Tiny Home Community for Retirees: She Came for the Summer
When Pam retired after 23 years of running her own boutique, she had a pretty simple plan. She wanted a summer getaway in a tiny home community for retirees, somewhere she could enjoy the warmer months before heading south for the winter.
She retired on a Friday and headed north the very next day. Her sister was purchasing a home in a nearby gated community, and when Pam heard about the tiny homes in the area, she thought they were adorable. It seemed like the perfect arrangement.
But after just three weeks, Pam realized she didn't want to leave.
"So was it the plan? No. Did it work out? Yes."
That was nine years ago, and Pam is still living at Simple Life near Hendersonville, North Carolina. While the tiny home initially caught her attention, it's not what made her stay.
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At a glance
Nine years at Simple Life in the Hendersonville area of North Carolina, after two condos and a boutique career
Chose this home for the extra room, and negotiated a shed, covered parking, a dog room and Astroturf
Corner lot with a hedge on one side, which is where the privacy comes from
Open deck enclosed into a screened porch she uses from April to December
Full-size stove, refrigerator and dishwasher, granite counters, open floating shelves
Lives alone with a dog and a cat
The Lot Did as Much Work as the House
When she was negotiating, she went in with a list. She wanted a shed, covered parking, somewhere for the dogs and Astroturf to put down, and she got all of it.
"When you move into the home, you don't necessarily have all this, but you certainly have the backbone to upgrade and make it a beautiful place. They do work with you."
She is on a corner with a hedge along one side, so there are no neighbors on top of her. The result is the thing people notice first, ahead of anything indoors.
The Day She Broke Her Leg
She was gardening on a hot Friday afternoon and stepped into a hole she had dug herself a few days earlier. She had never broken a bone in her life. This time she broke her leg in two places, badly.
Her neighbors came. They called the ambulance, iced her, and stayed with her until it left. One took one dog, another took the other. She came home three days later to find a neighbor who happened to be a therapist waiting to help her out of the car, food already in the house, flowers, and people who checked on her every day after that.
"Tell me what neighborhood or where you live that you have that kind of community and people that watch over you and care about you. Had I been in a home somewhere, I might not have been found."
It is not only emergencies. One morning she was an hour late putting the garbage out and had a text from across the street asking if she was all right, because it always went out at seven.
She had two condos before this, and the comparison is the reason she talks about it at all.
"You walk in your door and you close your door and you're not interacting with your neighbors."
If you want the same arrangement from a couple's point of view rather than a single person's, Ben and Cheryl cover life in a tiny home community in theirs.
A Kitchen That Gave Up Drawers for a Dishwasher
Pam entertains, so the kitchen had to work. It has granite counters she can put a hot pan straight onto, a full-size five burner electric stove, a full-size refrigerator with an ice maker and a microwave. The trade she made was deliberate.
"I wouldn't be without the dishwasher. If I didn't have the dishwasher here, I'd probably have a stack of drawers. And I'm willing to let go of that."
She added a cabinet for hot pads and utensils to claw some of it back, and pulled out some of the upper cabinetry in favor of open floating shelves, which she says hold more than closed ones did. Two bar stools turn the counter into seating for four, and the whole run works as a buffet when there are more people than that.
Storage is handled by rules rather than square footage. Everything lives in containers, the trash can and the vacuum are inside a closet, and the pantry runs on what she calls organizational skills.
"In a small space, if it's organized, it works beautifully."
The Room She Added Herself
Pam's porch wasn't always the enclosed space it is today. It actually started as an open deck, but after trying a retractable awning and realizing it wasn't quite what she needed, she decided to enclose it with a solid roof. She also added drop-down shades to help block the late afternoon sun.
Even though the porch doesn't count toward the home's square footage because it isn't heated or cooled, it's where Pam spends most of her time.
"From this time of year, which we're in the beginning of April, probably to almost December, we live out here. This is where we entertain, cook out on the grill, and enjoy life."
She even has a little dog run off the porch, complete with Astroturf, so her dog can come and go on her own. The dining area is tucked around the corner, away from the bugs, making it a comfortable spot to enjoy meals outside.
And while the porch adds plenty of usable living space, it also makes the inside of her tiny home feel much bigger than it actually is.
Indoors she went the other way and spent properly on fewer things. The sofa is custom, made by a place in Asheville that has since been wiped out by the hurricane, and she chose the leather, the color and the length herself because nothing from her old house fit.
"I'd rather have less and have really good stuff than have a bunch of inexpensive things that you just keep changing out."
The art came with her, most of it collected over years of going to the same show every year, and the rest she let go.
Who She Made the Video For
Pam says plainly that being on camera is not her cup of tea, and that she did it anyway because she had a particular person in mind.
"I'm reaching out to the people who are widowed, divorced, never married, or just retired, and they're by themselves, and they think, God, do I want to change? A lot of people don't know how to change, but I think a place like this fulfills that loneliness."
Her family thought she was out of her mind when she did it. She reports that they have come round.
Questions About a Tiny Home Community for Retirees
Is a tiny home community for retirees a good idea if you live alone?
It is the reason Pam chose one. She had lived in condos and says you walk in, close the door and never interact with anyone. Here she runs into people on a walk or sits on the pergola across the way, and she is direct that it is not about making best friends, it is about not being isolated. Her view is that the arrangement suits anyone widowed, divorced, never married or newly retired and on their own.
What happens in a tiny home community in an emergency?
Pam found out. Gardening one summer afternoon she stepped into a hole she had dug days earlier and broke her leg in two places. Neighbors called the ambulance, iced her and stayed until it arrived, and took both her dogs. She came home three days later to a neighbor who was a therapist waiting to help her out of the car, food, flowers and people checking on her daily. Her own summary is that had she been in a house somewhere, she might not have been found.
Can you add a screened porch to a tiny home?
Pam's started as an open deck. She tried a retractable awning first and it did not work, so she paid to enclose the porch with a solid roof and added drop-down shades for the late afternoon sun. It does not count toward the square footage because it is not heated or cooled, but she lives out there from about April to December and says it makes the inside feel larger when you look out at it.
Is a tiny home cheaper than a condo?
Pam says it is, and she has owned two condos to compare against. She does not give figures on camera. Her argument is as much about what the money buys as what it costs, because the condos left her behind a closed door with no contact with neighbors, and she rates the daily interaction here as the thing that makes the difference.
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More Tiny Home Tours to Explore
More homes and the rules in North Carolina: Tiny Homes in North Carolina
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