Tara and Bryan's tiny home, dubbed Terrapin Station, is a 12-foot-wide, 36-foot-long dream.
You might see tiny homes as glorified boxes furnished with the bare necessities, but they've got lots of potential. Terrapin Station, for instance, has a flat-screen TV, an electric fireplace, a washing machine, and a dryer.
Even with all that, they still have space left over. Bryan shared that they were worried about kitchen space, but as they've gone on, they still have empty cupboards. "We have a lot of extra space," he said. "Tiny homes are great at having multiple functions for different things."
Built by Tru Form Tiny, a luxury tiny home builder based in Oregon, Tara and Bryan bought their property in the woods for $30,000. Compared to the current average cost of a home in the U.S., which usually comes with much less property, that's a steal. At the time of writing, the average home costs $512,800.
Their monthly expenses are even cheaper. According to the caption of the video posted by Tiny Home Tours, they pay about $100 for water, power, and internet. That's over $6,000 cheaper than the average American's monthly expenses.
Bryan said that one of the best things about tiny homes is how fast they heat up and cool down, taking 45 minutes max. "Which is perfect," he added, "compared to a regular-sized house, which will take … five or six hours."
Not only does this drive down the cost of heating and air conditioning, it also benefits the environment. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, about one-tenth of U.S. homes are heated by gas. This releases fossil fuels into the atmosphere, warming our planet.
Even if Tara and Bryan used gas, it would be a fraction of how much energy it takes to heat a larger home, limiting both expenses and pollution.
There are lots of ways to lead the tiny home lifestyle. One man converted his vehicle into a "mini house on wheels," while another built an off-grid tiny home powered by solar panels in just a few months.
Regardless of how you do it, tiny home dwellers across the board seem satisfied with their lifestyles. "It's been the best thing … I've ever done …" Bryan said.
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