Why a tiny house?
We wanted a tiny house not because we wanted less -- but because we wanted more. More freedom, more flexibility, more intentionality in how we spent our money and our time.
In 2017, we were living in the San Francisco Bay Area, paying over $30,000 a year in rent. We knew there had to be a better way. Not a compromise -- an upgrade. A home we designed ourselves, built to our exact specifications, that we actually owned.
We weren't looking to downsize into a minimalist box. We wanted a tiny house that felt like a real home -- with a full kitchen, a walk-in closet, a dishwasher, and room for a growing family. We wanted to prove that living small didn't mean living without.
What this guide covers
This guide is everything we wish we'd had when we started. It covers the full journey from the first zoning phone call to move-in day and beyond:
- Zoning -- the most important (and confusing) first step
- Budgeting -- what it actually costs and where the money goes
- Financing -- how to pay for something banks don't understand
- Designing -- the layout decisions that matter most in small spaces
- Living -- the day-to-day reality of tiny house life
- Finding Land -- where to put your tiny house
- Receiving -- move-in day logistics
- Expanding -- when you need a little more room
- Reflecting -- what we'd do the same and what we'd change
A note about our tiny house
Our tiny house -- named "Escher" after our daughter -- was a 300-square-foot custom build on a triple-axle trailer. It was built by New Frontier Tiny Homes and featured in over 20 major publications including Dwell, Domino, Apartment Therapy, Curbed, and Cup of Jo.
In 2020, it was destroyed in the Northern California wildfires. We lost everything. But the knowledge, the experience, and the community we built around it remain. That's what this guide preserves.