From five acres to tiny house!
As a girl, I loved to draw house plans in the sand on the beach. But they weren’t your typical dream homes – they were railway carriages turned into tiny houses.
And the older I got, the more elaborate my miniature makeovers became!
But it wasn’t until I was retired and in my seventies that I began to realise my childhood dream.
It happened when my daughter Lynda talked me into purchasing an iPad.
Online, I came across the Tiny House movement.
‘This is amazing!’ I cried, obsessed with the idea of building my own.
‘What do you think?’ I asked my husband Eric, 81.
‘Do it if you like, but I don’t really want anything to do with it,’ he laughed. I couldn’t blame him. When we’d moved onto a five-acre property over 20 years earlier, he’d built our three-bedroom house himself, with me as his chippie. However, now Eric had a chronic illness, so he had to take things easy.
Lynda found a company which specialised in tiny houses.
‘Can you build me one measuring 20ft by 8ft on a trailer?’ I asked. ‘I’ll fit it out myself.’
When it arrived, it was just a box with one door, five windows and six wheels. ‘Perfect!’ I said.
I wandered around with a tape measure, working out how much room to leave between the built-in furniture so we could move around comfortably.
Next, I wanted to paint the exterior, so I borrowed my friend’s trestle, which meant I could reach the top – much to everybody’s horror!
‘It looks great,’ said Lynda, when I’d finished three weeks later.
She even started an Instagram page for me, @pammystinyhouse.
To my amazement, I soon had people from all over the world following the progress of my tiny house.
More space means more stuff… and I want a simple life
Once a plumber and electrician had fitted water and power points, I added insulation.
Then I watched lots of videos on YouTube and began building stairs up to the bedroom loft from timber Eric had stored in our shed for the past 50 years!
Very reluctantly, he let me use his electric workbench saw, but after each use, he’d come out and count my fingers! And I always made sure to do lots of measuring before cutting!
Now, I’m gradually getting rid of our old belongings.
I’m putting the kitchen in next, followed by a composting toilet.
My plan is that by the time Eric needs me full-time, I will
Pamela is making her childhood dream
come true
have much less to look after.
More space means more stuff to deal with and I want a simple life. I’ll happily leave my five-acre property behind and move into my tiny house – rent free.
My aim is to live in a community with other owners of tiny houses.
And if I want a change of scene, I can always move my home on wheels to wherever I want to go – just like the railway carriage house I dreamt of as a child!