in about 400-500 ft family home.
Dustin Krejci But would you WANT to? It was living conditions like that spurred the creation of the suburbs in the USA- families of 4-5 were living in spaces like that, both in countryside and in urban areas. 700 sq ft is about right for children and adults.
:D
independence.
that going to take a while to explain. :D
Well, part of what we went with a 1060 sq ft place in a walkable hood. We wanted what the families in the 50's were living in with 2 kids. We have 3 full BR, a bathroom.. what else could we need? 1 kid, the two of us.. we are living large IMHO (but I have seen friends with 1 kid in double or triple the size new homes!). Plus a park, a nice business district, library, etc.. oh, and a 15 yr mortgage. By being real with what we need, we avoided the 30 yr costs. Plus, walkability. No need to own and drive a car. That is something that will be a big issue in yrs to come. Dependence on a resource that is finite. Many tiny homes I assume are left with buying land far away from daily needs, and might be attached to a fuel using vehicle. That could prove an issue in time. Then there is connecting with others (as mentioned) if you are in a rural or super suburban area to acquire affordable land, then the tiny life might not be so fulfilling. In an urban area, it would be great!
djkenny We have tiny houses in PDX and those owners LOVE them. But as you say, many of these owners do depend on their car and rural hookups for everything! I love tiny houses- but there are issues!
very interesting!
I still live in student sized housing at 40. My life never got off the ground. I could have contributed so much to society if i would have had this option. I would have had money to spend in the economy. Now i'm just scrounging to pay rent, food and utillities and spend nothing else at all. Kind of like most of us now. If we want the economy to pick up, we need more housing choices and freedom as the old model crumbles before our eyes and very few people can actually participate, dragging down the economy even further. Just look at all the vacant realestate. We can't buy it anyway. Look, we need this! I'm not spending and i never will at this rate. This size studio appartement suits me fine. Try putting it on wheels here in Europe and see how much you get to live in it. Not going to happen. I don't aspire to having a mortgage and a McMansion. Didn't we need more spending? Haha. :D Beep the economy and society, sincerely. It never accomodated us in the first place and i'll be 60 before it might. Ta hell with it then.
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex,
the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.” - Bill Mollison
i think building a few extra tiny homes when your kids get old enough for there own privacy sounds like a good idea to me. and they will also already own a home and the world is that much more free from debt. but i am all for living together where you can hear, see and be with each other all the time, that being said having a place to balance and experience being alone is probably good to have if not necessary especially if a family member isn't comfortable with it.
Yeah, I actually have all the cash to build one right now. That's great. However, our government only really allows this as an "accessory dwelling unit" - basically in addition to your 1,500 sq ft house. If you buy land and stick this on it, you can be guarenteed that some asshole neighbor will report it because their almight property value might decrease and you will get fined daily until you're forced to move it and pay rent somewhere.
The whole idea of this movement is to NOT pay rent. I'm frustrated. Whatever happened to "give me liberty or give me death" or "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" ... We are not as free of a country as you think.
Yep. While I agree with the concept and love the idea, very few places will allow you to legally live in one of these tiny houses. I have been researching this for some time now. And lets face it. She said you could relocate because of a job. You are certainly free to do so but good luck finding a place where you can park your home while pursuing that new job. It is more reality to first find employment in a place where these are legal. and then set up your home. Most of the people I have seen do computer/internet type work from their THOW to eliminate the problem of nowhere to set it up.
That works...until one's parents die, or the little old lady you were caring for dies... and then it all tends to fall apart.
I have a legal SMALL house .. 500 sq feet... with a first floor bedroom so that if I become ill and can't climb a loft ladder I will not find myself unable to live in my house.
For me the answer is SMALL house (app. 500 sq feet) which is far more marketable down the road .. for a decent amount of money... 30+ years down the road.
If one needs a temporary situation... great, however, if one wants to settle someplace long term... THEN.... SMALL might well beat out TINY.
Government should NOT have a say in how we choose to live.
Just start with finding a trailer and collectting building materials and start building! You don't need to reed the world of book about it before you can start. When you are finished and living in it you get new ideas and then you do it again in a different way. Sell your old one to a student and move on. Succes.
Nice work Amy. No notes. Pretty slick.
i've been living in canada full time in an RV for 3 years now. i wish i could live in a tiny home. does this say anything? too bad canada has not legalized tiny homes or i would buy one.
