Tiny House Hunters (2014–…): Season 4, Episode 6 - Medieval Enthusiasts Go Tiny - full transcript

Homebuyers across the country

are saying goodbye
to big houses...

Wow! Look at that.
That is tiny.

...and hello to small spaces.

With the push of a button,

this house contracts
to half its size.

- Wow.
- Wow.

- What is this?
- This is the bedroom.

- It's a fold-down sink.
- That's so cool!

Oh!

Wow,
this just got weird.



But the smaller the house,

the bigger the challenge
fitting inside.

It'd be six of us
up here.

Where am I gonna sleep?

- This swings back.
- Whoa.

- That's the loft.
- Ohh.

I think I see
a problem already.

Who goes there?

It's me.

Thou shall not enter!

New parents
and medieval enthusiasts

Val and Deanna are on the hunt
for a tiny house on wheels

in San Diego, California.

- I like it.
- Yeah.



I'm digging
this portal window.

But finding a home
that fits their family's needs

may be harder than
they expected.

- Wow.
- What? Is this also a bathtub?

Ow.

- Yeah, it would.
- I think I can do it.

But you, uh...
with me, I doubt it.

With both of us, I...

No, this is gonna have
to be storage.

Hey.

How's it going.

I'm Deanna. I'm 25.

I am an artist
and leather-goods maker.

I'm Val. I'm 35.

I work for the State Department,
and I love to write.

And we have
a brand-new baby girl.

Her name is Freya.
She is absolutely beautiful.

She smiles every time when
she wakes up in the morning.

It's amazing.
- Yeah.

She always wakes up
very happy.

There ya go.

My wife and I first met
when I was in Israel.

And I took a picture
of this Medieval castle

and hashtagged it, "Medieval".

And lo and behold,
she was actually

looking through those hashtags
and liked my picture.

So I messaged her,

and I saw on her profile
that she was shooting a longbow.

And I was like, "Oh, my gosh.
That's awesome. That's amazing.

I gotta know this girl."

- Nice, see that?
- That was good.

We really enjoy
living anachronistically.

You know, that's basically back
in the Medieval times.

I'm writing a novel
right now, as well.

It's based
in the Medieval times.

And it's just something that
really has drawn us together.

It's really interesting seeing,
"Oh, well,

I've read about this thing
that may pertain

to what you're writing about
in that period or..."

We totally nerd out.

- Hey.
- Whoa.

Currently living
in an apartment,

Val and Deanna are looking
to stop paying rent

and find a place of their own.

I got a lot
of student loans.

And it really stopped us
from being able to buy a house,

especially
in Southern California

where it's just
super expensive.

Yeah, so the tiny-house thing was...

Even if we're still paying
for a spot to rent to put it,

we can still put
some of that cost

to equity,
to something we own.

And the more we were
watching TV shows about it,

learning more online,
the more we thought,

"You know, actually
everything's custom made.

So we could probably figure out
a way to make it work for us."

So having something
that is ours,

something that we can
raise our daughter

in our home,
we thought about it.

And we're like,
"Let's do this adventure."

Because Val's job
with the State Department

requires him to move
from time to time,

they want something
that's easily towable

and can be put
in a local RV park.

Our budget is
$60,000.

And there's absolutely no way
that we can go over that.

We have no extra money.

I can't work in here.
I'm stuck in this one scene.

I have no inspiration
around me.

Yeah, I know.
This place is so not our style.

I really like an odd blend
of kind of industrial-rustic

and natural materials involved
with that style

with mid-century modern,
clean lines of that.

I'm very outdoorsy.
I like wood.

Pretty much anything that
a Viking would live in,

I'm good. I'm golden.

You think this is
about the space we got?

I mean, look. All right.
Let's take this out.

My wish list includes space
for a freestanding couch

'cause I really don't like
the built-in couches.

I don't think
they look stylish at all.

I need more than
just a tiny kitchen,

more prep space,
with granite countertops.

