We’ll be heading out to the Colorado Tiny House Festival in June this year, but before this event begins it’s time to celebrate the summer solstice! We’re making it one big road trip to remember, and we think you should too.

As for the event, it’s being held from June 22nd-24th right outside of Denver at the Adams County Fairgrounds. The property spans 19 acres and features picnic areas, playgrounds, and even a lake to fish in! Oh – and it’s pet friendly too, so your furry friends can tag along. In 2017 there were 28 tiny homes and nearly 20,000 visitors, and this year they’re projected to double their exhibits and audience!

A Few Cool Things About This Event

One of the best parts is that it’s put on by actual tiny house builders. Art Laubach of Einstyne Tiny Homes helped organize and host this event right on his home turf, and he’s doing it for all the right reasons. From offering free spots to all builders, to offering suggestions on transportation, he has been a joy to work with.

The National Organization of Alternative Housing will be in attendance (in fact, that’s how we heard about this event in the first place). NOAH is “a National Trade Association for builders, Manufacturers and DIY’ers, producing Tiny houses, suitable for permanent, full-time or part-time residential living.” They inspect each tiny house at different stages of construction, rather than the builders themselves, to verify compliance using a proprietary inspection system. Long story short, we think they’re pretty groovy and will feature them soon in an upcoming blog post.

The main goals of the Colorado Tiny House Festival include:
– Advocating for awareness, expansion and legality in the tiny house movement
– Promoting safe and sound building standards in tiny house builds
– Ensuring DIY’ers (otherwise known as BIY’ers in our program) have the right resources and options to help build their dream homes
– Giving back to the community, financially and otherwise

In fact, the event benefits multiple charities and organizations, and last year donated $10,000 to The Wild Animal Sanctuary.

We’re looking forward to hitching up our Oregon Trail and hitting the road, so let the countdown begin.

No, literally, there’s a count down on their website. Until then, click here to see the growing list of scheduled builders, or here to check out more of our upcoming shows and events.

As many of our readers already know, legal placement of tiny houses can be one of the biggest barriers to home ownership. While Portland is the pioneer city of the Pacific Northwest, Fresno is blazing the trail down in California. Thanks to a few devoted builders, advocates, and receptive city planners, this area is now one of the most tiny house friendly places on the West Coast! When we found out the Fresno Spring Home & Garden Show was featuring a tiny house village we just couldn’t resist.

– Click here to learn more about tiny house legality in Fresno, California –

It was a long trek down south. There were a couple hiccups, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We all arrived safe and sound, and our Oregon Trail looked spectacular in the California sunshine. We even caught a rainbow!

With a fresh coat of stain, a few paint touch ups, some new flooring and a couple home accents, our house was ready for the crowds. Over 30,000 people attend the Fresno Home Shows, and people were flowing through non-stop throughout the weekend. We gave out thousands of price sheets and business cards. A huge success!

   

   

   

   

There’s a wonderful documentary out there called Minimalism. It features two young men, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who have some pretty neat observations on what makes us happy (and what doesn’t). As you may have guessed, these two advocate for a more minimalistic lifestyle that forsakes many of the material comforts to which we’ve grown accustomed.

As the 21st century has progressed, there’s been no shortage of writers, philosophers, sociologists and other experts who have made it their mission to condemn the consumerism that has invaded American society. Two of the biggest and most important distinctions between these two young men and those scholars are: approachability and practicality.

Joshua and Ryan are observers, not preachers. They encourage awareness, analysis and a path that leads to the template of minimalism that works for you. They don’t just gripe about the tragic and mind-numbing fate of a robotic society – they make suggestions based on the things that have created genuine relief and happiness for themselves and their followers.

Unsurprisingly, many of their values align with the tiny house movement. The documentary follow individuals and couples who have already transitioned in one way or another, and are reveling in their newfound joy. Spoiler alert: mindfulness is powerful and less physical clutter leads to less mental clutter.

Come summertime, we’re hoping this will be the first installment of Tiny SMART House “Movie in the Meadow.” We’ll grab some snacks, throw down some blankets, and project films onto the side of our shop free of charge.

… And for those of you who can’t make it, yes. It’s on Netflix.

After last November’s huge success, we decided to return back to the Great American Tiny House Show this April. The event will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland from Saturday 4/28/18 to Sunday 4/29/18. As usual, we’ll be towing one of our show models to put on display. Below are some photos of the houses from last year – extra points if you can spot ours!

Last year’s show featured nearly 20 vendors, including:

Aero Teardrops | Art Barns | Artisan Tiny Homes | Camp Trailers | Covo | Dome to Home | International Homes of Cedar, Inc. | Modern Dwellings | Bouse’s Tiny Houses | New Creation Tiny Homes | Realwood Tiny Homes | Seattle Tiny Homes | Tiny SMART House | Thimble Homes | Tiny Home Oregon | Tiny Mountain Homes | Truform Tiny | Wolf Industries

Tiny SMART House is proud to Host…

| High School and College Field Trips |

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| Tiny House Enthusiast Groups |

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| Tours for the Whole Family |

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| Outings for the Elderly* |

*Although we also specialize in ada-friendly tiny house design, our current houses to tour do not feature ramps or wheelchair accessibility. We do apologize for any inconvenience.

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Email SALES@tinysmarthouse.com or call (541) 908-9066 to schedule your special visit today!