Chris Shipp has designed and built custom homes, some of which are shown here, over a 40 year career of evaluating the use of space and resources. No matter how much super insulation and energy efficiency one puts into a large home it will use proportionately more energy and resources to produce and maintain than a smaller home.  

The phrase “knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else”* tells only part of the tiny house story. There is a widening affordability gap between standard housing and what households can afford. The financial reality of mortgages, cost of land, taxes, maintenance, insurance and utility costs associated with conventional housing puts home ownership out of reach for many.   

Tiny homes are being built and lived in for little more than the cost of first month rent, last month rent and the security deposit often associated with renting. Tiny homes in the backyard of the family home provide young adults, or aging family members,  a place to live at home (zoning dependent) with greater independence and nearby support without living in the same house. 

If housing innovations had kept pace with mobile phones the average home would grow food, produce and store energy, collect, store and filter water, monitor heath, secure the occupants, encourage community, transform for multiple uses and require virtually no maintenance.  The goal at Tiny House Villages is not to create more features for more cost but more freedom and less overhead.  

Contact: chris@chrisshipp.com for more information about designing your home.

Chris  Shipp

*Jay Shafer, cofounder of the Small House Society, Graton, California