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High School Geometry Class Builds Tiny Home


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Students at a Pflugerville, TX high school built this 144 square feet tiny home during the 2014/15 school year in a class combining both traditional Geometry and a construction class.

The home includes an open living room with a sleeping loft over the kitchen and bathroom area. There is also a small loft located over the covered porch. The kitchen includes a stainless steel sink, a match light 2 burner propane cook top, a mini-refrigerator, two GFCI outlets and a dedicated 20 amp circuit for a microwave. The bathroom includes a full size shower and toilet. Hot water is provided by a Rinnai instant heater. Interior trim is knotty pine sealed with clear “Deft” which brings out the grain in the wood. The exterior is cedar lap siding stained on both sides. Exterior trim is cedar as well. 

The roof is a 26 gauge steel standing seam roof–leftover materials from a commercial office building which were donated to the school. The home was built using modified Tiny Tumbleweed Homes “Elm” plans. The students in the class used terms and formulas from the Geometry class almost every day during the school year and they built a truly outstanding tiny home. 

High School Geometry Class Builds Tiny Home

Geometry Class Builds Tiny Home 001

Images © Jerry Richey

Geometry Class Builds Tiny Home 002 Geometry Class Builds Tiny Home 003

Images © Jerry Richey

Hi Alex. My name is Jerry Richey. I teach at Hendrickson High School in the Pflugerville, TX school district. Another teacher and I teach a class which combines Geometry and Construction. The big project the students complete each year is the construction of a tiny home. This year we were given a set of plans by Tiny Tumbleweed Homes for their “Elm” plan and our kids did a great job building a really well constructed tiny home. We sell our home each year to help fund the program for next year.

For sale for $19,000 USD. Please contact Jerry Richey by email at richeygttx {AT} suddenlink {DOT} net if you’re interested in purchasing it.

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 13 comments… add one }
  • M
    July 13, 2015, 12:57 pm

    I’ll buy it! Oh..wait. I don’t have a place to put it. Yet. 😉

  • Matt
    July 13, 2015, 1:39 pm

    Young people learning useful skills in a public school?! This place must not have drank the common core Kool aid yet. Awesomely crafted, I think it’s wonderful

  • Rue
    July 14, 2015, 4:09 am

    If my geometry class had been like this, I’d have paid a lot more attention! 😉

    Much more impressive than the last class project we’ve seen on this site….this one looks and sounds perfectly livable. Nice job!

  • Marcy
    July 14, 2015, 9:28 am

    Awesome job!! If I had somewhere to put it, I’d be seriously interested. This home looks commercially produced, not like a school project. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the students decide to take up tiny house building as a profession.

  • July 14, 2015, 10:31 am

    Outstanding!!! Good job to the students, and kudos to the teachers, actually teaching something useful in everyday life.

    I live just up I35 from Pflugerville and would love to see more schools do similar projects. Highly educational!

    Compliments to Tumbleweed too for the donating plans. Keep up the good work.

    I like the fact that it is on skids instead of a trailer also.

    Wonderful job everybody!

  • Linda
    July 14, 2015, 11:52 am

    In Idaho, I noticed the Horseshoe Bend High School has also built a beautiful tiny house on a trailer that they are taking bids on. Minimum bid $15,000.

  • Cynthia
    July 14, 2015, 1:59 pm

    Wow! This is awesome. I am a great grandmother and when I was in school geometry was my worst subject. If I could have seen a practical application it might have helped especially if the application was building such a wonderful and functional home. I applaud the teacher and students for taking on this project. Practical application in most things provides such confidence that many amazing things are accomplished in the future. Well done every one.

  • Michael B
    July 14, 2015, 8:21 pm

    This is an awesome little house! Great job by all involved (including those who donated any materials) Teachers, thanks for investing time in these students, I’m sure they appreciate it. Students GREAT JOB! Excellent hands-on experience.

  • Shirley
    July 15, 2015, 1:59 am

    This is the house and price range I have been lookin for. Many of the tiny homes have been much more fancy and also so expensive. If I had a place to put it right this minute, I would have contacted the school and sent the money. These are the homes and prices that young people just getting out of college or the older people getting ready to retire are looking for. A simple life that allows us to be mortgage free so we can do other things in our lives. Wish more schools would take on these projects. Great for everyone involved.

  • Nanny M
    July 15, 2015, 5:30 am

    Education as it should be. Inspiring. What fun it must have been.

  • Barb B
    July 16, 2015, 8:28 pm

    WOW! Are you sure this was a high school project built by students? It looks soooo professional! Great vision and guidance, Jerry! All of you guys and gals are awesome! You will remember this for the rest of your lives!

  • mar
    July 31, 2015, 8:53 pm

    awesome homes it might be just the way to promote tiny home communities faster….just saying. get schools involved in making a home and putting it up for auction or sale to make money for them to do things around the school that need to be done. win win situation…..1 lucky person gets a home and the kids learn a new trade and possibly pick up a good trade on the way!

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