The wish back in 2013: To have the freedom to choose what I would love to do in that moment. Not bound to the financial burden of a house that’s way too big for me, with too much stuff in it. In good consultation with the landowner, a nice place to stay in exchange for some help. They have an extra set of eyes and hands on the farm and I have a lovely spot to park my tiny home. This dream could be very real. I’ve taken the first steps already, here, in the Netherlands. Well, why not?!
And then I went to the Tiny House Jamboree in Colorado Springs, USA in the summer of 2015, for inspiration and ideas. My initial plan almost evaporated! My focus changed from building a home myself in the Netherlands to wanting to get to know that big country and its tiny house movement and businesses. I started to visit the USA regularly and due to my endeavors have been and am sitting first row in the industry. It led to the wish to start my own business in the States and that’s what I’ve been working on lately. The plan is to sell factory-built (more environmental friendly!), cool, craftsmanship, smaller houses in the mountain region of Colorado. I will also help projects that provide these houses, like small-living developments. I learned that this is needed!
The project My Tiny House changed from building my own tiny home to having a business in the USA (more about that later in a blog). Something that stayed the same is the wish to make a change, in in this case the housing industry. I find myself in a unique and powerful position between developers, investors, tiny house enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, factories, and events. So the wish is turning into a reality.
While I provide people with more sustainable, attainable, smaller houses, I’m in the position to do more: stimulating the use of natural building materials. Such as sheep wool as insulation, the use of linseed oil, hemp, and moonwood without the use of glue and such. In America it’s quite a challenge to find these materials. If and when you do they’re most of the times quite expensive. Europe has an advantage there and is better organized with a better availability. With the use of my position, network, and business I may be able to make a change here too! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
My Tiny House as a project clearly changed. I will post a blog about my new company on this website. First I need to work on my visa, because that’s what I need in order to do the above, and I’m doing that right now (January 2019). When that’s all taken care of, I can finally start. And maybe I’ll have a tiny home, made of natural building materials, in the mountains of Colorado…
Related posts:
The Tiny House Jamboree ~ My Tiny House Tour USA (August 2015)
My wish (March 2015)
(Photo credit sheep wool: Wild Rivers Wool)