Building your own house is a big accomplishment. Even when it’s 130 square feet.
Especially when it’s 130 square feet.
Kayla Feenstra is putting the finishing touches on her mobile home, which cost $15,000 to build over two months. Custom features include an 11-foot ceiling, a loft bedroom, a compost toilet, and solar panels to heat it all.
“I had to be really conscious about road restrictions, the width and height. That caused a lot of math,” she joked. “What happens when the tire pressure drops? So many questions, that caused a lot of measurements.”
The 30-year-old Feenstra said the decision to build her own house was made out of necessity.
“I didn’t own any land, and I didn’t want to build a house and then have to leave it behind, so then I thought about putting on wheels,” she said.
“It was a project to stop renting. I put an offer on a house in Abbotsford, and it didn’t go through…we were going through the final motions of signing papers and they said we needed a bigger down payment. So then I started thinking about how much space do I need.”
She says she’s had a number of offers to place her new home in various properties around Abbotsford, but will take her time deciding.
Feenstra didn’t exactly enter the project without any experience.
“I grew up building with my dad, he’s a log-home builder,” she said. “I spent my childhood building houses.”
And Feenstra’s dad has seen her new home – and liked what he saw.
“He said it reminds him off his hippy days,” she said with a laugh. “I guess it runs in the blood.”
MORE: Vancouver company hopes to kickstart micro home revolution with $25,000 units
– With files from Catherine Urquhart
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