Tiny Living in Portland, Oregon

By Alyse Nelson

While attending graduate school in Portland, Oregon, Lina Menard didn’t rent an apartment or live in a dorm. Instead, she lived in a tiny house. During her tiny home tenure, Lina has learned to live and love tiny spaces. Lina became a tiny-house advocate, organizing tours of small homes, learning about the regulatory barriers of tiny home acceptance, and interning at PAD and Orange Splot, where she helped build tiny houses.

Lina Menard with her possessions, sitting outside a tiny home she lived in for 10 months. Photo credit Lina Menard, used with permission from her blog, thisisthelittlelife.com.

After spending almost a year in a 120-square-foot tiny home, Lina has a good idea of how to live well in a small space. “I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that I’m much happier when I live with just the things I like best. My relationship to stuff has shifted dramatically over the past year and a half. I’m much less materialistic than I used to be. But I really appreciate the little touches, too. It’s not about deprivation, but about intension,” Lina told me.

Lina’s tiny home includes a sleeping loft that she shares with her cat, Raffi. Photo credit Lina Menard, used with permission from her blog, thisisthelittlelife.com.

When you’re measuring square inches rather than feet, every detail counts. Lina’s tiny home features a dining room table that expands to fit guests, a window seat that doubles as extra seating for big meals, and lots of windows to let in natural light. Every single possession Lina has in the home has to serve a purpose, but she doesn’t mind: “It’s liberating to not feel tied to stuff,” she told OR Magazine.

Embed video with Lina’s tiny house:

She recognizes that tiny-home living isn’t for everyone, but thinks there’s a way to broaden its appeal: the “cohousing” model, where tiny homes would be coupled with shared kitchens, laundry facilities, guest rooms, and even amenities like barbeques, workshops, and gardens. “Tiny cohousing would just push the envelope,” Lina writes in her blog. “People who lived in a tiny house community would have access to all these things, but they wouldn’t have to own all these things themselves,” she explains.

Lina’s tiny living room, shared with her cat Raffi. Photo credit Lina Menard, used with permission from her blog, thisisthelittlelife.com.

Lina’s tiny house was built in 2009 by Brittany Yunker. Brittany had graduated college, was working seasonally, and wanted to have a home of her own instead of returning to her parent’s place in between jobs. She purchased tiny home plans from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and went to work. Despite having no construction experience, Brittany completed her tiny home after 5 work-filled months. The finished home rests on an 18-foot flatbed trailer. Now that Lina has moved on to new tiny-house experiences (like a yurt!), tiny-house fanciers can give it a try: it’s available for short-term rentals in Olympia, Washington.

Moving Lina’s tiny home in to it’s backyard space. Photo credit Lina Menard, used with permission from her blog, thisisthelittlelife.com.

Whether in a tiny home community or parked in a backyard, Lina thinks “people should have the right to a tiny house as long as it accommodates their needs and desires.” But for people to exercise that right, cities will have to rethink the zoning rules that stand in the way of tiny homes. Since Lina is getting her graduate degree in urban planning, she’ll be well suited to lead the way forward.

Photo credit Lina Menard, used with permission from her blog, thisisthelittlelife.com.

Bio: Alyse Nelson is an urban planner for a small town in Kitsap County, Washington. She is a Writing Fellow for Sightline Institute. This post is adapted from a full article published here: http://daily.sightline.org/2012/12/20/tiny-homes/