David and Erin live in a self-built Tiny House on their own farm, where they grow mushrooms and vegetables. Living simply has allowed them to live their dream & soon expand to a larger farm!
A DIY Tiny House living the dream on 100 acres of organic farmland!
Meet the tiny house owners
David and Erin operate Tiny Acres Farm.
Creating and building the tiny house
The thought of building a tiny house was at first just a whim of Davids. He went down a rabbit hole on Youtube and got excited about them. David then constructed a foam model of his design.
Tiny house cost
David got a loan from his mom to build the tiny house and over the past 8 or so years has paid it off. He brought in local contractors to check his work as he built to make sure he was doing it right.
The original cost was around $25k and he has added an additional $5k over the past years to cover ongoing costs of home ownership.
History of the tiny house
It took David 5 months to build the shell and another 5 to six months to complete the interior. David was 20 when he built the house in Vermont. He later pulled it to Colorado. Erin joined him about 5 years ago.
Current parking spot
Leasing land from Erin’s parents. The house is tucked back in the woods which keeps it cooler in the summer and gives them privacy. Organic Market gardening started with growing mushrooms. The tiny house is situated right next to the mushroom wood lot which is convenient as they grow fast and need to be checked often.
Exterior house tour
13’4” high by 8 feet wide and 20 feet long and built on an Iron Eagle trailer. David loves the wall of windows and it makes him think of a sea coast shanty. With the cedar shakes it gives it a New England style. For maintenance, the cedar is oiled every other year and the trim is painted at the same time.
The large windows are reclaimed from a salvage yard. David used vinyl windows for the rest of the house for efficiency.
Interior tour – kitchen
The large kitchen takes up about a third of the tiny house but is used all the time as they enjoy cooking and growing all the veggies. The stove was gotten from a camp in Colorado which David restored. The design makes it easy for one person to move all around with everything within reach.
Living room
The living room is also a guest bedroom as the couch is multi-use. Built-in storage in the coach. Battery storage for solar for off-grid living.
* There is a special side table which is a built-in litter box for the 2 cats that share their tiny home.
* A desk sits below the loft stairs which is now used to run the business.
* The loft ladder swings up out of the way so the view of the outdoors is wide open.
The loft bedroom
A queen-sized bed sits in the loft. A skylight and 4 windows from the front lets in lots of light. It’s cozy and can be closed up during the wintertime.
Large bathroom
A full bathroom with a walk-in shower. The only place in the house you can close a door for complete privacy. The shower is so important for farmers as you get really dirty.
They have a composting separating toilet so it keeps the liquids and solids separate.
Mushroom woodlot
David and Erin primarily grow shiitakes mushrooms on logs with a crib stack over the log and then covered. It takes about a year for them to grow and they have over 1,200 logs. They will produce for 5 to 7 years.
They also grow oyster mushrooms in buckets in the shed. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for the mushrooms to fill the bucket and to start harvesting.
Vegetable gardens
David and Erin also have about an acre and a half of field growing space the mushroom lot is about a half acre.
They also have about a quarter acre of the covered greenhouse where they grow their gardens.
Future plans
Moving to a new larger acreage in the near future with more organic matter where they can continue to build their dreams
Follow David and Erin at:
https://www.instagram.com/tinyacresfarmmaine/
https://www.instagram.com/home_made_tiny/
My uncle has build something very similar on his stead many years ago: a tiny house and a huge farm full of various crops around. Still coming to visit him every summer for a few weeks to fish in nearby river, hunt some game with my 308 rifle https://gritrsports.com/shooting/firearms/rifles/308-winchester-7-62×51-rifles/ and help him around with harvest a bit(usually I’m coming at a pumpkin season, since it’s the heaviest stuff he grows. Nearby folks help him around with easier stuff). Even though it’s a tiny house, plenty of room inside for 2 people!