I still have a bit of work yet to do on the exterior, and a ton to do on the interior. This is the front of the house.
The last three years have involved a lot of change and transition for me. Three years ago at this time I was in Patagonia, Chile, working as an outdoor educator on a NOLS mountaineering course (check out www.NOLS.edu if you aren't familiar with it). The wheels of change had already been turning, at least in my mind. When I came home from Chile, my mind had been made up that it was time to establish a new primary career, but with the hopes that I would still be able to work the occasional NOLS course in the future. I looked into several career possibilities, but decided that staying in the educational field was the best fit. I began looking into schools to obtain the necessary teaching credential and master's degree and simultaneously began looking for short-term work. It was a fairly stressful time with all the applications, resumes, phone interviews, and trying to find a room to rent.
Slowly things began to fall into place. I was hired by a medium sized remodeling company to be a carpenter's assistant and dump truck driver. The first job I was placed on was the gutting of a large Seattle house on Queen Anne Hill. The house was built in 1903 and we were tasked with removing all the lath and plaster from inside, along with wood floors, wiring, and other odds and ends. It was dusty, dirty, sweaty work. I remember thinking, "What am I doing?" I was almost 40 years old at that time and I felt like I was doing the job of an 18 year old--an entry level construction job--no skills or experience required, just muscle. As I thought about it more, however, I came to the realization that I needed to be thankful. Even though it was hard work, I realized how fortunate I was to simply have work, a place to live, family and friends. I also had a lot of opportunity. So many people in the world would have LOVED to have the very basic, entry-level job that I had at that moment. Many people in the world work much longer hours and in much poorer conditions for much less money. My attitude changed.
That summer sped by, and before I knew it I was in school full-time and cutting back on my hours at the remodeling company. I had been accepted into a "Master's In Teaching" program that would give me both a teaching credential for Washington State and a master's degree. The program was fairly short (eleven months) and intense, but, I thought, "If other people can do it, I can do it."
So, the program started in September, student teaching began in January, and by May I had applied for my first job and was hired! I still had two months of school left, but I was on track to graduate and a middle school in Covington, WA, hired me to teach wood shop and science. Sounded like a perfect fit.
As soon as I found out I'd been hired, I started thinking about where I would live down there. I had heard about "Tiny Houses" several years prior and had even attended a tiny house seminar put on by Tumbleweed. I had put my tiny house dreams on hold because I hadn't had the time or space to build one thus far. Now, however, I thought maybe this is the time. Covington is just slightly more rural that Seattle, so I think I could more easily find a place to park my tiny house and live in it. Hmmmm.
Another piece of the puzzle was the fact that a good friend of mine was trying to start a business building tiny houses. I told him about my interest and over the next few weeks we came up with an agreement. He said he could build the tiny house halfway (trailer, four walls, roof, rough wiring and plumbing) and would deliver it to me to finish to my liking. This sounded like a great idea and great timing.
I also told my family about the idea and my mom said, "You know, John, I think the summer camp that our church owns is in Covington. If you'd like, I could contact the camp director and see if there is a place on the camp property that you could put your tiny house." Sounded like a fabulous idea to me. It turns out that the camp is only 1.5 miles from the school where I now work!
In early July of 2015 I paid my friend Ryan a 75% down payment on the house so that he could get started on the build. By early September his portion of the project was done and it was ready for delivery. Ryan has a friend with a big pickup truck who agreed to deliver the tiny house trailer to me for $1.50 per mile (if I remember correctly). His friend, Arturo, took a few days off of work in late September and drove it up.
A small company called Monarch Tiny Homes www.monarchtinyhomes.com built the shell for me (trailer, four walls, roof, rough wiring and plumbing). They trucked it up to me and I am in the process of finishing it. Here is a picture of what it looked like when delivered:
It's come a long way, but there is a lot still to do. I will add some more entries about the process and decisions I've made so far.
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