A Tiny Home for a Perfect Retirement
Last Updated: Apr 13, 2025The economic and ecological benefits of tiny homes appeal to many different people from all different walks of life. RISE recently sat down to talk with David Hill, an (almost) 65-year-old retired marketing and fund-raising executive who recently built a beautiful tiny home in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Northeast Alabama. Below, we share some of his insights on how his transition into a tiny house in a beautiful rural setting has made for a perfect retirement home.
Table of Contents
- A Quick Profile of BranchHill Tiny Home
- Q&A
A Quick Profile of BranchHill Tiny Home
David’s tiny homestead is called BranchHill. The house is 28 feet long by 8.5 feet wide. Since he was looking for a place to settle down for retirement where he could spend time writing, he decided to put the home on a foundation, which allowed him to raise the ceiling height to 15 feet. The 273 square feet of the home thus feels much larger, due to the 168 square foot sleeping loft that rivals any master bedroom. While many tiny homes have relatively small sleeping lofts, David’s upstairs bedroom is surrounded by high-performance windows that look out into the surrounding woods. The beautiful solid wood flooring and ceiling panels along with the large windows combine to form a biophilic design that connects the house to its beautiful natural surroundings. A large outdoor patio increases the livable space of the home while creating a seamless transition to outdoor living.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
