We first visited Austin Hay after he had just finished his sophomore year (see 16 year old builds tiny home to guarantee mortgage-free future) and he had built just the shell of his tiny home on wheels (based on plans donated by Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company for his Fencl model).

Now, Austin is in his senior year of high school and he has finally completed his home, including a full kitchen, DIY sofa-bed, nearly full-sized shower and composting toilet (doorknobs and solar to come).

We stopped in at the open house of this mini house builder where his house was packed with a dozen friends (at any one time). His mother weighs in on the future of tiny houses (his high school and other local schools have asked for Austin’s guidance in building their own versions), his girlfriend answered our questions about living in something tiny one day and his grandfather playing Santa Claus to help Austin finish his tiny dorm on wheels.

[ *Austin’s open house was filmed by Johnny Sanphillippo (from our video Mortgage-free tiny home on a housekeeper’s salary) and John and Emily Dirksen (my parents who happen to live nearby).]