Definitely need
a bathtub.

And I need
a sturdy workspace

for especially
the leather-working.

There needs to be something
that can really

withstand a lot of weight.

If we had, like,
an entertainment center,

like, you know,
right here.

Man, but where
would we put the kitchen?

For me,
I would love a place

to have
some kind of media center,

where I could have a TV, relax.

Also a little reading nook
inside would be awesome.

And I do not want to be
climbing a ladder into the loft.

We're gonna have to be
carrying a baby up there.

And that's gonna get
incredibly dangerous.

- Do you think we can do this?
- I don't know.

Most exciting part
about going tiny is

having little things
and not a lot of things

can actually be
very gratifying.

Yeah, To be able to,
like, patch a hole if we want.

We can create a hole
if we want. Yeah.

Helping them
on their search

is tiny-house expert
and builder Janet Ashforth

who, today, is showing them
one of her industrial cabins.

The market in
and around San Diego

for tiny houses is
actually huge.

It's really filling a need
for alternative housing.

And probably
the biggest challenge

for them is they want a lot.

And they have
a very tight budget.

So the house
I'm showing them today

is $10,000
over their budget.

However, it really feels
like it was half

for him and half for her.

So I think it can work for them.

It's about 90% complete.

- It's huge.
- What do you think?

- Is that cedar wood?
- That is cedar.

It's called
tongue and groove.

That's
really, really cool.

But it doesn't give it
that modern look, though.

- Right.
- It's really big, I think.

- It is big.
- Yeah.

It's 340
square feet.

So what would you need
to tow this thing?

You're gonna need a big,

3-ton diesel vehicle
to tow this.

So we can't tow it ourselves.

- I love the windows.
- They're beautiful, aren't they?

Yeah, They look like
they'd let in a lot of light.

So, Deanna,
I know you love

that industrial-metal
look.

- Whoa.
- So what do you think of this?

That is so cool.
I didn't expect that.

So what is
the cost of this?

- $70,000.
- Whoo.

That's--
that's pretty steep.

- It's, like, over our budget.
- Yeah. It is.

But, you know,
let's take a look on the inside.

I just think there's
so many features

you're gonna love.

Ah, sweet.

I like this half
'cause this half is wood...

- Right.
- ...which is nice.

But when I look this way,
I just see white.

And it's, uh...
not exactly my style.

I really like this side, though.

This is the more modern,
clean look that I like.

This nook is great.
I can get in here.

I can read.
It's awesome.

This is
a little weird.

Yeah. That's--
what is that?

That's the washer-dryer, right?

Yeah.
That's a washer-dryer combo.

I really, really like
that that's in here.

But it's a little weird
being in the kitchen

and right next
to the stove.

Also, I wanted
granite countertops.

Yeah.
I know you wanted granite.

These are actually
a butcher-block countertop.

Remember, we're still in the
process of building this one.

But the sink
is underneath here.

- That's cool.
- So we still need
to cut the hole out for it.

I really liked the kitchen
in this house.

I wish it had a little more
countertop space.

But it had the nice, big fridge,
had the oven.

I did like that a lot.

It looks to me like

there's not
a whole lot of space.

Yeah, the couch would go
either here or over there.

But either way, the wheel well
is gonna be a problem.

And look at this.

This is, I guess,
where the TV goes.

But it's, like,
right above the window.

What I envisioned was
putting a shelf there

and then boxing it in
to hide the cable box

and all the wiring.

What you could do is something
like a projector.

So you would...
So, okay.

So you would have
a shelf projector.

And then, like, this would be,
like, a media center?

There could be,
like a pull-down screen.

Or maybe-- maybe you could--
maybe we could do it.

I'm not a big fan
of the idea.

- No?
- Somewhere in there needs

to be a workspace
for me, too

'cause I can't do
my work on a couch.

Yeah. I mean, we could
put it right in the middle.