I have a dear friend who is blessed enough to not want a lot of things, just the essentials in life. Unlike me I have a lot of things like clothes and things needed for a small Rosary making business.....and I have a husband but he chooses not to have a lot of things. I told my friend a out these tiny houses and he's super interested in them. I've been trying to find information on them but I'm not exactly sure where to look. What I found in my Google search were places that say "tiny houses" but their website talks about garden sheds. I would really like to find out where to get these so I can pass the information on to the friend.
People crammed together are easier to control
I work on the HVAC designs for homes up to 28,000 sq ft. I feel like I live in a pretty small house at 2,400 sq ft. I can't imagine me and my family trying to live in 89 sq ft
THis is the ultimate in naivete. Housing is all about the money made by the builders and taxes collected by cities. Every city in America prohibits putting what is effectively a mobile home anyplace other than a trailer park. The homes have to be licensed by the state to even be towed on a road. The reason we have McMansion is not because people demand 1000 sqft per occupant, it's because at a$100 per square foot, builders make the most profit.
and who controls zoning? cities. who wants min home sizes to be large? builders. a tiny home is functionally the same as a mobile home. They are banned in most incorporated areas
In the UK many of the new houses have some of the smallest rooms in Europe. Many of our old housing stock have small rooms. many places to rent aren't much bigger than a tiny house. Tiny houses are a great idea for a country with lots of space not the crowded continent of Europe, let alone India or the Far East. In spite of that I'd like to build and live in a tiny house.
do you think the Graham Hill Life Edited apartment is perhaps a better solution for places like the UK? It would enable us to build upwards.
Thanks for that. I shall look it up.
Can’t put anything on wheels on my AZ acreage until I have built a regular foundation house of a particular minimum size. The county trying to maintain the property aesthetics and value for the nearby McMansions.
They are not maintaining property value, not in that way! They just need bigger houses to collect bigger taxes.
I'm scared that as tiny housing becomes acceptable, regular-size housing will become scandalously overpriced and unavailable to most of us...
I would guess that, as tiny housing becomes more prevalent, the price of traditional real estate will fall in line with demand. If less people want 'normal' houses, the price should come down.
price follows supply and demand. i am not getting your logic. remember, in the US, families are getting smaller and older. the middle class is shrinking.
If demand for large houses falls as people look for much smaller dwellings, the price will follow. In a market in which everyone wants a mini-house, the value of large, traditional houses will be reduced to the value of the usable land beneath them.
***** HAHA! You are reading this all wrong, dude if you think people in tiny houses can be "house shamed" lol.
when the market collasped, millions of americans suffered the "shame" of losing their homes or the stress of living with an underwater mortgage. Nobody is going to be shamed into buying a house because you call it a caravan. people are past being shamed. You are giving your opinion on something you apparently are clueless about. go on the tiny house blogs and you will see just about ALL living options featured. not just people in tiny houses on trailers, but tiny houses on a permanent lots, people on boats, buses, "mobile homes" trailers, in vans, cars, shacks, garbage bins, everything. i doubt many folks care 2 dead flies about looking "poor". You must have brought an huge house, huh? here are youtube, there are a number of folks who took old Caravans/campers and knocked them down to the trailer to build their tiny houses. You can tell how so many of these campers are poorly made. when you see the houses being built on them, the difference is obvious.
It's funny because in my city, regular-sized housing is already scandalously overpriced for most 20/30somethings.
No city anywhere is going to allow tiny houses. This is because the municipal housing codes are set up NOT to ensure the safety and well being of residents but the financial security of the city government. I built a house in a subdivision (well - I hired a contractor to build it) and the permit for the plumbing alone was $30,000. This was a 1053 square foot home in a community of 3500 square foot homes. I borrowed $198,000 to buy the house and the total for the permits to build it were over a quarter of that amount. If you propose building tiny house communities without the complicated network of supply lines and drains, gas and electrical utilities, sidewalks, etc., then the government is going to step in, declare your house illegal, evict you from the property, and possibly fine you for daring to try to live simply. Plus if you can't afford the fine, then it's jail time, just for trying to reduce your cost of living and your impact on the environment. This happened to a woman in Florida, Robin Speronis, who lived successfully for years without electricity from the local utility, or any gas, water, and sewer lines. the city of Cape Coral charged and convicted her of illegally living off the grid, citing the "International Property Maintenance Code," which mandates that homes be connected to an electricity grid and a running water source. So tiny home communities, as enticing as they sound, are legally unsustainable and probably illegal and not really something to aspire to.
