Building tiny on Bowen Island

Callahan Tufts and his girlfriend Lauren Karst stand in the centre of their soon-to-be-home. The space is still a raw wood frame and floor. Building their own home is not as daunting as it might seem — the couple’s home measures just 320 square feet.

The tiny-house frame was constructed last year when Tufts, an industrial design graduate at Emily Carr University, hosted a “barn-raising” in partnership with the B.C. Tiny House Collective. It’s built almost entirely from scrapped building materials Tufts collected at waste transfer stations in Vancouver.

In an ideal world, Tufts’ goal would be to scale the idea, collecting enough materials to build more sustainable tiny houses.

“I think it’s a really interesting idea to build housing for people with little money using the leftovers from houses that are massive from people who have lots of money,” he said.

Right now, the couple’s home is parked at Karst’s parent’s property on Bowen Island. They’ll have to move when the time comes to live in the tiny home permanently. Click here to read more about how small communities are paving the way for legal tiny houses in B.C.

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