These gorgeous tiny homes are made by a Co Clare social enterprise
Common Knowledge's tiny homes are offering more options for those who can't afford to buy a house.
Six years ago, Harrison Gardner and Erin McClure moved to Clare. With the help of friends and community, the couple spent €40,000 fixing up a poorly-kept 40-square-metre cottage, which was bought with cash savings from a decade working in London and Dublin.
This means the couple live rent- and mortgage-free, and will continue to adapt and extend the house as their family needs change. “It’s not as big as the home we’re gonna need ten years from now, when we have two teenage children, friends coming to stay and grandparents coming to visit, but it’s perfect for what we need today,” explains builder and teacher Harrison.
Of course, DIY renovating and extending your own home is a lot more feasible when you’re a builder yourself. That’s where Common Knowledge comes in. Co-founded by four friends – Harrison, Erin, Fionn Kidney and Spider Hickman – the social enterprise teaches basic building skills, creates useful resources, and connects people across the country through courses and an online forum.
Common Knowledge has taught 600 people the fundamentals of home building, many of whom are at points in their lives where they’re ready to do some form of settling down, whether that’s committing to a particular location or starting a family.
However, fewer and fewer people can afford to buy a house, especially one that’s ready to move into, and often don’t have the knowledge or the finances to take on a building that needs a lot of work either.
The tiny homes movement, which is especially popular in the US, struck a chord. “People reduce and refine their lifestyle to exactly what they need and nothing extra,” Harrison explains. “We don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all solution for housing, but it’s an option that’s going to work really well for some people.”
Their 20-square-metre Tigín tiny house is designed with volume in mind – the living room ceiling height is 3.6 metres high.
“While it does have a tiny footprint, it never feels like you’re in a cramped or tiny space,” says Erin. “You’re connected to nature constantly by these huge windows.”
Each Tigín costs between €40k and €60k to buy, which is for many the equivalent of a house deposit, and more. But if going a more traditional route, finding a home – for 3.5 times your salary – is the next hurdle. “The deposit isn’t enough anymore,” says Harrison. “And the mortgage cycle works for some people, but in many ways, that cycle was invented by our parents’ generation, and we’re still trying to fulfil it as rent and house prices are going up all the time.”
While there are already small structures available to buy in Ireland, a big draw of the Tigín is that they are on wheels. “That’s an important part of the design because we wanted these homes to be flexible, and obviously an issue with permanent dwellings, particularly in scenic spots, is planning permission concerns, and you need to own land,” says Erin. “However, once on wheels, you can rent land, or park it on family or friends’ land.”