K, but people do it. Everywhere.
I have built three houses for my family since 1993. All of the houses are huge compared to current "tiny house standards". They are all well built, modest and less than 2100 sq ft.
When going from our first house to the next, we saved our pennies by living in a camper at the local campground. Just before winter we moved into the campground owners 500 sq ft house. In the spring we moved into our very unfinished (a sheathed shell) house. Four years later we did it again, except this time we moved into a 190 sq ft cabin that I built next to the new house. Three of us stayed in that cabin for a year. (currently Vermont Tree Cabin)
Having experienced both minimal and "typical" housing, I heavily favor living in a proper (typical) house! Sure, the tiny house may be fun at first but that soon fades when you are constantly bumping into each other.
Tiny houses may be a good temporary housing solution, but long term?
I love the idea.
But if you cant live in it on your own property thats a problem.
You will not taste the freedom of ownership until you own the land and structure.
If you know of a place please let me know because I would do it.
I would be open to a little larger permanent small house too!
nice talk... contrary to common practice you should always keep your first home...save up, pay cash and the passive income from your first house is great and a fallback place so you don't have to move to tent city. Oh yeah...rock is cheap. Lawson di Ransom Canyon
Living in a tiny house is pretty darn smart.
never heard of shipping containers? steel and modular? they have been doing it for a while even apartments for homeless.
Accidentally clicked on this video... But stayed cus it was interesting.
I love u amy
So really the actual design, materials use part is the easier part as this is something that is done everyday regardless of the scale of the particular home that is being built. The issue could be more about HOW do you get a community of tiny homes? One of the hardest things in the world is to find good neighbors that you can trust. I say the dream would be to find a community where if you are not a dog owner then you could not join! hahaha
How do you get energy on a portable house?
It is my dream to have a piece of land in Grand County Colorado, drill a well, and have a tiny mountain home. Though I'm almost certain that the long arm of government will soon sweep in, prosecute and arrest tiny house people, and then seize their land. It's only a Matter of time sadly.
Bruce Courtney
Did there really need to be a Ted Talk about how less space is cheaper, gives you less room for storage, and makes you NOT want to be there so you're motivated to go out and see the world? Isn't this how China works? This is a simple application of microeconomics... Thank you for applying your textbook to a real life scenario!
^^ definitely pessimising, I'm sorry. I should have clicked the next video....
so what happens when you say go to town to work out in the gym,.. and come back to find that somebody "anybody with a trailer hitch and truck " has stolen your entire house and all you own?
You have a GPS locator hidden somewhere in the house, find the thief and put him in an even tinier cage...
Insurance?
so if its on wheels can i buy a piece of land in portland and park it there and live in it ?
Homelessness resolution and poverty reduction for tiny house with legal data registration with adverse possession policy and land privatization system
and how much is all that in metric?
Hey, okay, but how do you heat them?
Just any small heater. Like you could do one for boats, and on its lowest or mid setting you are find most of the time.
Or heres a article from the Tumbleweed company mentioned in this video.
www.tumbleweedhouses.com/blogs/tumbleweed/5912819-heating-your-tiny-house
If only they had taught you something useful in school, like thinking...
Tiny house for legal data registration with adverse possession policy and land possession law or land privatization system, that's legal tiny house.
Any tiny housers in the UK?
I'm wondering about how the homes are hooked up to electricity?
oohlala lana like an RV. There is a big plug and a cord
elizabeth barrett so you always have to live at a caravan park? Or trailer park whatever you call it.
oohlala lana Many people have solar panels for electricity and wood stoves, propane heat, fans etc. Having water in the house is a little difficult not being hooked up to anything.
Geettu portable water tanks are on option. You can put it in the back of your SUV or truck and fill it up at gas stations for free
,
Can somebody please clarify how do you live in a tiny house with 3-4 children?? Most people living in tiny house do not or plan not to have children. Correct me if I am wrong.
Some people have a tiny house for their kids or more living room, or its a permanent home with less square footage. The whole idea is that you live on less because we don't need as much as we think and reduce your carbon footprint.
Mexicans do it in 1 Bedroom Apt's when they illegally come to this Country.....that is "live in a tiny house with 3-4 children??"
It's a small Apartment without the rest of the building.
Amy, I am touch by your dream, but $2k + 160 hs. of work is all you need- to have it. I prefer the camper on a 2.2 lt. truck aerodynamic 18 feet long, with a 250 cc dual purpose motorcycle garage, zodiac inflatable boat 5hp, AC, wind-solar-gas generator, water and air purification, (10 days - 1000 miles before refill). I am building it using a 25' airstream as scrap because is to large.