I don't see why
we can't do that.

Wow.
This is really big.

I love that
there's a bathtub in this.

This is
exactly what I wanted.

And it--
is this even real tile too?

- It is.
- That is so cool.

So the only thing
hat worries me here is the--

that there's no door.

What we planned on
for the door

was to do a sliding
barn door here.

Cool,
and then that way,

you could still get
some reclaimed wood too.

This is really huge.

We could totally fit our
queen-size mattress here, right?

Yeah, We could have lots
of extra space

for shelving
or clothing storage.

There's a lot
of white going on.

Still,
I'm not a big fan of that.

I'd probably sleep on this side,
where the wood is.

You've got some reading lights
for either side of the bed.

- Yeah. I love those fixtures.
- Yeah.

Look it. Look it!
Deanna!

This could
be a kid's room.

We can put a crib.
We can have her dresser.

I mean, like, it's her whole
creative space right here.

Yeah, and it's even bigger than
I would've hoped for.

I mean, I really like
the fact that,

you know,
we got wood right here.

The metal,
it's kind of strange.

Not sure if I like that style.
- I like it.

It had that great
split loft,

which would be, you know, great
for the baby and us.

Yeah.
A-plus on the bathroom.

- Loved it. Loved it.
- Thank you.

I'm not too sure
about living room area.

- Yeah.
- It's kind of funky.

The kitchen space is a little
small for what I wanted.

The appliances are cool.

So I can see myself
in the kitchen.

And remember,
we're not totally done with it.

But you're right.

I mean, any time
you're in a tiny home,

you've got a little bit
of a challenge.

It has
a big price tag too.

Yes.

Because they're looking for more

living room and kitchen space,

Janet's showing them
a bigger option

that also happens to have
a little Medieval flavor.

Who goes there?

It's me.

Thou shall not enter.

What do you think of this beat,
all right?

Yeah.

Medieval enthusiasts
Val and Deanna are looking

for a tiny home
in San Diego, California.

With a $60,000 budget,

they want to stop paying rent
and buy a place of their own

to raise their brand-new
baby daughter.

They've seen a 340-square-foot
industrial cabin

that has the reading space
and bathtub they want.

But it's $10,000 over budget.

And there isn't a lot of room
for Deanna's leatherworking.

Today, tiny house expert
and builder Janet Ashforth

is showing them another one
of her tiny homes--

a 396-square-foot shingle shack
that's bigger

and customizable to
their styles.

Oh, my gosh.
This place is so huge.

- Wow.
- It is huge.

It's like two houses
in one.

How much is it?
- It's 65,000.

Whoo, that's a bit
over our budget.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

You're
a growing family.

There's a lot you could do
with this space.

It'd be a good idea
for you to take a look at it.

I like the wood. It's cool.

But the fact that
it was so big also

makes it just really
hard to tow.

This is really what
I wanted you to see.

What do you think
of this front door?

Oh, my goodness.
That looks so cool.

- Isn't it great?
- It's kind of, like, Medieval.

- Oh, wait. I got an idea.
- It's reclaimed.

What are you doing?

Who goes there?

It's me.

Thou shall not enter.

Look at this place.

- Wow.
- Okay.

We definitely don't have

any short of space
- here at all.
- Yeah, it's huge.

We still have time to do
some things for you custom.

- Yeah.
- What?

And this is perfect--

perfect reading nook.
Oh, my goodness.

I can totally fit
in this thing.

- Yeah, that's nice.
- Oh, man. Wow.

All right, so there's definitely
a lot of wood on the outside.

But I see, like,
no wood on the inside.

I just see white.

I like the whiteness
and the brightness of it.

But it's not really
that mid-century modern style.

No. It's not.

But we could put some touches in
to make it yours.

We could paint this
a different color.

We could maybe change out
the light fixtures.

- Okay. Hmm.
- So we could have a space

for a freestanding
sofa somewhere?

- Yeah, a couch could fit there.
- Yeah.

TV on this side.

And I could definitely see
a lot of book shelves,

like, lining the tops
of the walls or something.

I mean, I might be able even
to, like, make a f--

like, a flip-down desk.

Yeah, well, as long as it's
sturdy enough for me to work on.

Yeah. I love this kitchen.
It's huge.

And this countertop
is great.

What is this cabinet style?

- It's a reclaimed, uh, dresser.
- How interesting.

And I'm noticing that
there's no stairs up the loft,

which I'm not so keen
about that.

Well, actually,
we were planning on putting

a rolling staircase
that rolls out from the wall...

- Oh, like, expands out.
- ...when you use it.

And then you roll it
back in.

All right.
I'm gonna go look.

- Check it out.
- Huh.

Oh, my goodness.
You coming?

Yeah.

Yep.
That is small.

I don't know if you can
actually spread out in here.

I'm gonna try it. Ow.

- Yeah.
- I think I can do it.

But you, uh...
with me, I doubt it.

With both of us, I...

No, this is gonna have
to be storage.

I think the only way
this would work for you

is if you were
to convert your living room

into a bedroom space
at night.

- Okay.
- Whoo.

- Whoa.
- This is huge.

- It's gigantic.
- This is huge.

I mean, like,
you could have, like,

a bathroom party
in here, right?

- Is this an antique?
- It is, actually.

It's a 100-year-old
clawfoot bathtub.

- Wow. That's so cool.
- Oh, my goodness.

You got some pretty cool
wood options in here too.

The French doors,
I mean, they're really cool.

- That's true.
- But what's weird is,

that it actually
opens up to the toilet.

So when we, like,
invite people in,

we're like, "Hey.
Welcome to my tiny home.

This is amazing.

Nice toilet."

I love the exterior.
I mean, there's a ton of wood.

I love the roofline
and the door.

And the door's amazing
and Medieval.

But the inside
is just really bright.

And there's not a lot of wood.
I'm not a fan of that.

I mean,
I like how bright it is.

It's really open and airy,
and I was really wanting that.

It has the bathtub that I like,
so that's really good.

So what do you think
of the kitchen?

Yeah.
The kitchen I do like.

It has a lot of space,

lots of countertop space,
which is great.

Even though it's much bigger
than we wanted,

there is a lot of space
to do stuff.

Where do we put the baby, too?

You have the loft
up here.

But it's not enough space
even for--

- for us to sleep in.
- I know.

So, Janet,
with you being the builder,

could you work with us
to still get the things we want?

Absolutely. I think it'd be
really important to add

some touches that are you
and make this work for you,

but still stay
within your budget.

Janet's now showing
them another options

that's more in line
with their budget.

But nothing's perfect.

You've got about $2,000
of toilet right there.

I honestly don't know
what I feel about that.

I don't know. That
takes up a lot of real estate.

What you doing?

San Diego, California
residents and Medieval buffs

Val and Deanna want
to raise their newborn child

in a house
they can call their own.

Motivated by the financial
freedom it provides,

they've decided to go tiny.

They've already seen
a 340-square-foot

industrial cabin

that has design elements
they both want.

But it's over
their $60,000 budget

and doesn't have a large enough
kitchen for Deanna

or the space
for Val's media center.

Then they looked
at a larger place

that has a Medieval door
they both like,

as well as a reading nook
for Val

and a rustic tub for Deanna.

But it's also over budget.

And the loft isn't big enough
to sleep the entire family.

Ow.

Tiny-house expert and builder
Janet Ashforth

is showing them
a Californian-style tiny home

that she hopes strikes
the right balance

between size and price.

Wow, these are great.

But why are there two?
Which one are we...

Well, we're seeing
this one right here.

- Oh, okay.
- This one is 290 square feet.

- It's 59,900.
- Wow. That's perfect.

Now, Deanna, I know this
isn't your perfect exterior.

I know, Val,
you'll love the wood.

I love the wood.
Is it-- it's cedar?

- It is cedar.
- That's so cool.

But, Deanna, you got
your metal on the roof.

- I like it.
- Yeah.

I'm digging this window
up here,

like,
this portal window.

I think the style
works really, really well

for both Val and I.

I wouldn't have expected
to like the exterior.

But it's got that
industrial look to it.

And I think Val really
likes the wood.

I really love
the cedar exterior.

And I love the fact that
we can actually tow this thing.

And we don't need
a huge truck to do it.

That's really cool.

- Oh, wow.
- Wow.

- Really nice.
- Very pretty.

It's not exactly
mid-century style that I like.

But it looks really nice.

You've got room for your
freestanding couch, Deanna.

Yeah, definitely.

Yeah. What about for your nook?
Well, I mean, I don't know.

I mean, if the couch is here,
I'm not sure how

the whole entertainment center's
gonna work.

I mean,
where would we put a TV?

You could maybe put it,
like, up here.

There really was
not a place

for an entertainment center,
you know.

Put it on a wall
in front of a window?

No, that's not
gonna deal with it.

Check out the steps.
These are really cool.

They're not, like,
awkward or anything.

I feel like I can go up them
and be perfectly fine.

So these countertops
are not granite.

They're not granite.
They're a faux granite.

So they look like
you wanted them to.

But they're not
the exact material.

This is a problem, though,
'cause I don't see an oven.

- There's really...
- There is no oven, yep.

I could work with it.

But it would take
some extra to work.

But this is
a nice big kitchen, though.

There's plenty
of countertop space.

But check these out. Aren't
these exactly what you wanted?

Yeah,
I like this style a lot.

And it could pass
as mid-century for sure.

If you peak around
the corner right there,

you'll notice a workspace.

Yeah, This is nice.
It's a little small.

I don't know if I could really
do my leatherwork here.

But I could do a lot
of my other stuff.

Great. Okay.
Let's check out that bathroom.

- Wow.
- What?

Is this also
a bathtub or something?

- Don't fall in.
- I wish it was, Val.

Unfortunately,
the more upscale you go

on a composting toilet,

which means you have
to interact less with it,

the larger they get.

You've got about $2,000
of toilet right there.

I honestly don't know
what I feel about that.

I don't know. That
takes up a lot of real estate.

There is no bathtub, Deanna.

Maybe you could put
a little baby bath in there.

But check it out.
- Yeah. No.

- I could.
- Wow, It's really decent-sized.

- It's really big.
- It's still pretty big.

Yeah, we can both fit
in that thing.

- Yeah.
- That's always a bonus.

Wow. This is big.

Oh, lounge.

Ooh!

I love this loft.

What about this carpet?

It's real cozy.
I like it.

I mean, my one concern
really is, like,

we'd have to build some kind
of, like, railing

So that the baby doesn't
just topple over, you know.

Well, yeah.
But this whole area

where you are would be
perfect for her.

Yeah.

There's a lot of wood,
which is something I enjoy.

It's actually
really towable.

Yeah, I did really
like the kitchen too.

It was nice and big. There's
lots of countertop space.

But it also doesn't have
an oven or a bathtub.

- Right
- Or a ready nook.

Yeah.

The one thing that
I really wish it had

was some kind of space
for entertainment center.

But it does have a lot of what
the two of you were looking for.

In fact, I think it's a really
nice mix of your personalities.

- Yeah.
- It's in our price range.

And we don't have to do
a thing about it.

That's true.
I mean,
that's really, really relieving.

With several builds
on the table,

It's time for Val and Deanna
to decide

which tiny house is right
for their family.

You're probably gonna think
I'm absolutely insane,

but...

Our househunters
are upgrading to tiny houses.

With a $60,000 budget,

new parents and Medieval buffs
Val and Deanna

are looking to go tiny
in San Diego, California.

They've seen several options.

And now it's decision time.

So the industrial cabin,
what did you think of that one?

At 340 square feet,

It was way over budget
at 70,000.

- Yeah.
- But I really like the design.

That kind of combines
both of our styles.

It's sort of a metal
and wood design.

And I love the loft.

It's really huge,
great for Freya. Yeah.

And I liked the kitchen.

It wasn't quite as big
as I would like.

But it had
a lot of what we needed

as far as, like, workspace.
- Yeah.

The bathroom did have a tub,
which I liked.

But it didn't have a door
on the bathroom.

This is true.
This is true.

- What about the shingle shack?
- It was really, really big.

At 396 square feet,

it's the largest of all
the tiny homes they saw.

I mean, it was really was not
my style at all.

And still over our budget
at 65,000.

- Yeah.
- It really had a cool door, too.

Mm-hmm.
Yeah. It was a cool door.

- And it was nice and open.
- The bathroom was big.

Yeah,
We could do a lot with it.

But the loft was
way too small for us, though.

It wouldn't really
be functional.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Then, the California,
the last one.

I really, really like it.
It's a really cool design.

- Yeah.
- It's 290 square feet at 59,900.

It's perfect
for our budget.

And the loft was
actually really big.

And I think there was a lot
of room right there for Freya.

Yeah,
the composting toilet, though,

was a little overkill.

And then there was no bathtub
in there either.

And the kitchen, too.
It was nice.

But there wasn't much
for cooking.

Yeah, and the media center
really wasn't there at all.

Yeah,
we'd have to be creative.

You're probably gonna think
I'm absolutely insane.

But I think we can handle
the $70,000

for the industrial cabin.

- Really?
- Yeah. I mean, think about it.

It's for our future.
It's for Freya.

The loft is perfect for her.

She can grow into it.

Yeah. I mean,
I really do like the house.

It will just be
a stretch for us.

But if you think we can do it,
then let's do it.

Let's go call Janet.
- Let's do it.

- All right.
- Come on.

Papa's hungry.

- Hey, what's for dinner?
- I don't know.

We chose
the industrial cabin,

and we love it.

We've been here
for about 2 weeks, I think.

Right?
- Yeah, Two weeks and a few days.

And it was initially 70,000.

And we were about, like,
$71,000, I think.

But it's a great fit
for our family.

And it also kind of, like,
accented both of our styles.

It's a really neat mix
of modern-industrial look

with the more cabiny-woodsy
look that Val likes.

So Deanna had her side.

I kind of have my side.

And, we kind of marry
the two together.

Yeah, living in an RV park
is completely new.

But it's nice.
We like it.

Yeah, I think one of
the best things about it

is that
there's no city lights.

You can see the stars.
It's really cool.

How 'bout we just, uh...
- put together her new crib?
- Okay.

I think my favorite part
of the house is the loft.

I mean, it's so big.
It's so nice.

It's cool just to,
like, lounge up there.

It really adds a whole
other dimension to the house.

Yeah, it's really like
a whole second floor.

It's not just a place
to sleep.

There you go.

There's that smile.

We actually had to get
really creative

with the entertainment
and work area.

What we're gonna do is
we're gonna put a projector

right up in here on this shelf.
We put the shelf in.

And we're gonna have, basically,

a pull-down screen.

And we'll be able to watch
whatever we want

just like that
in this space right here.

And I think this is gonna be
Deanna's workspace, right?

My desk will
go right in here.

I'll have this whole area
to set up my work.

It's perfect.
It's got the bathtub.

It's got a pretty good workspace
in the kitchen.

And the reading nook is
in the works still.

But we need to find a way
to make it work for us.

We're gonna put some cushions
right here, you know,

and be able to sit in here
and watch the sunrise, sunset,

or something like this
and just do some reading.

I like it.

I'm just
really looking forward

to being able to grow
with our family in this spot.

It's definitely feeling
more like home.