Washington residents Malissa and Chris Tack recently gave a tour of their collection of tiny homes on Tiny House Giant Journey (@TinyHouseGiantJourney).
The couple showed how they were able to put together a community of three tiny houses with a range of shared amenities. The lot where the tiny homes were placed had to be hooked up with water and power when it was first purchased, but Malissa and Chris have been able to supplement these utilities with solar panels and rainwater collection.
Between the trio of homes is a communal fire pit and BBQ area. A large garden is also helping residents grow their own food.
One of the homes, which is rented out on Airbnb, has a composting toilet, propane stove, and lots of windows for airflow. That airflow is especially important as gas stoves introduce a lot of pollutants that induction stoves don't.
Best of all, Malissa and Chris have been able to bring up their two daughters in this lifestyle. The kids are active in gardening work and excited about inheriting a tiny home one day.
On top of being cozy and mobile, tiny homes also require less energy for heating and cooling than a standard house. This means saving money on monthly utilities and reducing home energy pollution.
Energy use is a major driver of atmospheric pollution, which, in turn, is exacerbating destructive weather patterns. These include floods, heat waves, and droughts, which are making homes uninsurable.
If you're interested in setting up solar power like the Tacks have in their tiny home community, EnergySage has a free online tool that can connect homeowners with vetted local installers. These experts can tap into rebates and credits, saving up to $10,000 on solar panel installation costs.
Viewers of Tiny House Giant Journey were super impressed by the community that Malissa and Chris had started to put together.
"I wish more places allowed little backyard communities like this," said one commenter. " People are meant to live together, and share resources. This is very sweet, and your garden is lovely. So nicely done, and a great place for your kids to grow up."
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