Our Origin Story
We were bitten by a radioactive spider and got tiny house powers!
But really, we all met through our love of tiny houses. Lina met Karin and Tony through PAD tiny house workshops and Ben through a tiny house tour she coordinated. By the summer of 2013, all of us were either building or living in tiny houses and we began helping each other design and build. We bonded. And we knew there were others out there like us. So we began gathering for potlucks to discuss the possibility of creating a tiny house community. We were all interested in the social, financial, and environmental benefits of living in community. We also wanted to share more of our resources as well as our daily challenges and joys.
We started talking about how we could make tiny houses legal in Portland and we quickly learned we were ahead of our time. Our beloved city was preoccupied with other bigger fish, so they encouraged us to move forward with a nod and a wink. We decided that the best option would be to move forward with a cohousing model where we all shared the common house and extensive common facilities. (You can read more about how we're zoned in the FAQ.)
As our potluck group got larger we broke into smaller working groups. Karin, Tony, Ben, and Aline created a working group to find a piece of property suitable for a tiny house community and after months of shopping for a property with a realtor, they weren't able to find one. So Tony biked around the Cully neighborhood where lots are big, gardens are plentiful, and neighbors are chill. He put hand written notes on people's doors, telling them what we wanted to do and asking if they'd consider selling their property. He got three responses, so we picked the one we liked the best and moved forward with a for sale by owner.
Tony, Karin, Ben, and Aline worked together to create our Community Living Agreements, a set of guidelines for how we want to interact with each other. Then we invited Lina to move in with her tiny house, The Lucky Penny, and she enthusiastically agreed. We all moved to the property in the summer or fall of 2014 and most of us have been living (almost) happily ever after! Ben and Lina have moved on, but they're both still in the neighborhood. Check out Good Eatin', Meetin' Time, and Work & Play to learn more about our lifestyle.
We were bitten by a radioactive spider and got tiny house powers!
But really, we all met through our love of tiny houses. Lina met Karin and Tony through PAD tiny house workshops and Ben through a tiny house tour she coordinated. By the summer of 2013, all of us were either building or living in tiny houses and we began helping each other design and build. We bonded. And we knew there were others out there like us. So we began gathering for potlucks to discuss the possibility of creating a tiny house community. We were all interested in the social, financial, and environmental benefits of living in community. We also wanted to share more of our resources as well as our daily challenges and joys.
We started talking about how we could make tiny houses legal in Portland and we quickly learned we were ahead of our time. Our beloved city was preoccupied with other bigger fish, so they encouraged us to move forward with a nod and a wink. We decided that the best option would be to move forward with a cohousing model where we all shared the common house and extensive common facilities. (You can read more about how we're zoned in the FAQ.)
As our potluck group got larger we broke into smaller working groups. Karin, Tony, Ben, and Aline created a working group to find a piece of property suitable for a tiny house community and after months of shopping for a property with a realtor, they weren't able to find one. So Tony biked around the Cully neighborhood where lots are big, gardens are plentiful, and neighbors are chill. He put hand written notes on people's doors, telling them what we wanted to do and asking if they'd consider selling their property. He got three responses, so we picked the one we liked the best and moved forward with a for sale by owner.
Tony, Karin, Ben, and Aline worked together to create our Community Living Agreements, a set of guidelines for how we want to interact with each other. Then we invited Lina to move in with her tiny house, The Lucky Penny, and she enthusiastically agreed. We all moved to the property in the summer or fall of 2014 and most of us have been living (almost) happily ever after! Ben and Lina have moved on, but they're both still in the neighborhood. Check out Good Eatin', Meetin' Time, and Work & Play to learn more about our lifestyle.