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I remember watching a TV show about building and living in Tiny Homes. They were unique and trendy. The Tiny Homes started popping up in 2008 due to the real estate crunch. The booming housing market came to an abrupt halt. The Tiny Homes started gaining popularity as a way for people to become debt free and rid themselves of that large mortgage payment.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Schapdick, the author of “The Joy of Tiny Home Living.”
When I interviewed the award winning Chris Schapdick, I asked him what inspired him to write this book? He answered that when he built his own Tiny Home, he had to dig deep to find out any information on how to build and the legalities of Tiny Home living. He said when he started to think about building his Tiny Home it was meant to be a weekend getaway on some property he bought in the Catskills outside of New York City. He never dreamed it would serve him as an isolation place during a pandemic. He is living there full-time, he said it is a good place to “shelter in place.” He said he is close to grocery stores and nobody is close by. The property he owns is 3 1/2 acres. His Tiny Home, is not mobile it is permanently on his property. His property has an artesian well, and has electricity. So everything in his Tiny Home is ran by electricity. He has his daughter with him every other 2 weeks or so, and when asked how she likes it, he states she loves it.
The only time this Tiny Home was mobile was right after it was first built and he heard of a Tiny Home Show in New Jersey, which was 50 miles from where he was going to put his Tiny Home. He decided to tow it the 50 miles to New Jersey and show it at this show. He won first place for Best Tiny Home. This show gave him recognition for his Tiny Home and his business Tiny Industrial. He has built several Tiny Homes for other people since then.
His Tiny Home is equipped with everything a normal house would have, just smaller. He does not have his Tiny Home equipped with TV because it is not important to him. He does have Broadband because our interview was done with Zoom. He points out that most Tiny Home people spend most of their time outside, they like to hike, fish and do a lot of outdoor activities.
When asked the difference between a Tiny Home and a 5th wheel or travel trailer, he said a lot of people ask that question. The answer is that 5th wheels and travel trailers are never meant to be a permanent residences, as the Tiny Home is built more like a real house only on wheels. The 5th wheels and travel trailers don’t have the same insulation and only single pane windows that do not keep in the heat or cool. The Tiny Home has the same insulation as a traditional home and double pane windows.
Tiny Homes do require minimalist living as they do not have a lot of unused space. The Tiny Homes make wise use of all available space. Everything has a purpose. Some Tiny Homes are mobile and some are permanent. The one this author is living in is permanent, but is built on wheels.It is a 20′ x 8′ home, it has a 2′ porch at the front, leaving 18′ for living space. It has 2 bedrooms, and can fit 2-3 people comfortably. Tiny Homes are built on wheels so they don’t have to worry about zoning issues, and minimum house size requirements and building up to code, by building on a trailer they are governed more by the DMV. They fall in the category of custom RV’s.
When asked what this award-winning author liked about his Tiny Home living he states that it is very peaceful, and right now during this time of a pandemic he’s very happy to be away from the densely populated New York City, New Jersey area. He said it was very easy to social distance in his Tiny Home because it sits on 3 1/2 acres. The grocery stores are easily accessible and have no lines. He is safe from Covid19 unless he brings it in somehow. He points out that although his house may be small he has a big backyard that he spends a lot of time in.
His new book, “Building Your Tiny House Dream,” that is coming out Aug. 11, 2020 is more of a hands on book about building your Tiny Home Dream House. His first book, “The Joy of Tiny Home Living,” was more technical. He wrote these books so others would be able to find information easily. Both books are available on Amazon.com.
Chris owns Tiny Industrial. He states that after he built his own Tiny Home and won the award for best Tiny Home, and he got a lot of compliments and other people wanted him to build them a Tiny Home, he decided to start this company. Building his own Tiny Home gave him great joy and satisfaction, and thus the Tiny Industrial Company was born. Check out his website: www.tinyindustrial.com
This was a fun interview, as my husband and I have always been intrigued by the Tiny Homes. We also like the 5th wheels and trailers. We keep looking at them as a way to travel. Right now during this pandemic we’re looking at it again, as a way to travel but “safer at home.” It would be ours and we’re the only ones in it. Now we may have to look at the Tiny Homes as well and add them to the list as maybe a better choice due to the fact that they may be built to last longer.
Tiny Homes can be used for travel, guest houses, offices, cabins, craft space or permanent living. Use your imagination. If interested in talking with Chris you can also email him at Chris@TinyIndustrial.com
This could certainly lead to a New Trendy Way to Travel!
My next blog post will tell you about some Tiny Home Communities in Colorado.
Howdy! This post could not be written any better!
Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this.
I will forward this write-up to him. Fairly certain he will have a
good read. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you.
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But, what about the bottom line? Are you positive in regards to the source?
As far as bottom line, this was an interview with the author of the book. You could always contact him and ask him about the bottom line.