Tiny Homes <Thread # One>

Turning a garage into an in-law unit as empty nest alternative

Stacy Lince’s family of four and her widowed mother, Lee Reich, were paying a collective $4,000 per month (and rising) to rent their separate homes in Santa Rosa, California. Deciding to pool their resources, they bought a modest home with a detached garage that they could convert into a home for grandma.

When they started the project, the city fees were nearly a dealbreaker at $25,000, but a local tragedy intervened. When the Tubbs fire destroyed 5,000 homes in the area, the city radically cut fees for secondary units and the Stacy and her mom were now looking at only about $5,000 in fees.

The 380-square-foot converted home is less than a fifth the size of the home Reich had shared with her husband, but she loves the cozy space, likening it to “a hug”. She managed to carve out a bedroom and spacious bathroom, separated by a sliding door from the living room and kitchen.

After significantly downsizing her possessions (largely by giving away books and her king-sized bed), Reich says she now fits easily into her custom-designed space. The home lacks only a dishwasher (Reich says she is happy hand-washing the same bowl and cup every day) and a washing machine (there is a shared washer/dried unit in a shed behind the main house).

Kristie Wolfe's fairytale tiny house: giant potato + silo conversion

Kristie Wolfe spent over a year touring the U.S. with a giant potato to promote Idaho's spud industry and dreaming about turning the 28-foot-long tuber into a tiny home. Seven years later when the tater was finally retired, her wish came true. Kristie transformed the interior of the concrete, plaster and steel structure into a light-filled (for something with no windows) and cozy shelter, using whimsical furnishings like a DIY antler chandelier above the bed and a wine refrigerator for the kitchen.

Not wanting to add on to the potato for more space, she transformed a 14-foot-diameter grain silo into a bathroom. She turned an over-sized steel tub into a bathtub and created her own water-recycling sink/toilet combo.

To obtain permitting for guests, the city required Kristie to build a separate home and consider the potato an accessory unit (or ADU). With rooms already booked, she wanted to build the quickest and cheapest structure possible so she bought plans for a "Walden" tiny home and left it bare-bones minimum for permitting purposes.

The property, which she bought for $5000, is a 20-minute drive to Boise and in wintertime surrounded by fields of dirt so to add more activity for guests, she bought a cow. Dolly turned out to be more of a. pet than her dog and a love of her life. Now she's adapting her own tiny house on the property with windows that open up for Dolly's visits.