After over 10 years of watching the Tiny House movement grow and researching tiny house ideas and communities, I finally made it real by visiting my first Tiny House community called Tiny Timbers in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin on 9/20/2025. They had a Honey Harvest and Community Open House from 12pm to 4pm., where I visited their community, walked through some tiny homes, bought some of their wares and honey and saw what their community was all about. They call themselves an Agrihood. That is a “community that incorporates agriculture into a residential neighborhood connecting people with the food they grow, their neighbors, and the nature that surrounds them.” The residents help with the farm, the chickens and even the bee hives. I would love to be a part of caring for the bee hives. I can just see myself wearing a beekeeper protective suit as bees are buzzing all around me while harvesting the honey.
My sister and I had a wonderful time. All of the residents were so friendly and so open about sharing their homes with us. I could see myself living there and having a wonderful retirement.
Moving to a Tiny House is part of my retirement plan. I want to sell my condo, get rid of most of my things and live a minimalist life that is close to nature and be part of a community that works together and cares about each other. I currently live in a condo building of 50 families per building with 4 buildings in the complex and barely anyone knows each other. There are no community events to help people get to know each other and meet. I realize that I could have knocked on doors and invited people over, so it is as much my fault as anyone’s.
As an introvert, I have spent the last 18 years in isolation and the last 12 years taking care of my mom who lives with me. She retired with no plan except to live with me. She worked part time to supplement her social security until she got sick and had to quit her part-time job. She was lucky to have a daughter to live with. I don’t have that luxury since I do not have any kids. When I retire, I have nothing but Social Security to live on and I cannot live the way I am currently living or where I am living on Social Security. That is why I am looking into alternative ways of living, like living in a tiny house community.
Tiny Timbers was a wonderful community to visit and maybe next year I will have the opportunity to visit them again. If anyone wants to check out a growing tiny house community in the Midwest, watch for the Honey Harvest and Community Open House next September. You will be glad you checked them out.