From the Georgia Tiny House Festival

 

On a cool, but sunny weekend, I attended the 2016 first annual Georgia Tiny House Festival  hosted by John Kernohan and Fin Davies, as well as, Will Johnston and other members of Tiny House Atlanta at Crooked Pines Farm.What an experience it was! As I walked up to the festival,  several tiny homes in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors lined the entrance. The first one was a van conversion done by Alon who resides in Atlanta. He tours with his van to various places and festivals. His artistry is evident from the time you step into his van and on the canvases leaning against it.

As I walked down the line, I saw a school bus conversion, a yurt, the tiny Victorian house and one shell built by Kokoon Homes. Inside the event, several builders showcased some of their work. The Gypsy Wagon above was built by Trekker Trailers from Leesburg, Florida. They brought several of their tiny homes up with them in more contemporary styles. Andrew Bennett and Robin Butler have formed an organization called NOAH (National Organization for Alternative Housing). They offer certification workshops for builders and are working to set national standards for THOW's. They, also, help house the homeless, veterans and underprivileged with tiny homes on wheels through Tiny House of Hope. For more information, click on the word NOAH to access their website

Other builders who brought their tiny homes on wheels included, Free Range Homes and Hummingbird Housing.

There were some very famous folks there, such as, Vera Struck of terrabluteams.org who built an educational tiny house of wheels from sustainable and recycled material with a membrane fiber that allows the house to breathe. Next to her is Will Johnston who began Tiny House Atlanta and is doing some amazing work with his group in advocating for THOW's to be permanent dwelling structures in Atlanta and the state of Georgia.

I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting a bit with Jewel Pearson aka Ms. Gypsy Soul. She is an inspiration as a woman chasing her dreams and making her "tiny" dream come true. Her tiny house on wheels build was showcased on HGTV's Tiny House, Big Living show. You can find that link on her Facebook page. On the other side of us is John Kernohan who, with the help of the lovely Fin Davies, put this event together and is already working on next year's festival. They did an AMAZING job!

Nasly and I are working on a project and will be blogging about that and our progress. We thank all of you in the tiny house community and those who partner with us as we advocate for variances and amending of zoning and building codes to include tiny homes here in southeast Florida.