A mix of woods — pine and oak — with natural and painted finishes warm the tiny house’s interior.
In 2017, Richmond marketing professional Annie Colpitts says, “I was living in an apartment, but I wanted a space to call my own. I looked at lots of houses, but nothing was calling my name.” Having worked for both contractors and architects, seeing a wide variety of building styles, she knew she didn’t want run-of-the mill digs.
“I really liked the idea of building my own house where I know how everything came to be,” she says. “I am a handy person. I’d been following Instagram accounts of people living the van life, but I didn’t want to travel all the time. One night it clicked for me: a tiny house on wheels.” The result is a 160-square-foot home that is parked on private property near Ashland — what Colpitts calls “my little vacation escape.”
SQUARE FEET: 160 | WEIGHT: 11,000 pounds empty | DIMENSIONS: 8.5 feet wide by 20 feet long by 13.5 feet high (ground to top of roof) | EXTERIOR: Pine | INTERIOR: Pine with shelving and stair treads made from an oak tree that fell on her parents’ property | COST: $35,000 for the initial build, plus another $10,000 for custom details
As a cautious person, Colpitts took her time exploring the tiny house concept, including spending a weekend in a tiny cabin Airbnb. “I figured that the experience would help me decide on whether to move forward with my plan or not. I walked in that space and felt a strong gut feeling — ‘Yes, this is what I want,’ … a little bit of an escape and a home.”
After finding a builder in Tennessee, she worked with them on the design, how to work with trades (plumbing, electric, etc.) and developing a budget. In the fall of 2018, Colpitts, her father and her sister traveled to the builder’s headquarters, where they worked 12-hour days for six days to get the house 85% done. They returned to Richmond and awaited delivery of the house, which was towed from Tennessee to Hanover County in early December. Since then, she has built out lots of design details, including a narrow staircase for accessing the loft and a seating area.
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Annie Colpitts at the front door of her tiny house, built with help from her father and sister.
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Colpitts sealed the butcher-block counter in the galley kitchen with a nontoxic tung oil by Real Milk Paint Co.
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In the sleeping loft, a space-saving sconce and bedside bookshelf allow room to display books and favorite accessories. A good friend who’s a savvy shopper found the pillows, Moroccan blanket and handmade linen duvet for Colpitts on Etsy.
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The acrylic clawfoot tub was a must-have for Colpitts, who spray-painted the feet gold herself.
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Found on eBay, the mustard three-burner stove was salvaged from a yacht.
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The stair treads and shelves were fabricated from an oak that fell on Colpitts’ parents’ property.
One detail Colpitts says she’d do without next time: a skylight. In the planning phase, she says, she really wanted to include a skylight above the sleeping loft. Everyone, including her father, who has extensive construction experience, tried to dissuade her, but she was determined. The morning she woke up with wet feet from the leaking skylight, she saw the error of her ways and had it removed.
“I was living in an apartment, but I wanted a space to call my own.” —Annie Colpitts
There were certain details that were nonnegotiable. She loves her galley kitchen and found her vintage three-burner Magic Chef stove (in mustard), which had been salvaged from a yacht, on eBay. “It’s my pride and joy.” As is her tub. “It makes the most sense to have a shower stall, but I’d always wanted a clawfoot tub, so I made sure I had a 5-foot spot for one.” Colpitts also wanted a “great room” feeling with higher ceilings so the space wouldn’t feel cramped. “I left the sleeping loft open to the space below, so there’s lots of light. Mornings are beautiful. The whole layout … I’m so, so pleased with the way it turned out.”
Colpitts admits that the pandemic has tested her tolerance for small. Lacking enough square footage to be comfortable 24/7, the house felt a little confining. “I stopped wearing my Fitbit because I just wasn’t taking that many steps!” Lately, Colpitts is thinking about building an A-frame house on property of her own. “It’s an economical house to build. Using a preengineered design, I could get an A-frame up quickly. And it has the same great-room concept that I love.” She’s got her eye on a piece of land that might work well for this next project. And what of the tiny house on wheels? She’ll park it out back.