A travel trailer and a tiny home is almost the same thing. A name change only. Do not get faked out. They claim the tiny house is made stronger and better insulated than a trailer. A Custom built trailers are available and can made stronger and insulated.
I have a degree in architecture and could design my own tiny house.
+333midnight333 I have a degree in 'googling stuff', and o yes..I could design my own tiny house.
I have no degree, and did design my own tiny house and now I live in it. What's your point?
A tiny house and a travel trailer are not much different.
Vaibhav Poddar
Habitat for Hobbits !
Clever :-)
If they would market standard human sized homes that look just like that whimsical wooden home that Bilbo Baggins lived in The Hobbit...I would surely buy one. That was a cool home!
I think a guy called Simon Dale built one in Wales and he has the plans for it online.
LOOSE THE TRAILERS AND BUILD ON THE GROUND PERMANENTLY
GET A GROUP LAND PURCHASE TO PUT 4 - 6 TINY HOMES ON SPLIT THE COSTS WATER. ELECTRIC AND SEWER SEPTIC TANKS
GET RID OF THE TRAILER THATS $2000.00 OF WASTED COST ??
Tiny house can save money to poverty reduction
Ancaps at their finest
However if you have more than one child this doesn't seem like it would work. I'm pretty sure there are laws that state a child over certain age must have their own bedroom
+Sasset Gingerelli Where have you seen such laws? I know that a foster child cannot share a room with an adult, but I have never heard of requirements for children to have their own bedroom.
Just another excuse to buy a huge house, made up by you.
+Brandon B no I don't want a huge house. not at all. I'm about that minimalist life
There are no such laws. You can't just make up crap. Do your research and come back with facts.
There are no laws that require children to have bedrooms, unless you are adopting or fostering. In that case, there are some such rules in place. That is why adoption is such a nightmare. All the rules are set up to prevent adoptions from taking place, and the financial requirements are top among them.
Amy, did you end up building your house??
My House Is 2,655 Square Feet
Tiny house for hydrogen energy generator and biofuel generator.
Buy a camper. Tiny houses are way overpriced.
The only problem is I don't want to see a bunch of these tiny houses on the road all day long .. enough of the bullshit
Cute yes but very sad. And so hope and change has given way to a diminished American dream with a 100 sq foot home. If this is who you are and you like living in a chicken coop then I say go for it. But please don't say we have run out of land in America. We have more than 2 acres of forest for every man woman and child and illegal alien in this country. I have 4 acres in CT on the coast and this is high density there is no reason you can't do better than a landscaping trailer with a shed on it. And I have no problems with landscaping trailers I own 5 of them it goes with being a landscaper. But I sure wouldn't want to call one home.
So far in the U.S. we have the freedom to choose (to a certain degree) how and where we live. I've had 5 1/2 acres and a 2,600 square foot home (I built). I lived in a 29' travel trailer for 4 years while building and I have to say that living small expanded my mind and my life. For me now in my 60th year, I no longer desire the trappings of the "American Dream". I can no longer justify using all of the raw materials it took to build, heat and maintain my big house. I may not choose to live 'tiny' again but I never want to go back to the mindset that I need to live large to be happy.
Many people are choosing to live a more minimalist lifestyle. As we mature and grow our needs and values may shift . . . mine certainly have. I love that the tiny house movement is expanding the dream to include many more people who don't buy into the old ways of thinking about housing. BTW, I'm an arborists' wife and we own a landscaping shed and a large shipping container . . . I've entertained the idea of converting both to housing when we 'retire' but haven't convinced my husband yet ; )
What's sad about it? Since when is having a huge house evidence of a healthy American dream? Most people who lost their humongous McMansions got them with fraudulent mortgages that they couldn't afford. Tiny, or smaller, houses are a sign of a rebounding American dream, and here's why: They're extremely efficient users of resources. That alone represents a more evolved means of home ownership, and it's good for the country and lessens dependence on non-domestic energy sources. And they don't have to be as expensive as the ones Amy discussed, either.
Don't pity people who live the way they want to live, rather than how they are told to live. It may seem small to you, but to others it is what makes them happy. To each their own.
Why don't you start building instead of dreaming?
she looks 35
Your mind looks tiny.
LOL. Your comment speaks for itself.
Vaibhav Poddar