≡ Menu

Living in a Tiny House for Seven Years: Interview with Dee Williams


This post contains affiliate links.

A radio interview with Dee Williams, author of Go House Go, was just published how she has been living in a tiny house for 7 years.

She was interviewed on Earth Beat by Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Dee has gone from 1,500 square feet to a tiny house on a trailer that consists of just 84 square feet.

Dee Williams has been Living in a Tiny House for Seven Years

In the interview, Dee explains how her only living expense is a $7 per month propane bill. Her water comes from the tap from her neighbor, who’s backyard she’s parked in. In exchange, Dee barters her time.

Thanks to her low living expenses she only has to work part-time which frees her up to do what she loves and help the people around her. According to the interview, Dee owns about 305 things, if you count everything.

Seven Years in a Tiny House

Listen in to the interview so you can hear someone’s direct experiences on living in a tiny house for seven years, including…

  • Reasons why she loves living tiny
  • Why she could go even smaller
  • Her biggest surprises since downsizing
Dee Williams - Tiny House Radio Interview

Photo Courtesy of Dee Williams

Watch a Video, Tour, and Interview with Dee Williams and her Tiny House

Dee Williams used to live in a 2,000-square-foot, 3-bedroom home. Then she traveled to Guatelama (to help build a schoolhouse) and when she came home her house felt too big so built herself a home that fit. That turned out to be a 84-square-foot foot home on wheels that cost her $10,000: $5000 for the materials (mostly salvaged) and the other half for the solar panels and low-E (low thermals emissivity) windows.

Dee Williams TEDx Speech from 2012: Dream big, live small

How much stuff does a person really need? This is a question Dee Williams has been challenging for years, and after a pivotal trip to Guatemala seven years ago, her conclusion was: not much. Dee sold her home, got rid of most of her belongings, and began limiting herself to about 300 possessions — that was everything from heels and a toothbrush, to a couple of dinner plates and a two-ton jack. She then built a tiny house on wheels, parked it in a friend’s backyard, and commenced re-defining her understanding of the basics: community well-being, gratitude, happiness and the compost toilet.

Dee’s Little House on the Trailer

What do you think? What would your life be like in a tiny house like Dee’s? Could you see yourself in it?

If you enjoyed this interview you’ll love our free daily tiny house newsletter with even more!

This post contains affiliate links.

The following two tabs change content below.

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!
{ 9 comments… add one }
  • sesameB
    November 21, 2011, 10:14 am

    Excellent. Just excellent.
    Eco Nappy hair & barefootin’ drinking spring water in south central sunny Arkansas – living in a tiny house, too!

  • sesameB
    November 21, 2011, 11:59 am

    Dee, many, many senior citizens across America need your workshops, especially in the state of Florida, case in point: Jacksonville man, 74, loses home in morning blaze
    Posted: November 21, 2011 – 5:09am
    Herman Jackson never asked for much. He grew up in Bainbridge, Ga., plowing fields behind mules — “from sun to sun,” he said. He moved on to work 20 years for Union-Camp as a forklift operator and boilermaker. But he lost the little he had trying to stay warm Monday morning when a fire destroyed most of his home in the 800 block of West 17th Street.The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department received the call about 3 a.m. and arrived in less than five minutes, said District Chief Steve Gerbert. Yet by the time they arrived, there was heavy fire showing and the blaze had already claimed a large part of the house, Gerbert said. But Jackson said it wasn’t just a house to him. “My godmother left me the house when she died,” Jackson said. “I took care of her while she was sick with cancer.” Jackson managed to escape the flames that ignited when he attempted to refill a kerosene space heater, then smother the flames with blankets and clothes. He alerted neighbors who called 911, but he couldn’t save his home.”My whole life was in that house,” he said. Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-11-21/story/jacksonville-man-74-loses-home-morning-blaze#ixzz1eMEM3GQy

  • Tündi
    May 31, 2014, 2:45 am

    Hi, Alex! I’d like to download the mp3 version of Dee’s interview, but user name and password are needed. Can you help me?

    I’m from Hungary, can it be the problem?

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.