With renting prices increasing day-by-day and the ability to afford a mortgage becoming nigh-on impossible for people in the modern day than ever before, it seems like for many people owning a house, let alone their dream house, is a thing of the past.
However, the team at CaravanTimes have come across an adventurous young web designer, Alek Lisefski, who decided to ditch the money-splurging renting woes and build his own 8x20ft caravan house on a flatbed tralier.
Alek Lisefski lives full-time in his towable creation, the Tiny House with his girlfriend Anjali and their dog, Anya.
The main construction of the house took Alek seven months to build and most of the time he was working alone during weekends and evenings.
But including the research, planning and designing before the construction stage, the whole process of building the Tiny House took a year.
And it was time well spent, as the photographs below show, who wouldn’t love to live in such a charming and unique house?
The Simple Life
Alek explained on his detailed and inspiring blog, Tiny Project, that he built the Tiny House in an “attempt to live a simpler, more conscious, debt-free life.”
And he is not alone in his way of thinking, as the Tiny House movement is rapidly gaining popularity in the US, other well-known examples include the Tumbleweed House and Jack in the Box.
Alek’s blog, which has run from 2 February last year until last month, talked potential Tiny House builders through the construction process, including various household product reviews and the journey the family and the Tiny House made from Iowa to Sebastopol, California.
Take a look at the video below to see the house while still in its construction period:
On 2 March, Alek revealed the Tiny House Construction Plans including detailed elevation, floorplans and framing diagrams with dimensions, trailer specifications and also a complete, editable SketchUp model.
The plan was to sell these plans to potential Tiny Project adoptees, who had been inspired by his creation.
Alek told CaravanTimes:
“I’ve sold a hand full of the plans. People seem to be excited about them, but of course I’d like to be making more sales than I am.
“So far I am really happy that I created the plans and the photo book as well.
“It’s fun to have to products to sell both for the benefit of other potential tiny house builders and also to help recoup just a small percentage of the cost of the house.”
On 19 March a Photo Book of the Tiny House was released in both PDF and a printed version. The book contains 62 pages of photos and almost 200 images altogether.
We were intrigued to know how Anjali thought about living in the Tiny House, as only taking Alek’s word may have gives us quite a biased view.
But in a recent blog post, she explains that living in the Tiny House isn’t a decision she regrets.
Anjali says: “Living in this beautiful house has been incredibly enjoyable! For the most part, transitioning to this lifestyle has been easy and even graceful.
“The house truly does feel like a home. Because Alek (and helpers) designed and built it so consciously and carefully, it has what we need as a couple.”
And we can expect further blog posts from Anjali soon, as she is busy studying for her psychology degree.
Where are they now?
After making the 2,000 mile journey, towing the Tiny House, Alek and Anjali have settled on the West Coast.
“We currently live in Sebastopol, California. We have a lovely family hosting us in their backyard we do yard work (and pay a very small amount of rent) in exchange for the place to park and live,” Alek tells us.
It’s hard not to get swept up in their enthusiasm and optimism, and with the plans selling it may not be long before we see England’s answer to the Tiny House Project.
To enjoy a slideshow of the amazing caravan house, click below:
