On Casey Johnson’s birthday, English teacher Madelyn Johnson gave her husband, Casey, his first gift from her: a book of tiny houses. The couple loves to watch the show “Tiny House Nation” and even went to an expo called Earthx2018 in Dallas. They are now building their own version of a tiny house, a small trailer, but are currently living in a home they rented from Casey’s family member.

“The more we read the book, we realized it was a lifestyle that would work for us [and] one that would help us save money,” Madelyn said.

Madelyn and her husband began the project by researching tiny houses because it was important for them to find builders in Texas who use sustainable products such as solar panels and eco-friendly resources.

“[We did] lots and lots and lots of reading [for the project],” Casey said. “We spoke to people with tiny houses at the EarthX expo last April then started talking with local builders.”

Their original idea was to live in a school bus because they could travel anywhere they desire while being environmentally friendly. But as they did more research, they were concerned about the efficiency of the bus.

They decided living in a small, 320 square foot trailer will still meet their expectations and cause fewer frustrations in the long run. Currently being built, the goal is to have the trailer finished by January and move in during March.

“We just got accepted to the first tiny house community within the city, it’s going to be in Lake Dallas,” Madelyn said. “It doesn’t open until March, so we told our builder to slow down [because] we are getting into this community.”

The tiny house community is called “Tiny House Village.” When the Lake Dallas City Council agreed to create the village, people were excited about being able to locate themselves to a specific area. It quickly became popular; there is currently a long list of residents trying to be accepted into the community.

“We want to travel, so why spend thousands of dollars on an apartment or house when you are not going to [live] there,” Madelyn said.

Madelyn’s family is concerned about children she might have in the future, but Madelyn’s mother, Jennifer Wells, supports her daughter’s decision of moving into a tiny house. They are both teachers and want to give their time to their students.

“Madelyn and Casey have decided to give all their love and attention to their students,” Jennifer said.

The average cost for building a tiny house is about $23,000. Though a tiny house is expensive to build, the monthly bills will be lower than that of a normal-sized house. The couple’s dream is to travel around the world in the summer; they will need lots of money to do that and having a tiny house will help them save more money.

“We want to be able to still be teachers, [but teachers] aren’t the richest people in the world,” Madelyn said. “We will be able to do so much more with our money [after moving in].”