Posted on 01/05/2023 2:29:55 AM PST by Jonty30
Tiny-house communities are popping up across the country, but one family in Kentucky has created a village of their own.
Keli and Ryan Brinks live in a tiny house in Kentucky. Their 18-year-old daughter, Lennox, and their 16-year-old son, Brodey, also live in their own tiny houses next door.
Together, their six tiny homes create a unique living situation with the goal of sustainable living.
Here's how the Brinks family makes their tiny village work.
Since tiny houses produce less waste, require less heating, and can be more environmentally friendly, the family knew it was the right fit.
"Initially, my husband wanted us all together in one cabin, but I argued on behalf of the kids for their own privacy," Keli told Insider.
Instead, the family decided to buy a few tiny houses — one for each family member.
I'd be fine with the arrangement if I saw may neighbour do this, as long as the kids are flourishing.
I’d characterize this arrangement as “detached bedrooms”.
My first criticism to this is how many heating/cooling units you need to support that.
One of the guys from our science team was talking about doing this. He and his son live in an apartment now, so it’s a little unlikely, but I don’t see anything wrong with the idea.
I would have liked to do this from March 15 to about September 15, when I was young. In my area, it’s pretty temperate during that period. I might need a sweater and long johns when it gets unseasonably cold, but it wouldn’t be too bad.
This is blither, of course. It depends on the design and usage. Four tiny houses with a total of, say, 1,000 sq ft would not necessarily be any more "environmentally friendly" than one house of 1,000 sq ft. They would use more of some building products, such as exterior siding and kitchen/bathroom fixture, and less of others.
When the kids leave, they can take their tiny home with them.
I don’t personally care about the environment aspect of the story. That isn’t what attracted my attention. The living arrangement, where the kids are semi-independent in their own small apartments, taking care of themselves full-time, just within an earshot of their parents for security, is what got my attention about it.
Each small house will cost about $15,000 each, if you have the talent for building them yourself to completion, so there isn’t anything cheap about this.
I just like the independence aspect for the kids. They have security under the parents, but they have to care for themselves like adults at the same time.
Yes, I like the idea of separate space for the youth. I often wished we could build a cabin of some sort for the teenaged boys to live in - even seasonally, as someone else mentioned - but it’s not allowed in our subdivision.
I agree. I would expect heat loss to occur through surface area. One building with a (relatively) large volume and limited surface area seems more heat efficient to me. Lots of small buildings would have lots of surface area, lots of heat loss, lots of inefficiency. And the need for furnaces, hot water heaters, etc would increase proportionately as well.
"If the tiny house is rocking, don't come a'knockin'"
Lol
From the article, 4 people in 6 houses? Why?
Good question. I don’t have an answer for that.
Weekend getaway cabins.
Really how much more independence do the kids have?
I imagine a large part of the draw was being able to install these with less of the planning, approval, local building professional, etc., requirements.
That said, it sounds like it could be fun except for the outhouse in cold and snowy Kentucky winters.
Because of the location, heating and cooling is not that big of a deal. You can get mini-split systems for each unit. They are cheap and very efficient.
There are many pros and cons to this arrangement.
Some of the cons...
-using the bath at night or in bad weather becomes a pain.
-getting that midnight snack too.
-running electrical to all the units is not cheap.
Heat with an external central wood furnace and run hot water lines to the individual huts.
Still less efficient than a single larger hut.
I think it can boost one sense of independence and responsibility, if you had wake up without the parents and making your own meals and cleaning your own house, before you go over to the main house to interact with them.
Same here, in Alberta, this idea would only work between the middle of March to about the middle of September.
the way the article is worded, “For $20,000 more, the family bought six tiny houses and placed them on the piece of land.”
I’m understanding that 6 cottages cost 20K total. That’s about 3K each. The cheapest at our home depot is about $5K for a 10x16 wood, unfinished interior shed with a crap roof and dinky window and door. And then there’s local building codes, slabs and running electric. One thing that stands out on the negative side is with four exposed walls, it seems it would be harder to cool/heat unless they were insulated to the max so that’s going to add to the cost, too.
And then there’s the safety factor. I’d be a little paranoid and I’d probably be more comfortable with mom/dad and bathroom unit on the top and bottom of an “O” shape with the kid units attached on the sides to form a central courtyard and one unit as a kitchen and another as a family/bigscreen room. Nice idea as presented, tho, if you are confident in controlling the visitors to the property. I’m sure the teen boy is digging it!
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