The other day, someone asked me if I was doing the “Little House Project” as my Senior Project. My initial reaction was to giggle and correct them but it later occurred to me that a lot of people aren’t familiar with the new fad of tiny houses. Tiny houses emerged from the “Small House Movement” that started in Washington and first became popular when the founder of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, Jay Shafer built and lived in a 96 square foot house. An average American home is about 3,000 square feet. To be defined as a tiny house, a home has to be less than 1,000 square feet. Ours is going to be about 120 square feet!

Our tiny house is going to be built on a trailer so it can be transported to any location on campus. It is going to be completely off the grid, which means it will not be dependent on public services such as electricity and water. We want to make it as unique and comfortable as we can possibly can so that future guests who visit the school can stay in it. It is the first time this is being offered as a senior project and the 13 seniors, 3 juniors and 1 sophomore who are participating in it are so excited to show it to the school!

After weeks and weeks of planning, our project finally started today! For almost two months now, the group has been meeting on Sunday evenings to plan and prepare for our two week build. To be the most efficient as possible, we split into different groups which were in charge of researching different important components of the house. After exploring our different options, we reconvened as a group and shared our ideas. Now, with our 3D model and our trailer, we are ready to start! Our first task was to clear the snow from the cabin parking lot so we could move our trailer. It didn’t take too long since there was 17 of us! Stay tuned for pictures of our progress.

-Rachna