News

Dec 09, 2023

Sonoma County Home and Garden Show presents good designs in a small package

Lindsay and Eric Wood bought and flipped a few houses in their day. Still, they

Lindsay and Eric Wood bought and flipped a few houses in their day. Still, they didn't have a home of their own. But in 2017, after years of being subject to the rising whims of the rental market in Marin County, they said, "enough."

The pair decided their best path to homeownership was to shrink their footprint and go tiny.

They found a contractor to build them a tiny home, a compact and efficiently designed residence on wheels that would have all the comforts they needed but not a square inch of wasted space.

"We had spent a total of $100,000 in rent in seven years. That pretty much could have paid for a tiny home," Lindsay said.

Lindsay is now known as the Tiny Home Lady, she said in a phone conversation from her home office/guest bedroom, a 30-square-foot nook tucked behind their loft bedroom. The home office is in the "gooseneck" part of the tiny house, the extension that fits over the flatbed of a truck when the house is hitched up to be pulled.

"I have my computer, my printer and a file cabinet, which was custom-built. I love that when I pull out my drawer, I’ve already got a file cabinet embedded in the drawer," she said of her tiny office in her tiny home.

A 6-foot-tall man could stand upright in the space, which also doubles as a closet for Lindsay's carefully curated wardrobe.

"I don't have a lot of clothes," she said. "But the clothes I do wear are my favorites. High quality, low volume."

Since downsizing into her 380-square-foot home on wheels, Lindsay has become an expert on living small, parlaying her experience into a profession. As the Tiny Home Lady, she serves as a consultant to both potential buyers and builders of tiny homes.

She and Eric, a chef and caterer, travel around to various home shows and tiny-home expos. She is bringing her "Go Tiny! Showcase" to the Sonoma County Spring Home and Garden Show Saturday and Sunday at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

There will be several models of tiny homes to tour and a mobile exhibit of information about companies that are leading the way in the burgeoning tiny-home industry. That includes contractors and companies that deal with a range of tiny-home needs, from radiant-heat floors to compost toilets, off-the-grid solar energy systems and on-demand water heaters.

Lindsay also will have information on specialists in financing, permits and foundations and "the tiny luxe lifestyle," to help potential buyers figure out if a tiny house is for them.

A lot of reasons are fueling the market for tiny homes, but probably the most prevalent, certainly in the Bay Area, is the lack of affordable housing.

People could buy something very miniature and minimalist for under $30,000 for basic shelter. But for $100,000 to $125,000, a buyer could get a home of several hundred square feet, Lindsay said, outfitted with the comforts of a larger home such as upgraded finishes, mini-split heating and cooling, kitchen appliances and a full bathroom.

Jay Shafer is considered the "godfather of tiny houses." He's the founder of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., which at one time was based in Sebastopol. Shafer lived there in a 106-square-foot house that caused a media stir and helped launch a movement more than 20 years ago.

It's been a long and bumpy road to acceptability for tiny homes. As much as people love the idea of tiny homes, as accessory or primary dwellings, zoning laws and building codes have made it tough, if not impossible, for many owners of tiny homes to find a place to legally put their dwellings.

That is slowly changing, Lindsay said. Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz are among 16 cities and counties in California that have recently relaxed their laws to make it easier to find a place for a tiny home.

Earlier this week, Sonoma County joined them. After years of debate, complaints and evictions, the board of supervisors voted unanimously to remove some of the main impediments to placing tiny homes in unincorporated areas.

What: Tiny Home Connection

When: March 18-19

Where: Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $7, free for children 12 and under

Information: sonomacountyhomeshows.com/spring-home-and-garden-show and thetinyhomelady.com

One was to amend the zoning code to allow for temporary housing in emergency, transportable housing units, including tiny homes, as defined by the California building code.

"What we’re really doing is adding standards to allow temporary units in advance of building an ADU (accessory dwelling unit, or what used to be called a granny unit or guesthouse)," said Bradley Dunn, policy manager for Permit Sonoma. "If you’re going to build an ADU, you can have a tiny unit," Dunn said.

Previously, temporary units were allowed only to facilitate a caregiver, if a homeowner was undertaking a remodel of a main home or for wildfire victims waiting to rebuild.

