Her Illegal Tiny Container Home on Wheels

For the past five years, Robyn has lived in her tiny container home on wheels. It’s 160 square feet and 20 feet long. When designing it, she wanted it to be bright and open, with as many windows as possible. With the French doors and the original shipping container doors both open, they make her space feel extra roomy. When the weather’s nice, she loves to open them to let more light & air in but also to feel like she’s sleeping outside. Her bed is next to the container doors giving her indoor/outdoor access to the storage under her platform bed.

Robyn’s tiny container home on wheels sits on the back part of her quarter-acre residential lot in West Sacramento, California. Solar panels are mounted on the roof of the container home, but not quite enough to power everything in her house. Due to limited electricity output, she currently cannot use her fridge. Instead, she relies on a big cooler. Additionally, the functionality of her bathroom and kitchen are affected by the lack of city utility access. That’s because her tiny container home on wheels is “illegally” placed on her property. Fortunately, a kind neighbor lets Robyn rent water access. She is actively working with the city so she can be permitted and get utilities.

But Robyn refuses to pay exorbitant fees for hookups. So she is advocating for lowering those and creating payment plans. This will help others who want to create their own housing and do it more affordably. Civil disobedience is an act of advocacy for her. Robyn readily admits that she could sell her property and move on, but she’s trying to create a positive for the entire community.

“It is civil disobedience. It is a way to be completely transparent with your local government, with your local community, your neighbors. Educating them on what you’re trying to do, I think, is super important as well.

I wrote letters to all my neighbors. I’ve posted on apps welcoming my neighbors to take a tour of my home to talk to me. I’ve had nothing but support and interest in what I’m trying to do. And honestly, a lot of people that work in my local government support what I’m trying to do. It’s just trying to navigate how to do it, where to start, having this as an example for the whole community, for the city, and for the Sacramento region. As far as I know, this will be the first legal, tiny home residential property in the region. So that’s pretty cool.

Once we get there eventually. It’s a long process. It’s a long process. I’m not willing to say, yes, I’ll do whatever you want. I am willing to have conversations about options. It’s mainly about affordability. I understand not everybody’s ready for compost toilets. Not everybody is ready for all these off-grid options, and all these alternative materials, and things like that. Not everybody is ready for wheels. There are superficial discriminatory things about our zoning laws as well.”

-Robyn, @robyn_mari