Preservation Tiny House Company is Changing the Way New Orleanians Live

by • March 23, 2017 • Architecture & Design, Commercial, Community Development, Construction, Entrepreneurship, Historic, Innovation, News, Renovation, Residential, Zoning and Land UseComments (1)9439

Preservation Tiny House Company designs and builds tiny homes that are inspired by historic architecture.

Launched in 2016, the company had been working on a 135 square-foot home modeled after the famous shotgun style house in New Orleans and then paused to begin building another house for KREWE, the local eyewear company that recently drove its brand new mobile retail store to SXSW.

The first tiny home in New Orleans was around 60 percent done a few weeks ago when we visited. The bedroom space is lofted and the house includes space for a queen size bed, an L-shaped kitchen with conventional hookups, and a wooden frame. The KREWE house (pictured below) is built with a metal frame because it’s built for mobility rather than the other homes that will likely remain parked on lots throughout New Orleans and beyond.

Micro living a growing lifestyle trend in cities across the country and the world, with Portland and Fresno, California leading the way. Every two years, the international building code is rewritten, and ting homes on wheel will soon be written into that code. Preservation Tiny House Company is also presenting to the local City Planning Commission to get the green light.

Founding partner Tim Dean was previously a carpenter and has been living in New Orleans for nearly a decade. He has spent time renovating historic properties, both with non-profit organizations and for-profit builders.

Dean works alongside the two other founding partners Tim Sheehan, who has experience in home renovation, and local musician and artist Erin Walters-Bugbee. He visited his first tiny house years ago on the West Coast, which reminded him of his shotgun house back in New Orleans and led to the creation of Preservation Tiny House Company’s first design modeled after the shotgun.

They currently have three designs: The New Orleans Shotgun, The Creole Cottage, and The Greek Revival. “I truly believe that New Orleans architecture is the prettiest in the world and we think that using that for inspiration allows us to build the prettiest tiny houses in the world,” Dean told Canal Street Beat.

Preservation Tiny House Company is currently collaborating with the University of New Orleans Department of Urban Planning  to determine where vacant lots are located throughout the city because tiny homes are well suited for the small spaces.

“It is our hope to bring tiny houses on wheels to the local real estate market.” Dean and his team will continue to build tiny homes that start at $50,000 to sell to New Orleans residents, many of whom cannot afford more traditional housing options. Even renting a house or apartment in New Orleans is more expensive than even, with the average one bedroom priced at around $1,400 per month according to Zumper.

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One Response to Preservation Tiny House Company is Changing the Way New Orleanians Live

  1. Julie Skjolaas says:

    Can you provide contact information for this company? I could not find a number or email address on their website.

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