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Woman Ditches Mortgage and Builds Tiny Home


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After owning a conventional home and feeling stressed by the pressure of paying a large mortgage on her own by mortgage arrangers, Natalie, a Canadian woman in her mid-thirties, decided to build a tiny house on wheels.

Starting with plans from Tumbleweed, she adapted the design for extreme winter weather by installing spray foam insulation, a heat recovery ventilation system, electric in-floor heating and a propane heater. Natalie built the house with the help of a contractor and the whole project, including labor, cost approximately $36,000 CAD (although the roof still needs to be shingled).

The tiny house is currently parked in a suburb of Montreal, Canada where she has been living in it for a year and a half. She plans to live in this house forever and, with a little bit of work (i.e. taking down a portion of the backyard fencing), she can take her home wherever she goes.

Woman Ditches Mortgage and Builds Tiny Home

001 Montreal Tiny House 72dpis

Images © Exploring Alternatives via YouTube

002 Montreal Tiny House 72dpis 003 Montreal Tiny House indoors2 72dpis

Images © Exploring Alternatives via YouTube

Video: Natalie’s Tiny Home on Wheels

Natalie blogged about her tiny house building process here:
https://tinyrefuge.wordpress.com

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Mat is a super talented visual artist from Ottawa/Gatineau who believes in spending less time working and more time living. Despite his acute fear of germs and all forms of transportation, he manages to travel the world without running into too many problems. His favourite things in life include playing a good game of chess, sleeping in, making art, watching movies based on true stories, and most of all, spending time with his friends and family. You can check out his art at www.matdube.com and his tiny living blog at www.exploringalternatives.ca. You can also subscribe to his Exploring Alternatives YouTube Channel.

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{ 9 comments… add one }
  • Marcy
    December 20, 2015, 12:51 pm

    Alex, I really enjoyed this video. A nice mix between the house itself and the motivation and feelings about living tiny. Thanks for sharing, Natalie.

    • Alex
      December 20, 2015, 1:30 pm

      Thanks Marcy I’m glad you enjoyed it too! 🙂

  • Eric
    December 20, 2015, 1:32 pm

    Nice little place. Would have liked to see more of the bathroom, as that’s a pretty important part of the lifestyle here. I’m left to guess that she uses a composting toilet. Personally, I’ve come to the conclusion that for a house on wheels to be a place i want to live in for the rest of my life, it will have to have pop outs pretty much the whole length of the place, AND have the top pop up so one can stand in the loft. OR, have the place looking enough to where the bedroom can be on the main floor. I also think an incinerator toilet is the way to go, literally, (see what i did there?), if it’s possible to address the smell issue, which i understand is not so great. Maybe Poo-Pouri? Seriously.

    • Marsha Cowan
      December 11, 2017, 1:02 pm

      Sounds like you’re talking about a regular small two story house.

      • Eric
        December 11, 2017, 1:17 pm

        Not really. I currently live in a 10’x27′, single story, cottage. Not on wheels. Perfect for one person, considering I have a garage with laundry room in it I can use, and a shed for “stuff”. I have no “living room”, but being one person, I don’t care. I would much prefer another 2′ deep and another 3 – 6 feet wide – 12×30 or 12×33, (396sf to keep it under 400sf for tax purposes). A little more room at the end of the bed and a bigger bathroom to fit a tun/shower instead of the 30″x30″ shower stall, which is pretty tight. Perhaps a loft, with stairs, with a pop-up top, for a living room… assuming the loft doesn’t count in the square footage, tax-wise…

  • Mark Schroeder
    December 21, 2015, 9:49 am

    Say, wondering if I could get a lead on the “Luno C2” vent system.
    Not sure I spelled it right since I couldn’t find such an item on the web. Thanks, Mark

    • gail
      February 4, 2016, 6:58 pm

      google lunosE2 http://www.lunos.de/en
      orhttps://foursevenfive.com/product-category/ventilation/lunos-e2-2/

      they are sold in the US by a company called foreseven five

  • Scott
    December 16, 2017, 2:13 am

    Was wondering about water pipes freezing up in extreme cold weather when she’s not home. Also, maybe change the outlet cover outside to one of those bubble looking ones to prevent snow buildup and creating a mini ice dam on the cover…small changes but really effective.

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