Jade Small
Jade Small
November 29, 2023 ·  4 min read

Family buy tiny house and park it right outside their home to put their 3 teens in it

Family is everything. When children are included it can create a little bubble of love in your home. All you want to do is keep them as close as possible. However, the inevitable day comes wen those tiny children become teenagers. That is when things get a little tricky at home. One family came to the conclusion that their home was too small for their now teenage daughters. So, their plan to create space was to build a tiny house for them to live in.

The Dolenc family build a tiny house
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

Tiny home for the not-so-tiny-teens

Brett and Kristy Dolenc live in a house they once considered their dream home with their three kids. When their children were young and small, their home was their sanctuary. They lived in a love bubble in their cozy home in England. But alas, when their kids grew older and became teenagers, they doubled in size. That meant the coziness became more cramped as they all struggled to live comfortably. “For years we were feeling the squeeze in our house and sharing rooms,” said Kristy Dolenc to the Tiny House Giant Journey. “It’s fine when kids are little but they older they get it’s harder.”

It's attached to their house
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

The Dolencs knew that they had to come up with a solution to the space issue. As they brainstormed they found they had a couple options ahead of them. Firstly, they could construct additional rooms onto the house, but that would cost too much money. Secondly, they could sell their house and move into a bigger one. But, they loved their home too much to leave. Thirdly, They could build a tiny home and attach that to their house.

The living space in their tiny house
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

Brett and Kristy decided to go with the latter option. It was a much more affordable solution, and it allowed them to remain in their dream home, which they called Kicsi Casa. They had bought the land their house was situated on 19 years ago. There they lived a micro-farm lifestyle, tending to animals, and hosting community based events.

Construction

The tiny home that Kristy and Brett had in mind was to fit in with their farm aesthetic. They contracted Simblissity Tiny Homes to help them with designing and constructing their tiny house. From start to finish, it took six months to complete. By the end of the construction, the Dolencs had spent $67,000 on their tiny home. “For me this has been the absolute perfect answer, it’s exceeded our expectations,” Kirsty says. “This is their little refuge, so it’s worked out beautifully because it’s close and attached to our house now, so it still feels like part of the house, but also a little separate.”

The girls each have their own room
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

Now, you might be thinking, how are two teenage girls going to share the tiny space without bickering. Well, the family managed to fit a lot into the small space. Both girls have their own bedroom, so they have a sanctuary of their own. Lucie’s room is upstairs n the loft and Marin’s is downstairs.

There's even a fully equipped bathroom
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

Additionally, their is a small living space with a sofa that doubles as a spare bed for sleepovers with their friends. Most importantly, they managed to include a large enough bathroom. It is equipped with a decently sized shower, sink and vanity cupboard.

The stairs to the loft are very practical, as the family utilized the space to create storage. This the girls use for additional wardrobe space. “I have enough room but can’t have a limitless amount of clothes, I always need to be getting rid of some,” Lucie says.

Malin's bedroom
Image credit: YouTube / Tiny House Giant Journey

Future plans for the tiny house

When Lucie and Malin grow up and move out, the Dolenc family are not worried abut being stuck with the tiny house attached to their home. They have the option to move it further away from their house when that day comes. Ultimately, they have come up with a few uses for it.

“We can repurpose the space for another need at a later date,” says Brett. “Some of the things we’ve talked about is using it as an office space or a guest house, maybe our daughters could take it to college at use it as a residence. It gives us a lot of flexibility and versatility, we made an investment and we can use it in many ways in the future.”

Sources

  1. We’re a family-of-five & we built a tiny house in the garden for our teens.The Sun. Claudia Jackson. August 5, 2022.
  2. A couple buys a tiny house and parks it right outside their home to put their 3 teens in it.” My Positive Outlook. Sahlee B. October 3, 2022.