The Pandemic Inspired Couple to Pursue Tiny House Living
The pandemic inspired couple, Maggie and Hawken, to pursue tiny house living. For years, they'd dreamed about building a tiny home, but it wasn't until 2020 that they decided it was the perfect time to go all in a major lifestyle change. This included moving from Nebraska to Colorado to achieve greater nature access in the mountains, where they most love spending their time.
There's no time like the present to pursue what makes you happy.
Once they decided to downsize, they quickly discovered their dream tiny house design by Tiny Topanga. Good news for them! It was available, with financing, certified, and ready to be delivered from California! Maggie and Hawken met their brand new home in person when they arrived at their parking spot in Durango, Colorado.
"On the tiny house movement, I think just generally; it's making the world a little less materialistic and getting people away from that and getting people toward spending more time with each other and outside in nature and things like that. I think that's really important."
-Hawken
All the stars seemed to have aligned for them when they decided to go tiny. Importantly, they secured parking right when they bought their house at a brand-new, legal tiny home community called Hermosa Orchards Village. There Maggie and Hawken pay $650 for a spacious lot, and rent includes water, sewer, internet, and access to an on-site fruit tree orchard.
Inside Their 204 sqft Tiny House
US/Mexican-based Tiny Topanga handcrafted Maggie and Hawken's 24' tiny house with many functional and beautiful details like artist hand-painted tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. Additionally, they created clever solutions for typical tiny house on wheels issues. The wheel well, for example, is right at the entrance. So they built the steps of stairs over the wheel well to maximize this awkward space. The bottom step is movable, which doubles as a step-stool, perfect for accessing the high cabinets in the kitchen.
"From the beginning, Tiny Topanga has been a family business. It started as a dream and vision to live a minimalist lifestyle for Israel and Rebecca when they first got married, and has grown into a full-service tiny home and van conversion design and building company."
Maggie enjoys a comfortable home office space with a partial wall on one side to help separate her desk nook from the rest of this tiny house. She sits in front of a large window. Like the rest of the windows, it's tinted, providing energy efficiency and privacy while maintaining an open feel.
Another top tiny house design feature is their movable counter-height table. When it's flush against the wall, it blends into the rest of the kitchen. They can easily move it to be perpendicular to the counter, useful as kitchen island prep space or to create a dining table. It's a flex-space like their office and secondary loft.
The flexibility to change as needed is part of what Maggie and Hawken love about their house and the overall tiny house lifestyle.
Watch the tour above to see their lovely tiny house on wheels in detail!
Follow Tiny Topanga on Instagram to see more of their tiny house building and van conversions: @tinytopanga
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