Sebastopol developer has big plans for tiny homes

There’s a new cottage industry sprouting up outside of Sebastopol, and it doesn’t resemble the strip-mall condos or McMansions of past years. It’s a new tiny house village that will fit the needs of people with small families who care about economy and energy-efficiency.

Of course, Sebastopol resident and tiny house guru Jay Shafer is on the forefront.

“Building a tiny house village has been a dream of mine for the past 10 years,” says Shafer. “The plan is to have dozens of tiny houses arranged around a common-use building in a park-like environment. The houses will be designed for one- or two-person households, and each cottage, though similar in design, will have a unique look or style.”

For the past year, Shafer has been in discussion with Sonoma County’s zoning department about building the tiny house village and has recently narrowed his search to several properties just outside of Sebastopol.

“The officials seem to love the idea as much as we do,” he said. “Since it would be near the downtown area, bikes would be a viable form of transportation for work and shopping. Several covered bike racks will be provided.

“In many ways, tiny houses work best in a group, with shared amenities. I’ve used the same design principles that go into each of my tiny house designs to create an environment that feels contained but not confining, vibrant but not at all crowded.”

The village will be zoned as an RV park, but the setting will be drastically different from the typical trailer park.

Its structure would draw from the co-op model, with residents owning their portable houses and the parcels they reside on and paying a monthly fee to maintain the common facilities. Community rules will be in place to keep the peace regarding pets, stereos, TVs and other potential annoyances.

Though other tiny house communities have been successfully built and sold in places such as Seattle, this village will be the first for Sonoma County. The project is slated to break ground in mid- to late 2015. “I have no doubt that this will be the most beautiful ‘trailer park’ in the world,” Shafer said.

Small home dwellers have learned that living more simply-that is, reducing the amount of “stuff” they own-allows what truly matters to float to the surface. The real joy of tiny living is in the discovery that nature and the communities we live in are just a step away.

Learn more about Healdsburg-based artist Richard Shepard at theartistontheroad.com.