THE
DANDELION HOUSING PROJECT
We build affordable Tiny Homes for people who want to live simply and close to nature.
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Our homes are seeding the future of housing justice. You really can have a home of your own!
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Our small crew of Vermonters puts our love and care into every house. Each one is build to last.
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Simple Shelter.
Winter-ready houses for off-grid living.
Made in Vermont.
Tiny Houses: our solution to the housing crisis
- Have you been looking for a way out of the inflated rents of the housing crunch? A Tiny House of your very own can give you housing independence!
- We build Tiny Houses that real people can afford. Our carefully honed design sits on a high-quality trailer that you can park anywhere.
- Our basic & beautiful 8x20 house includes a kitchen, shower, composting toilet, a cozy bed nook, and lofted storage. It starts at $40,000.
- Most of us Dandelion Builders live in Tiny Houses ourselves. We love it: the freedom, the simplicity, the low housing costs and tiny ecological footprint. We think you will love it too.
Where are they built?
Our building workshop is in Worcester, Vermont.
Who are we?
We are a collective of non-traditional builders with a passion for solving the housing crisis through small & simple solutions. Our crew is 33% female, 33% transgender, and queer as a three dollar bill.
How much does a house cost?
Our basic 8x20 house costs $40,000 before you add a heating unit (we can set them up with a woodstove, propane unit, or electric heater). The basic unit is designed to be used as an off-grid cabin without running water or electrical wiring, but we can add traditional plumbing and wiring for an added charge.
What you get:
- A weather-tight house that is ready for winter with R-13 rigid foam insulation and double-glazed windows throughout.
- Lots of windows so your house feels spacious and airy.
- A kitchen counter with sink and under-counter shelving. Add your own mini-fridge and small cookstove.
- A cozy bed nook on the main level (no climbing a ladder late at night!), customized to your preferred mattress size and with storage underneath.
- A small bathroom with a standard shower stall and a composting toilet.
- Plenty of lofted storage (you get to choose between a full loft or longitudinal high shelving)
- Optional heating systems (additional fee): Heat shields and chimney pipe for a small woodstove; a small propane heater; or an electric heating unit.
- Optional (additional fee): full internal wiring for lights, small appliances, and electrical outlets.
- Optional (additional fee): Internal plumbing and hookups for pressurized running water & traditional wastewater outflow. (You provide the water source & septic hookup at your location.)
Where do I park my Tiny House?
- Every municipality has its own regulations for houses on trailers. Make sure you know what yours are!
- The easiest way to meet all legal requirements is to park your Tiny House near an existing traditional house, and hook into its existing systems (water, electric, wastewater). This is the most popular option.
- If you park your Tiny House on previously undeveloped land, it's best to install a wastewater system that meets legal requirements for your location.
- Many campgrounds, RV parks, and mobile home parks welcome Tiny Houses.
Financing Your Tiny House:
- Our Tiny Houses are some of the most affordable ones around, but most folks still need some sort of a loan to afford one.
- Many people arrange a personal loan (or two, or five!) from family or friends to finance their house. That way your are making payments to people who love you, not the bank.
- Some people raise money for their new home through online fundraising platforms.
- Some lenders offer specific loans for Tiny Houses.
Ready for your very own Tiny House?
Let us know what you're looking for an we'll tell you when we can get it done. The conversation starts here:
LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
FAQ:
- HOW SOON CAN YOU BUILD MY HOUSE? It takes us about a month to finish a house (more if you want electrical wiring and plumbing hookups). When you submit a design inquiry, we'll let you know how many houses we have in the queue before yours.
- DO I NEED TO PICK UP MY HOUSE? Yes, you need to pick up your house and tow it to it's destination. It will weigh about 11,000 pounds and can be towed with a 3/4 ton pickup truck (such as an F-250). Your house will be 8 feet wide and 13.5 feet high, so you don't need any special permits to move it.
