When Trevor Gay decided to embrace the tiny house movement, he was lucky enough to have his father, Gary Gay, in his corner. Gary, who works in the tool rental section at The Home Depot (store #3854), had the know-how and materials to help Trevor make his tiny house dreams come true.
Five years ago, then-26-year-old Trevor was living and working near Cincinnati, Ohio, and commuting one hour each way to work. A Facebook post about tiny house pioneer Jay Shafer made him realize there could be another way to live his life — one that would reduce his living expenses, clutter and environmental footprint.
“The article made me realize that it’s more than a house, it’s financial freedom and freedom in living,” says Trevor.
Armed with Tiny House Build “hOMe” architectural plans and approval from his then girlfriend, Mary, Trevor and his dad set to work. “My father has been so instrumental to this build,” he says. “I’m creative but I’m not as mechanical. With my dad, I knew we could do this ourselves and save money.”
While building a tiny house might seem simpler than building a normal-sized house, in some ways it’s actually more difficult. “It’s a huge challenge to build to such an exact measurement,” says Trevor. In order to attach to the frame of a trailer, so it would be portable, the tiny house could be only 8 feet 6 inches wide by 28 feet long, and 13 feet 6 inches tall. “We were building a house with all the features of a full-sized house, but not the full footprint,” Trevor says.
Father and son set up a building space inside a barn on Gary’s land. For five months, through the bitter depths of a Midwestern winter, they built the subfloor, and they added plumbing, electrical, a shower and a bathroom. They painted and created loft spaces. They built special platforms, deep windowsills and walking bridges for the four temperamental cats who would be sharing the home. Trevor says he and his father did 98 percent of the work on their own, mostly using supplies from The Home Depot.
On May 29, 2015, the tiny house — which Trevor and Benasutti dubbed “Heart of It All House” — was ready to roll out of the barn. A film crew from HGTV was there when the couple moved their new home to a corner of Trevor’s parents’ property (5 acres of wild-animal rescue) and filmed Trevor proposing to Benasutti inside their new tiny house.
“We built our dream house in a matter of a few months for $33,000,” says Trevor, who just turned 31.
A year in, the couple has no regrets. Their monthly bills average around $40, including heat and air conditioning. Trevor says their kitchen has better work flow than any he has had before, and the wide windows in every area of the 224-square-foot place give a sense of spaciousness. Even downsizing wasn’t a problem. Trevor built a nearby shed to house his 10 bicycles, and the cabinets in the house are not even full to capacity.
“We’ve had a shift in mindset,” he says. “For Christmas and birthdays, we don’t want gifts — we’d rather have an experience or donate to charity.”
Trevor — who now produces tiny house TV shows for HGTV — says he and his fiancee plan to live in Heart of It All House for another five to six years. At that time, they may decide they want a little more room for a family. “Rather than a McMansion, we want a really cool supermodern 800- to 900-square-foot tiny house,” he says. “Living here has changed our perception of what we need in a dream home.”
*Photos courtesy of Trevor Gray
