We’re back at The Lift Coffeehouse with Travis and Sarah Troxtell and their three children, on March 8, discussing their plans to create a ‘tiny home village’ about 5 miles south of downtown Pagosa on Highway 84. Theoretically biking distance to town, in the off chance that one or more of the residents prefer bicycle transportation.
Which is not to suggest that Highway 84 has bike lanes. But maybe someday?
Yesterday, in Part Three, I mentioned the ‘tiny home village’ proposed in 2021 for an Alpha Drive location adjacent to Walmart.
The project didn’t moved forward, and instead a two-story 50-unit low-income apartment complex is under construction at the same location.
We understand that our community is going through a housing crisis that has made it difficult — or impossible — for our working individuals and families to find housing they can afford.
Would our workforce prefer to rent smallish apartments?
Or would they prefer to own a smallish ‘tiny home’… hooked up to utilities, in a ‘tiny home village’?
Some of the tiny home villages in other Colorado communities have waiting lists. But every community has its own local demographic. A 2021 survey of Pagosa employees suggested that workers would prefer a single family home that they can afford, as the preferred housing solution. But ‘tiny homes’ came in ‘second’ among the options… more popular than renting.
Travis and Sarah Troxtell believe that Archuleta County can support a tiny home village, and they’ve been putting their money and effort where their beliefs are.
Here’s Travis, pointing to the engineering drawings for the tiny home village proposed for their Highway 84 property:
“We’ve drilled a well, here, that provides over 55 gallons a minute. Great water. There’s a pond that’s fed by a spring…”
Sarah:
“We have plenty of water. The model that inspired us is in Texas. It was actually a family farm, and the farm was looking for a way to bring in more income, so they built tiny homes, integrated into the farm,
“So our big vision is… it’s called an ‘agri-hood’. There will be a big community garden over here… because this is sandy loam. It’s good soil. And then there’s another spot over here that’s really good soil. So, yeah, I want a big grow dome. The lots are big enough so each family can have their own individual garden, and then also community gardens.
“I want the landscape to be edible! I know that fruiting trees don’t bear fruit every year, but the years that we can, I want apple trees… nut trees… strawberries… a community chicken coop…”
I suggested that Sarah could end up being really busy.
Travis:
“Yeah, hobby farming is what it’s called. An agri-hood. Introduce people to healthy eating. That’s part of the good life.
“The County regulations say that each lot in a mobile home park must be 2,000 square feet or larger. So this will be re-zoned as a ‘mobile home park’ with a ‘use by right’ tiny home village. I believe our lots are at 2,200 square feet; some of them are larger.”
“Everything shown in gray is gravel or parking. So this is more roomy than an RV park. RV parks are packed in like sardines. This is going to have some green space on each individual lot…”
Each lot will have a small storage unit and utility hookups. Water. Sewer. Electricity.
“We’re required to have two parking spots for cars…”
Will the Troxtells provide the tiny homes themselves, or will each family need to bring their own?
Sarah noted that it would take less time to fully develop the village if each family brings their own tiny home.
“We’d like to pitch this as ‘Bring Your Own Tiny Home’. That’s what Escalante Village did in Durango. That will give us time and income to finish the project.
“And I think that makes better sense for the residents, because it allows people to build equity…”
I want to pause, here, and offer a few thoughts about ‘equity’.
I’ve owned three different homes in my life.
The first home was purchased from Clarissa’s parents. But the house was falling down, and we obtained a low-interest HUD loan to completely rebuild the first floor, and much of the second floor. We built our equity over time.
The second home, also in poor shape, was purchased here in Pagosa with a bank loan, and extensively remodeled, and we sold it three years later for somewhat more than the original purchase price.
Our third home, here in Pagosa, was also purchased with a bank loan and needed only very minor remodeling. The loan is now fully paid off and the house is currently appraised at five times the price we paid for it. In other words, I could never afford to purchase my own house.
One of my neighbors recently built an outdoor sauna, without taking out a bank loan. He did all the work himself.
When I lived in Sweden as an exchange student, I learned that, historically, a young Swedish family typically built their sauna first, and lived in the sauna while building their house.
No bank loan was necessary. Nor were such loans even available.
But in the 21st century, Americans have come to believe that:
1. We cannot build our own homes, ourselves. Only a ‘professional’ is capable of building a house.
2. We must borrow the money for our house from a bank, at a high interest rate, and end up paying $500,000 for a $250,000 house.
I’ve never built my own house, but I’ve helped other people build their houses. It’s a stressful undertaking, but it’s not rocket science. Families have been building their own homes for 360,000 years.
But we’ve forgotten how, here in America. And our local governments have installed frustrating legal roadblocks that make it very difficult to create shelter for ourselves.
So here we are, in a situation where a working family can no longer afford to relocate to Pagosa Springs.
Could tiny homes — and I’m talking here about ‘owner-built’ tiny homes — could tiny homes be a stepping stone to reviving sensible home ownership models? Maybe, ownership models that don’t put a family in debt for 30 years?
Could our local elected leaders support such an idea?