These units can be up to 400 square feet. They have to be on wheels and meet the same codes as RVs for road safety, Dunn said. People can apply for a one-year permit that must be renewed annually.

Another major impediment to tiny house placement was a requirement that they connect to sewer or septic, which can be prohibitively expensive. Now with the new changes, the owner of a tiny home can have a "hold and haul contract" with a state-licensed toxic waste hauler in lieu of connecting to an existing septic system.

Sonoma County also may now allow composting toilets, subject to staff review and approval of the plans and equipment needed.

Dunn said the changes provide "a framework" to satisfy health and safety concerns of the community and the people living on the property, while also recognizing other health and safety problems are inherent in people simply not having a home.

Consultants like Lindsay are trying to raise the standards of tiny homes while also helping to shift any public perception that they are like trashy trailers. There are luxury tiny homes now allowed in some high-end motor coach resorts, Wood said, with heated pools and hot tubs.

A growing number of people are intrigued by tiny homes, as a path to homeownership, an affordable housing alternative or to commit to live more lightly on the Earth. And the tiny house industry is evolving.

"The tiny-home industry is nimble. It's unique. It's innovative with modern design and demands for smaller home living. But these do not have to be micro-homes of 100 to 200 square feet," Lindsay said.

Visitors to the home show this weekend can walk through several model tiny homes from two different manufacturers, including a $120,000, 28-foot-long luxury tiny home by Mendo Tiny Homes. It comes complete with full-size appliances, quartz countertops, a full bathroom with tub and a spiral staircase leading from an open floor plan living room to a two-bedroom loft above.

"But a lot of people don't want lofts. They want a downstairs bedroom. That's why we have a sign that says, ‘If you can imagine it, we can build it,’" said John Johnson, who just launched the Ukiah-based company after installing a few tiny homes on his own property.

The model he built to take to home shows is certified to go into mobile home or RV parks. It has lots of bells and whistles packed into 359 square feet, Johnson said, including radiant-heat flooring, a full-size sink and vanity, a five-burner stove and a full-size farmhouse-style porcelain sink.

"The entire interior finish is all solid pine and painted white. There is no particle board in the entire house," he said.

Although it's perhaps a quarter of the size of the average 1,625-square-foot home in California, a luxury tiny home is built to feel roomy. Johnson said his master bedroom of 72 square feet could accommodate a king-size bed.

Lindsay said she and her husband both work out of their tiny home, which they wound up finishing themselves after the Texas builder they contracted with to built it went bankrupt. Eric works in the open living area while Lindsay works in her office.

So why not just buy an RV? Lindsay said tiny homes are built to higher standards than RVs, with better-insulated walls for year-round living.

Three things make a tiny house feel bigger: height, light and white.

When it's built on a trailer, a tiny house can't be taller than 13.6 feet, to fit under highway overpasses. But the Woods still managed to have 10-foot ceilings in their home and 11 windows, including upper clerestory windows that are good for ventilation.

The Woods lived for a while in Sebastopol, on a piece of private land they rented, without permits, until COVID-19 hit. Then they moved in with her parents in Ukiah during the pandemic. Now they’re set up in an upscale luxury RV park with water and sewer hookups in Prescott, Arizona. They’re in the process of trying to launch a 250-home tiny-home village.

Lindsay is an outspoken advocate for creating more places for tiny homes to settle and be a reasonable and reasonably easy housing alternative.

The finance industry is responding to the growing interest in tiny homes by offering more loans for tiny homes to make them even more affordable, although the interest rates tend to be higher than for standard single-family homes.

The Woods’ home is 32 feet long by 8 ½ feet wide, yet it's big enough to suit their needs. For Lindsay, that meant, among other things, a full bathtub for soaking.

Lindsay's credo for happiness in a tiny home? "If you’re going to decrease the space you live in, increase the luxuries and amenities."

You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at 707-521-5204 or [email protected].

Features, The Press Democrat

Like most everyone, I love a good feature story that takes me somewhere I’ve never been or tells me something I don't know. Where can I take you? Who in Sonoma County would you like to know better? I cover the people, places and ideas that make up Sonoma County, with general features, people profiles and home and garden, interior design and architecture stories. Hit me up with your tips, ideas and burning questions.