for a young family moving into a tiny
house on wheels can be no small thing
but here in Asheville North Carolina
we've found a home that thanks to some
really big design ideas has truly
managed to make it work
[Music]
hey Andrew hey good nice to meet you
mate
hi Rachel Hellion I absolutely love this
tiny house what was it that actually
made you want to build a tiny house on
wheels just the freedom I don't want to
be a house broke and I'm tired of
running and so we wanted a cheap house
and saved her money and built it in one
year and now we're debt-free especially
here in Asheville this is a city right
now that it's in the middle of a housing
crisis isn't it there's a lot of people
that are really struggling to find
affordable housing in this city
and I think that's why we're seeing a
bit of an explosion in the tiny homes
that are being built here the rent is
skyrocketed it's so expensive during a
house here also or buy a house here the
cost of living is up while our wages are
down so building a tiny house and living
tiny you can live on the little wages
and actually Bank some money and I have
to say this is a really nicely designed
home you actually came up with the
design for this yourself didn't you yes
I watched the TV shows and YouTube shows
and just came up with our own design
will it work for us and I want a tall
man so we actually have a master bedroom
downstairs and we also have loft for our
son and extra loft on the other side so
we can sleep quite a few people what are
the dimensions of this home actually it
is 8 foot wide by 24 foot long by 13
foot six high to the highest point I
really like the wood that you've used on
this as well what's the set on the
exterior this is cedar beadboard and
then we used the metal on the bottom
well I would love to have a look on the
inside can we take a page sugar
all right after you
oh this one is gorgeous okay now you're
obviously no stranger to building AI
you've done this before yes since I was
young
so with a background working as a
builder what was the challenge like of
taking on a tiny house on wheels was it
very different to other kinds of
projects that you've done in the past oh
yes just trying to get everything into a
smaller space like the plumbing and
electrical and even the storage coming
up with storage for everything that we
need day to day no I'm just gonna go out
on a limb here and have a guess is that
a table that's hanging on the wall yes
it will come off the wall and has
foldable legs and that's our dining room
table and if we would like to take it
outside we can take it outside and move
it around and I love how you eventually
created this as a true work of art this
is truly beautiful how you've got the
Risen end lays there as well it's just
such a wonderful feature and how cool
and practical as well thank you really
really nice couch you've got there thank
you and then have you got storage which
is built into this as well yes this is
drawers that pull out and the back will
fold down and make a bed for guests to
sleep on and a really nice-sized kitchen
you've got here as well yes I designed
it almost like a normal kitchen and
we've got a full size range because I do
a lot of baking and that was one
sacrifice I didn't want to give up was a
smaller range or a convection oven and
not only that but it's gas instead of
electric and our refrigerator is close
to a full size as it can be and the
washer/dryer is also in the kitchen and
it's a washer/dryer combo so you just
have to put your laundry in for a wash
and when the wash cycle is done you just
turn the little knob over to dry and it
dries the clothes completely and the
bedrooms through here yes it does go on
in all right let's take a look oh this
is really great thank you and I can see
how you made this decision as a bigger
guy just walking in here it is so much
more comfortable than going into a
sleeping loft isn't it yes it is it's
almost like a normal bedroom too
it really is the bids really race so
you've obviously managed to get quite a
lot of storage under here yes on that
half of the bed we have open space for
seasonal clothes and when he was
designing it also a side of him being so
tall I also told him if he plans on
being in this house a long time I'm not
gonna be 60 years old going up and down
stairs or up and down a ladder
I wanted the master downstairs if we
could so that guests or the kids could
be upstairs that's a brilliant idea and
so on the other side we've got your
bathroom right yes
great here's the bathroom it looks like
a really good-sized shower you've got
there yes it's a three foot by three
foot shower it's plenty of room to
maneuver around in there and watch
yourself having a really nice-sized
shower it's something that often seems a
little bit superfluous in a tiny house
but it really can improve the experience
of actually living in the space because
people get home and you want to have a
good shower don't you yes I'm a
carpenter and I just look forward to
when I come home take a nice shower and
get clean and it makes all the
difference in the world and you've got
the composting toilet there as well how
are you finding that yes that's how it
would feel odd to me which is like a
normal toilet there's no water I mean
it's good for the environment you can
compost everything and it's good so
obviously you've made an unusual
decision to actually have the master
bedroom downstairs how have you used
your loft spaces then um one side is
used for our seven-year-old son it's his
bedroom and it has cubbies in there for
his clothes and his toys and so far he's
loving it and then the other side will
be used for a guest bedroom and office
so you're really right you're actually
able to comfortably sleep a good number
of individuals in this home and it's
really interesting to me as well but
even though you've taken up quite a lot
of physical space by having the master
bedroom downstairs it doesn't really
seem to have compromised on the the
sense of spaciousness that you have in
the central part of the house does it it
still feels very open and livable the
ceilings being hired
and open in the space makes it feel a
lot more comfortable and open how long
have you actually lived in this space
now I'm actually moved in here three
days has it been an adjustment already
or is it quite a natural adaptation I
feel like it has actually taken a load
off of me and for example I clean the
house today and I jokingly set the timer
and where it would have taken me two to
three hours or more to clean we moved
from a 900 square foot house to clean
that house top to bottom it took me
roughly I'll say I was being nitpicky so
about an hour and 15 minutes to clean
this house do you mind me asking what
this project actually cost a complete
around thirty to thirty-five thousand
dollars I suppose the reason that you're
able to actually construct a project of
this kind of quality for such a good
budget that's all of your labor being
poured into it as well isn't it oh yes
my weekends were taken by us and our
days and how long did this actually take
you to build you probably compact it
down into less than nine months I think
this is a really beautiful home I'm so
impressed with so many of the clever
design features that you've managed to
squeeze into this space I think the
downstairs bedroom is a really fantastic
idea and you've thought that out so well
for your future this is a home that I'm
sure you're both gonna be really happy
in thank you so much for showing me
around thank you thank you may for a lot
of young families the idea of moving
into a tiny house on wheels would be
incredibly intimidating what this house
has taught me though is that if you're
willing just to take a little bit of
extra time to get the design right you
can really make it work with the house
now taking care of this family gets to
now concentrate on the things in life
that really matter
you