The History of Tiny Houses

The Tiny House concept emerged in the United States in the late 1990s. It had its greatest growth after the financial crisis of 2007, referring to the country's housing bubble.

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There are those who claim that it all started with Jay Shafer, known by many as the “inventor of Tiny Houses” and one of the main defenders of the movement in the United States.

 

Jay Shafer was looking for a comfortable and cheaper alternative to his Airstream model trailer, where he lived 2 years ago. In 1997, he designed and built his first Tiny House, which had just over 8m² of total area. This started the movement of small houses known as the “tiny-house movement”, which had the purpose of promoting a minimalist, sustainable and ecological lifestyle. Then, it became an architectural and social movement, which advocated a simple life in small houses with a low ecological footprint and a great collaborative and community spirit.

 

Over time, this idea gained space and conquered the world we live in today and has become a major trend.