'Tiny House' Owner Fits Plenty In Tight Quarters
BOSTON (CBS) – The nickel tour doesn't take long at Chris Page's place – and he loves it that way.
"This is all I need, basically," he says.
He's talking about his so-called "Tiny House" – built in his dad's Andover driveway, with some fatherly help, as part of a movement that advocates a simpler, cheaper lifestyle in much, much smaller homes.
"The notion of building something real – my own home – was very appealing," says Page.
It's pretty tight quarters inside – but hardly claustrophobic. In fact, the 33-year-old Page says he's entertained a crowd of 20 people here.
And the stuff that he snuggles into just 210 square feet is amazing.
A kitchen with sink, stove and fridge. A living room where a sofa conceals a water storage tank and pump. An office that doubles as a closet while sitting atop a pullout bed. And a bathroom – complete with shower and incinerating toilet.
"These toilets are used where there's no easy access to sewage," Page says. "Burns up the solids, evaporates liquids. There's like a burning chamber in there."
The home includes $40,000 in materials alone – including bamboo floor, cedar siding and metal roof.
The twist here is that Page wants to rent a chunk of someone's yard in the Boston suburbs, where he can plant this "Tiny House" and live in it – while he pursues psychology grad school.
He's hunting for an 11x22 foot rectangle and a utilities hook-up – on Craigslist.
"I maybe have done things in a somewhat unorthodox way," he says with a smirk.
Indeed, this former video game junkie admits to an unusual resume – including several years as a professional online poker player – with winnings that funded this project.
"A stressful but very lucrative occupation," Page told WBZ-TV.
He hopes the relatively big windows in his new, very small house will soon look out on something other than his Dad's front yard.
The place is already on a trailer. And while he expects some zoning bumps, he believes this gamble will pay off in a different sort of way.
"That's my goal," he says with a grin.