Tiny homes in the valley could provide relief in housing crunch

“It’s an interesting option for a certain way to live.”

by Olivia Lueckemeyer

Across America and beyond, the tiny house trend has taken off as a means of providing efficient living at low costs. Here in Crested Butte, the grassroots of a local movement has manifested with a few tiny homes cropping up throughout the county, instigating both praise and disdain from community members. On the one hand, tiny homes could alleviate the growing housing crunch up and down valley; on the other, the dwellings tend to slip through the cracks when it comes to zoning, building and design codes.

Recently, former Crested Butte councilmember Dan Escalante tested the tiny house waters with a small dwelling on wheels situated in the backyard of his father’s Crested Butte home. It didn’t take long for his neighbors to complain about the structure, which some called an “eyesore” and an intentional attempt to circumvent zoning laws. Escalante maintains the house was his attempt to “create a housing option.”

“I started building this tiny home not to piss off the neighbors, but maybe to provide some affordable housing,” Escalante explained to the Town Council at a recent meeting.

“Am I happy it’s there?” he asked the council. “It gives people a chance to look at it and get a feel for it. It’s a great housing option, but it won’t be there forever. I do eventually want to live in it and maybe in that spot for a time. I’m not slipping through any regulations–there aren’t any.”

Eventually interim town manager Bill Crank decided that the tiny home was in violation of the code governing that particular area of town while it was under construction, so Escalante was forced to move the structure and it was relocated to county land near Crested Butte South.

All of the commotion surrounding Escalante’s project begs the question: Could these structures provide a realistic option for housing in Crested Butte? It’s no secret that the community is in the midst of a housing crunch. Tiny homes might provide relief for low-income residents who are willing to downsize in order to stay in Crested Butte for the long haul.

Resident John O’Neal is an advocate for tiny homes, although he has never lived in one himself. He is passionate about the idea of “living free”—free from debt, mortgages, and the weight of material possessions. After attending a tiny homes seminar in Austin, Texas, O’Neal says he realized the potential of these dwellings, especially for mountain communities.

“I think it’s an interesting option for a certain way to live,” O’Neal explained. “Crested Butte seems like a place where you choose to live differently so you can enjoy certain things. People give up corporate salaries and benefits to live in this really special, beautiful, unique place, so it seems living tiny kind of aligns with that view—living in a unique way so you can enjoy this place.”

O’Neal admits that living tiny is not for everyone, especially for families with multiple children. As with any movement still in its infancy, the trend can be off-putting for communities that have yet to determine where these dwellings fit in terms of governance by municipal codes and regulations.

“There are challenges,” O’Neal said. “Tiny houses are so new and people don’t know where they fit in zoning and codes. Most of them are very well built and well designed, and very attractive, it’s just they are very small. I think sometimes the plumbing and sewage issues freak out cities. But there is technology out there that allows you to be off the grid and allows you to not be connected to the utilities.”

Escalante’s tiny home was equipped with a composting toilet, which Crank determined would probably not be allowed within town limits.

Local couple Tessa Jonson and Callum Curley also jumped on the tiny-home-on-wheels bandwagon, having constructed one of the dwellings currently situated on Mark and Marcie Telander’s property outside of town. Jonson and Curley opted for a “dry-flush toilet” instead of a composting toilet because of its convenience for potential renters and to avoid attracting wildlife. According to Jonson, the tiny house movement appealed to the couple for many reasons, but mostly the desire to “live intentionally.”

“We travel a lot and have moved to a lot of different countries so we are used to keeping our belongings to a minimum,” Jonson explained. “I think everyone could do it, but I don’t know if everyone would enjoy it. It’s a great experience; the less clutter you have in your life the more focused and intentional you can be. It’s definitely something I would recommend for everyone to try.”

Jonson’s tiny home, dubbed the “Happy Hanok,” took roughly seven months to construct and amounts to only 160 square feet in size. Jonson admits that living this minimally can be intimidating for people, but that downsizing is liberating in many ways. Perhaps most enticing is the monetary savings associated with living on this small of a scale. According to the couple’s blog, the Happy Hanok cost $12,613.35, which Jonson says in three years will pay for itself. Not only is the dwelling cost-efficient, but is also income-generating.

Currently, Jonson and Curley are summering in Hawaii while they rent out their tiny home to a friend.

“Instead of putting our money toward rent, which was really going down the drain, we decided to save our rent and put it toward something that could either save or make us money, or both,” Jonson said. “We didn’t have to buy land, and we weren’t interested in getting a loan or committing to anything in that way. It was a way to be transient.”

While Jonson believes that Crested Butte should first tackle the issue of available housing stock before considering expansion, she says tiny homes could provide a solution for those who need affordable housing and don’t mind minimal living.

“I think using what we have in a more appropriate way is a better start than building more, but in terms of when more needs to be built, I think building small is a great way to go,” Jonson said. “A lot of people prefer to live with less and in less space and don’t want the town to expand more geographically, so to be able to use the space we already have more efficiently certainly makes sense, and it’s a lot cheaper to rent as well.”

It may take a certain type of person to live in a tiny home, but Crested Butte is filled with individuals who are used to making sacrifices.

Where in most places happiness is measured by material abundance; here wealth is quantified by experience.

“It’s not realistic for everyone, but it doesn’t need to be,” O’Neal surmised. “It’s a realistic option for many who want a smaller footprint and a more sustainable future and are willing to trade space for freedom.”