FAQ

The Frequently Asked Questions

In the USA

• How did you end up there?

  In the summer of 2015 I went all the way to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to see lots of tiny houses. The Tiny House Jamboree was held there and gave me the insights, inspiration, and knowledge I needed and was looking for. In the Netherlands there was not much going on at that time. I unexpectedly was hit by the country, the landscape and its people. After coming back to the Netherlands I felt the need to go back. My plan to build a tiny home in the Netherlands therefore changed and crossed an ocean. With the network that was now there I met several builders. EcoCabins was one of them. They like my design(s) and wish to build my tiny house for me.

• Will your tiny home stay in the USA?

  Yes, she will not be shipped to Holland. I’m currently looking into several visas. Which one is the most convenient? Journalists visa? Professionals visa? Investors visa? It takes time and I hope it will happen eventually. Once that’s taken care of, I will start the building process with them.

Factory-built?

• Efficient, safety, quality

  Yep, who knew? I didn’t. I wanted to build my own tiny home. DIY. I found out that building in a factory is not such a bad idea actually. It’s a very efficient way of building. Materials are recycled on the spot. What’s left of one structure can be used in the other. This decreases the amount of waste with a 30% to 40%. Also, less waste on the building site. It’s a very consistent way of building too. Every step of the build has to be done in a certain way, like an IKEA closet. If somethings not done right in the beginning, the end of the line will have a problem. No space for errors. Each new design has to go through a checkup too. Engineers will take a thorough look at it. Not sound? No build. The factory of EcoCabins is certified and has to meet certain quality and safety standards. These standards are often checked and quite high. Being it a certified home, makes it easier for me to find a place. Zoning has a lot to say about that.

• Quantity

  An important reason for me to choose factory-built is because I believe in tiny houses as a solution to break the mold of the current housing market. Big, expensive, mortgage. That. And when municipalities open up the gate to smaller homes, who are the ones that will build all of them? There are simply not enough builders. You need a factory to meet the demand, in a fast, safe, efficient and clean way. Also, because of the volume of scale being more efficient, those houses are attainable for a larger group of people. Whilst still building it to your own needs and wishes such as choice of materials, color, design, etc. Are factories therefore better than the smaller builders? No. Just a different way of getting there. It’s a choice.

• Attainable and affordable (also for natural materials)

  I wish to build my own tiny home with mainly natural building materials. Moon wood, no glue, sheep wool as insulation. A breathable home. Those materials are often more expensive than the traditional ones. The main reason for that, and I studied supply chains of organic food back in Holland, is the inefficiency of the chain. It’s has nothing to do with a lack of knowledge on their end, no, it’s the economy of scale. It’s off. One truck could be transporting less materials because the order is simply not bigger than that. You still need an entire shed to keep the materials safe and sound. All those inefficient steps along the way add up. A factory could change that. By buying in bulk. I wish to help them with it, my home being a spec model. In the USA, I found out, the use of natural building materials is not as well organized and as present as they are in Europe. That may change. Who knows. Maybe the build of my home can help achieve that, and also make those materials more affordable. Without squeezing and pressuring the producers of them. Just by a more efficient and more balanced economy of scale.

Parking

• Where do you wish to park your tiny home? 

  I prefer Colorado. There’s a development, a tiny home village to be, in Fairplay. It’s called Whispering Aspen Village. Gorgeous area and I fell in love with it last year. I may also end up having a plot of land as a development in other mountain towns such as Cripple Creek. It depends on where my path leads me I guess. There are opportunities. That’s for sure.

The Netherlands

• Will there be a tiny home in Holland, still?

Maybe. I would like to go back and forth and having a little place to go back to would be nice. I could rent it out while I’m gone and use it while I’m there. Who knows. If it happens, I prefer the more rural areas with a little city close by. My dear friends have a farm and are exactly located like that. They also have the right zoning that allow for a few smaller second home dwellings to be placed.