This Retiree Built Her Own Tiny House For Affordable Living

Simplify
by Simplify

Brigitte is an advocate of tiny house retirement. A retired teacher, Brigitte wanted to build a tiny house and did so with the help of a contractor. She created the space for her personality and without anyone telling her what it should or shouldn’t be.

At 62 years of age, Brigitte decided to embrace the opportunity to learn something new in life by building the tiny house herself. For a year, she researched the process.


As soon as she decided to start, people began to offer her help and materials out of the blue. She worked with her contractor for one year to finish the house. But this is part of Brigitte’s personality–she isn’t afraid to take on difficult challenges.


The house is 8 feet wide and 18 feet long. It’s built to be mobile, but she pays rent for a spot of land that has a beautiful mountain vista. Brigitte designed the house so that as she matures, she doesn’t need to sleep in the loft. Instead, she can sleep downstairs.

Brigitte built her own tiny home

When asked if building the house was hard, she says that the hardest part was making decisions on materials and design choices.


For power, Brigitte has an extension cord for 15 amps and an oil radiant heater, but she only experiences about two weeks of frigid weather. Without running water, she takes water from the main house to her home in a pail.


Brigitte is extremely self-sufficient with an electric bike to take her into town to do her grocery shopping. Though others wonder why she lives so simply, she believes it’s the best way to live, to share resources with others, and to feel free without the stress of taking care of all the conveniences that she doesn’t need or want.


How to build a tiny house

What do you think of Brigitte’s lifestyle? Do you think you’d like to retire in a tiny house?


For more tiny home tours, discover this elderly-friendly tiny house or this impressive folding tiny house.


To see more videos, check out the Exploring Alternatives YouTube channel.

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