Tiny-house test drive: Your vacation at it's best

 

 




According to USATODAY, LYONS, Colorado. — There are many reasons people flock to the tiny town of Lyons, home to about 2,000 people. For starters, its location on the St. Vrain River makes it a mecca for whitewater kayaking. Not to mention, it is home to music festivals, epic mountain biking and has easy access to Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Another draw is one you might not expect, but it’s certainly attracting attention. It’s called WeeCasa Tiny House Resort, a cluster of 22 tiny homes for rent (starting at $159 a night). Some are sleek and European, others are more whimsical. Each one is uniquely decorated, ranging in size from 140 to 200 square feet and all are ready to roll. They are licensed as recreational vehicles, which means they are on wheels and can be on the move in 30 minutes or less.

Outside: The curvy roofline and cedar shingles give it a cottage-like feel. Inside: There’s an arched ceiling and stained-glass windows, two lofts connected by a plexiglass catwalk, private bathroom and a kitchen where one of the drawer pulls is actually a fork. Despite its small stature, it sleeps four adults.

“I think tiny living in general is really something that people are fascinated with,” says Kenyon Waugh, WeeCasa’s “Wee-EO.” “What we see is people leaving here energized to reduce the amount of things they have and the footprint they have and to really simply their lifestyles.”

 

 

Lilliputian living

WeeCasa is part of a growing number of tiny-home getaways across the nation from Oregon to New York that make for an unusual and Instagram-worthy vacation (you can see more photos @sarahsomewhere). 

Beyond that, though, some of the homes are actually models available for purchase, so spending time there can serve as a tiny-home test drive.

So much so, one visitor even brought her cat bed along to WeeCasa to see how it would fit in and another whipped up a quiche to make sure the kitchen space was adequate.

Gregory Johnson, who has kept a close eye on the tiny-living moment for the past 15 years, says many people find it to be a great way to find a peaceful sense of renewal, even if it’s just for a weekend. 

In 2001, Johnson became enchanted with the idea of tiny living and commissioned Jay Shafer, owner of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, to build him one a few years later. He was also inspired to create the Small House Society to help foster the growth of the tiny-living movement.

Back then, Johnson says a Google search for small houses or tiny houses produced no results. Fast-forward to today and those shrunken homes have sparked so much interest there is now an entire category of reality TV shows and documentaries devoted to the topic. There are even tiny-home jamborees. 

With the sheer charm and design aesthetic of these homes, the intrigue is certainly there, but when it comes down to living in one full-time, that’s another story. 

 

On the rise

The trend is poised to grow. Right now, travelers can take their pick from places like Fireside Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., which has 23 cabins for rent (starting at $225 a night) near Grand Teton National Park. 

With names like Caboose and Light-Haus, the 400-square-foot homes were all built by Wheelhaus and serve as model homes available for purchase starting at $58,000. 

Then there’s Getaway, which offers tiny-home stays (starting at $99 a night) in New York’s Catskills and in the forests of New Hampshire. The first thing you’ll notice is the cellphone dropbox encouraging you to really disconnect. Homes are also stocked with fun snacks (think: s’mores by the fire pit and popcorn) and simple meals. They keep the specific location under wraps so renters won’t stress about planning ahead of time, looking up restaurants and such (guests enter their starting zip code online, so they will know the approximate drive time).

“People are yearning to find a counterbalance to the digital age,” says Getaway founder and CEO Jon Staff. “Cities are great, but nature can provide things the city doesn’t. Technology is powerful, but we can't be connected all the time. Tiny houses capture the minimalism and simplicity that went out of style ... but seems to be coming back in reaction to a world that has become too busy, complicated and stressful.”

Throughout the year, more tiny-home hotels will open. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, for example, opened Mt. Hood Tiny House Village outside of Portland, Ore., last year, has a tiny-house village in Washington and also rents tiny homes at camping resorts across the country. And, no surprise, more plans are in the works.

Same goes for Getaway. Their homes are typically booked several months out and weekend dates can book as much as six months in advance. They, too, have more homes in development.

 Beautiful Designs

Photo credit: Mt. Tiny House Village