Jay’s Fencl in Pittsburgh

My wife and I drove from our home near Cleveland, OH (about three hours) to see Jay and his tiny house in Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately, Google Maps was not quite up to the task of handling his listed location (the Visitor’s Center of Schenley Park)… it got us to Schenley Park but was unable to pinpoint the location of the Visitor’s Center, which turned out to be deeply non-obvious from our location and direction. Fortunately, kind pedestrians pointed us in the right direction and we found Jay parked immediately in front of Phipps Conservatory, a beautiful old-fashioned glass structure full of greenery. (See “In front of Phipps.jpg” — sorry, but the time/date stamp is incorrect on all these, and I didn’t realize until it was too late)

Passers-by (and drivers-by and bicyclers-by) were pointing and craning their necks. There were already quite a few people standing on the sidewalk and the tree lawn, with a couple peering in windows and studying the exterior details. Closer examination turned up many pairs of shoes outside (see “smiling couple.jpg) ; it became obvious that there were quite a few people inside, though no particular line or waiting process. Folks just kept on coming in, and the structure held an amazing number for the entire 45 minutes or so we were there. At one point I looked down from the loft and counted ten people in the living room, plus myself in the loft; here’s a picture with 8 of them still visible (See 8 people below II.jpg).

We had an excellent time exploring the space, and like so many others who have commented found that it seemed much larger inside than expected. I’m the family cook, so I was especially interested in the kitchen, and spent some time standing there visualizing myself cooking in the space. It’s well-designed, and I think I could function well there, though I would need to adjust my kitchen storage expectations. I normally keep a lot more staples and produce on hand than one could fit in the available space. Other than that, the absence of an oven was the only thing I noticed (and I’m aware that a small oven could be provided). The amount of storage inside the house is startling, and I noticed Jay’s comment that the vast majority of it is over the axles, making preparation for travel much easier. I climbed up in the loft, explored the mattress, and imagined myself happily asleep in the space. I was pleased to find more storage up there (see loft storage.jpg).

Jay is a superb advocate for tiny houses and for his work. He is exuberantly friendly and seems delighted to interact with anyone and everyone who shows an interest. You can see him holding forth in Jay gesturing.jpg.

Unfortunately, he was unable to remain in this location overnight, and by a bit after 7 PM he was packing up to move on to a location where he could spend the night. We were sad to leave him, and spent much of our drive back to Cleveland sharing thoughts and images of what it would be like to live in that delightful space.

William (and Lizzie) Beasley

Thank you William for this great report. We have Philadelphia tonight and New York this weekend. Please keep the photos and stories coming. Thank you!

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