- WHAT KIND OF TOILET DOES THE HOUSE HAVE? You can choose between an "Airhead" engineered composting toilet, a humanure bucket system, or a regular flush toilet (you provide the water and sewage hookups at your site). We recommend the humanure bucket system if you'll have a place for your own humanure composting pile near your house -- it is very inexpensive and simple, works better than engineered composting toilets, uses almost no water, and produces awesome nutrient-rich compost.
- HOW DID YOU LEARN TO BUILD TINY HOUSES? Necessity is the best teacher. We needed places to live in Vermont's rapidly gentrifying rental market, so we learned to build them!
- HOW PHYSICALLY ACCESSIBLE ARE YOUR HOUSES? All the living space is on the main level, so if you add a ramp it's pretty easy to navigate. The space is generally rather narrow for a wheelchair, and the 24-inch bathroom door will not accommodate one at all. These houses do not meet ADA standards.
- WHY ARE THE HOUSES 8X20? It's a compromise between affordability and space. Longer trailers cost more, and longer houses may need a bigger vehicle to tow them. A twenty-foot house allows for a cozy main-level bed (instead of a loft with the accompanying ladder and cramped space), but is still relatively affordable.
- CAN YOU BUILD ME A CUSTOM HOUSE? All our houses offer a choice of bed size, prefered heating system, and lofted storage configurations. The rest of he house is completely standardized -- that's how we build them efficiently so they are cheaper than most! You'll add your own flair over time: a shelf here, a colorful curtain there... Every Tiny House becomes a unique expression of it's owner.
- CAN YOU PLEASE SET UP A TINY HOUSE PARK AND RENT ME A LOT FOR MY HOUSE? No, we can't. Our discussion with affordable housing experts in our area reveal that this would cost at least $1,000,000 to purchase land, get all the permits, and get legal septic and utilities installed. This stuff was cheap to set up in the 80s, now it's astronomical, and we are all low-income back-to-the-landers with no resources to speak of. This is a worthy project for somebody, but not for us... we are builders, not landlords.
- CAN I DO WORK EXCHANGE TO REDUCE THE PRICE OF MY HOUSE? Our affordability model depends on a skilled team working at maximum efficiency to keep labor costs low. Integrating a new person into this takes a lot of time and makes the house cost more to build, not less. So unfortunately, work exchange isn't a viable way to reduce your home's cost. If you'd like to purchase a tiny home shell with an unfinished interior that you can build out yourself, we *can* sell you that at a reduced cost, so please inquire.
- DO YOU TEACH CLASSES ON HOW TO BUILD A TINY HOUSE? Not currently. Building houses and teaching building skills are two very different endeavors, and we are focusing on the first one right now. Yestermorrow Design/Build School teaches Tiny House courses in Waitsfield, VT.
- CAN I GET A JOB AT DANDELION HOUSING PROJECT? We are not currently hiring, but thanks for asking!
WHO WE ARE: THE DANDYS!
Murphy Robinson
He/They
Murphy is the founder of Mountainsong Expeditions, a school of outdoor skills and simple living. He built a 72 square foot off-grid Tiny House in 2012 and has been living in it ever since.
Kiana LaDeau
She/Her
Kiana puts her loving care into gardening, cooking for friends, and alternative education. She built her Tiny House in 2023: the first Dandelion Housing prototype! She also named our collective.
Silas Wood
He/Him
Silas went to clown school, worked in a warehouse, and then threw it all away for the Tiny house dream. He and Kiana built their Tiny House in 2023.
Richie Walker
He/Him
Richie is a radio DJ and an aspiring filmmaker. He co-founded the Dandelion Housing Project when he was only 17!
Fara Walker
She/Her
Fara is an artist, entrepreneur, provider of good snacks, and an excellent mom. She believes "Human Doings" are more fun than "Human Beings."
Clyde
He/Him
Clyde keeps a watchful eye on our building site and greets all visitors with loud barks and enthusiastic wags
