Christians in a tiny home!

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses to my post about my curiosity about Christians and tiny homes. I can’t believe I didn’t put these two movements together before–and that is largely the response I have gotten in my explorations of their intersection.

The tiny house movement is, despite the HGTV show “Tiny House Hunters,” still pretty darn young. There is one major manufacturer of tiny homes (Tumbleweed Tiny House Company) and a whole lot of red tape to be found in building a tiny house. Chris Roberds commented that he and his wife were unable to get financing for a truly tiny home because the bank was unable to appraise the building–there were no other homes to compare his to. Roberds is building a 1000 square foot home instead of the 400-975 square foot one in his original plans.

I spoke with Kala Perdue and her fiance, Chase Breeden, a couple who are planning to build a tiny home near Bethpage, Tennessee, early next year. Perdue is still in college studying child development and family studies–she plans to get her masters and doctorate and become a child psychologist. Breeden sells auto parts and used to work as a mechanic.

Perdue and Breeden are members of a local Free Will Baptist church, which is generally supportive if a little baffled by the couple’s undertaking. (Most of the congregation is older than this young couple.) But to Perdue, it just makes sense. “It’s just something that feels right for us,” she says.

It makes financial sense. “I’m going to be in school for a very long time,” Perdue adds. Altogether, for 1.5 acres of land and the cost of the house, the couple will invest $80,000. Even though Perdue will be in grad school, the couple hopes to have it paid off in 15 years.

Looking back on the me in my senior year of college, getting ready to jump into the real world, I wonder what I would have done had I been able to keep my cost of living so low. If I could say with certainty that I would only need to shell out $590 a month for my living space, would I have jumped into an office job so quickly? Or would I have tried out full-time the job I already enjoyed back then–working in a bakery?

Perdue’s commitment to living in a small space also stems from her interest in family dynamics. “It forces you to become close as a family,” she points out. Perdue and Chase plan to have children in the tiny home, which will have a bedroom downstairs and a loft for the second floor. (Having lived in a very open “one bedroom” with my husband and a cat, I can safely say that I would find this part of tiny house life difficult.)

Perdue and Breeden say that the connection between their faith and building a tiny house is largely related to family values. It makes sense: if you care about being close with your family, why not try literally being close with them? The financial freedom that this couple will have will also permit them to take breaks from working and spend time volunteering at their church, where they both teach Sunday school.

I’m impressed with this couple’s commitment to their beliefs and eagerly await their television debut–the house build, which will take place in just seven days, is going to be aired as part of a (TBD) TV show sometime next year.