Rise | We've Done the Research
Can a Family of 5 Live in a Tiny House?
Tiny home living is often associated with a one or two-person household living remotely and frugally while saving up money for their first “real” home. Bryan and Bethany Flake, currently living in a beautiful tiny house on wheels in Southern California—though constantly on the move as Bryan is a travelling nurse—challenges this assumption. Their 415 square foot tiny home on wheels (255 square feet if you don’t count the loft space) is home for them, their three children, and a collection of pets that borders on being called a mini-zoo!
The Flake’s tiny home on wheels is thirty feet long, 8.5 feet wide, and 13.6 feet wide. Two lofted bedroom spaces provide ample sleeping room for the large family while custom wood trim offers a touch of rustic elegance throughout the interior of the home. A full sized refrigerator, four-burner stove and oven, and even a microwave offer ample space for cooking needs for the family.
Because the Flake family does move regularly, they wanted a tiny home that they could pull themselves, and they currently pull their home wherever Bryan’s work leads them with a Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck.
We recently sat down to talk with Bryan Flake about the joys, benefits, and challenges that come with living in a tiny home on wheels. He also offers some words of advice for people interested in tiny home living.
Table of Contents
1. What inspired you to purchase and live in a tiny home?
We live an abnormal lifestyle where I am a travel nurse and we move regularly every 3-12 months. With the uncertainty of how long we will be at any given place, finding a rental that would be flexible was increasingly difficult and stressful. With a tiny home, we can take our home with us at any time. Finding a place to park for a few months is much easier than having to find a rental home. Having a tiny house on wheels (“THOW”) gives us the ability to be more flexible and take shorter assignments.
2. How many people live in your tiny home?
In our tiny home there is myself (Bryan), my wife Bethany, and our three children: Felicity (10), Kai (8) and Greyson (6). Along with our zoo: we have 4 dogs, 6 cats, a mini-pig, and a ball python.
3. Is it challenge living in a tiny home with so many people (and animals)?
We have lived in our tiny home for 5 months now, and the only challenging part of living in a small space with so many people and critters is leaving and coming home! Getting in and out of the door can be a challenge, but otherwise the home doesn’t seem any smaller than an average sized house. We all have our own space and little corners that we can retreat to if needed. Luckily, we’ve been living in Southern California, so being outside and enjoying the mild winter has been nice too.
5. What is your favorite part of your home?
I think each person has a different part of the tiny home that is their favorite. One of our favorite features is the custom Catio (patio for a cat) that our builders designed for us. It’s the perfect spot for our six cats to get away to and have their own space. It includes two big windows for them to bird watch from and a fan that takes the litter smell directly out before it can spread to the rest of the home. It’s definitely one of the best talking points of the home.
9. Is there anything you would do differently in regards to your experiencing of purchasing and living in a tiny home?
We were fortunate in finding our builders, Backcountry Tiny Homes. Tina and Luke were the perfect fit for us and our home. With that great relationship with them, we created this amazing custom home that we truly love! There are a few things here or there that we would change if we had to build all over again—like having a full-size washer/dryer—but overall, there isn’t anything we would do differently.
Bottom Line
As Bryan says, tiny homes are not for everyone. But by simplifying all of their stuff and living in a smaller home, they are reducing their environmental footprint. And because it fits so well with their lifestyle, they do not feel like they are making any sacrifice at all. Thanks to the Flake family for demonstrating how another version of a home can be enough!
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.
