On May 19 and 20, 2016 I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days at Mt Hood Village Campground and to be part of the Mt Hood Tiny House Village grand opening. This is the first of hopefully many tiny house villages in many campgrounds across the U.S.A. Thousand Trails Campgrounds and Tumbleweed Tiny House Company have put this unique experience and opportunity for you to test out and see what it is like to stay in a tiny house.
Video by Tiny House Giant Journey
On Friday final preparations for the open house were completed and people started arriving around 4:00 PM to tour the houses. The weather was pleasant at first and crowds continued to grow. Five lines were started and everyone tried to tour the five different homes. For those of you who made it to last years Tiny House Jamboree, these long lines look familiar.
Of course this being western Oregon, the rain soon moved in and umbrellas and ponchos were soon brought out to challenge the downpour. It did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm though and the lines did not seem to dwindle. For those who wanted there was a good hot meal prepared in a large tent near by with live entertainment.
Quite a few of my online tiny house friends from the northwest showed up to tour the houses. Here is a photo of the Tiny House Podcast crew. It was fun to finally meet them face to face!
All in all it was a great success and an estimated 2,500 people came and enjoyed the open house.
After everyone had left I moved my belongings into Scarlet one of the five tiny houses. I was going to be the very person to spend a night in this cute little tiny house.
Scarlett is the epitome of farmhouse charm. Her home is full of family heirlooms, some proudly bear the memories they’ve created, and others she took the time to repurpose. Scarlett finds solace in an old way of living and values simplicity and hard work. She connects with each and every animal she meets and prefers when her home is full of those she holds dear.
At 233 square feet Scarlet is set up to sleep up to five people. Two in each loft and one in the downstairs single bed. I was batching it as my wife had been unable to make this trip with me because of other responsibilities. I chose what is considered the master loft. Set up with a storage stairway. Inside one of the drawers you will find towels, etc. for when you are ready to take your shower. This stairway I found was fairly easy to get up and down and you can come down either facing the stairs or facing the living area. There is a nice beam to grab on when you are coming down and it gives you some added security.
I slept very well that night. The mattress is extremely comfortable and with the dormers there is quite a bit of space for a loft bed. The view out the windows is nice as well as you can see more of the tiny houses on either side of Scarlet.
The bathroom has a full sized shower, a small sink and an RV toilet. Quite spacious for a tiny house, although the sink gets a little cozy when you are using the facilities.
The kitchen is well appointed for camping with a nice size sink, induction oven, mid size refrigerator, coffee maker, etc. I did not use any of them as I did not come prepared with food but everything looked nice and I’m sure it would work well for those spending a few days there.
Though the Scarlet sleeps five if you want to all eat together the outside picnic table will serve you best. The little table inside works great for two people and I used it for a little office to do some work and it worked perfectly.
These tiny houses are set up for short term camping stays so they if you choose to build one yourself or have Tumbleweed do it for you, you may want to make a few adjustments. I found my one night experience to be both fun and educational and would highly recommend it to anyone considering purchasing a tiny house or wanting to experience a different type of vacation. I give them a BIG thumbs up!
Call Mt Hood Tiny House Village and make your reservations today as they are filling up fast.
I love this place…and the photos!
Thank you for your positive and honest reporting. I think your words said it best; ” a few days, cozy, vacation, camping) tiny homes can be very challenging to live in. I say that from experience. My family went from a large estate on Martha’s Vineyard to a 1000 square foot home, Then to a 700 square foot apartment, before we built a 600 square foot cabin with Loft. That is where my wife and I raised 4 tall Sons to maturity. The last two of them spent a few years with us in a 40′ rv with slides. Now that the kids are gone my wife and I have settled into a 14 by 40 cabin that serves us in the wintertime and a 27′ sailboat for summers. (We are looking for a bigger boat) My children tell me now how wonderful their childhood was. But if they had to do it over again they would never sleep in a loft. It’s never comfortable summer or winter and I tried every type of way to make it comfortable for them. So the challenge I believe is finding and Tiny floor plan that feels larger than it is. (Every one says that, but I haven’t seen it yet) Air, sound and light must move freely throughout the space. My family believes, after spending the last 24 years living tiny, and partially off grid for most of it, that a tiny house needs to be more creative than a stick framed RV.
As a 30 year designer / builder I believe that type of design has already been accomplished in the boat building industry and in many countries with less space.
Keep up the great reporting. It’s important to know that happiness, satisfaction and family unity are not results of more separate spaces, but of moreating time spent close together.
Wow, so cute! These tinny houses are really great!