Best friends Becca & Anthony and Kate & Brad created a backyard tiny home village. Together they transformed a barren space into a lush oasis. Using permaculture principles, they developed landscaping to feed native wildlife and the people who live on the property. They were also really intentional about how to utilize their outdoor space to make sure that it provided privacy. Everybody enjoys communal space. But there are also individual spaces like Kate & Brad’s semi-private tiny house deck.
It all began with Anthony and Becca buying a 1925 craftsman bungalow fixer-upper. After renovating it, they converted their dilapidated garage into a 370 sqft accessory dwelling unit (ADU) home. They live it full-time and rent out the main house on Airbnb. Later, Kate and Brad moved their DIY tiny house on wheels to complete the backyard village. They all worked together to develop the landscaping, building a sense of community along the way.
Importantly, placing both an ADU and a tiny house on wheels in a backyard is legally possible in Portland, Oregon. They have adopted progressively relaxed land use rules.
“Portland has been very progressive in alternative living situations and alternative kind of dwellings. This being one (their garage conversion home), an accessory dwelling unit. And so that was definitely a factor in us moving to Portland is we wanted to be able to set this community up but do it legally.
The last thing you want is to get a letter in the mail saying all of your hard work is not able to be done here. And there’s a fine. Or you just can’t inhabit the building.
And what was really cool is as we were hoping that our friends would bring their tiny house up here, that’s when the city of Portland started looking at tiny houses differently as well. Whereas they were kind of in a gray area to where you didn’t know if you were going to be able to keep a tiny house on the property or not. They started to pass some legislation that allowed tiny houses to actually be legally parked on properties.”
-Anthony, co-property owner
Kate and Brad are now expecting a baby, so they are selling their incredibly efficient 17-ft tiny house on wheels. Check out the listing to learn more. For them, moving away is bittersweet after building a tight-knit backyard village with their best friends, Becca and Anthony.