Tiny home movement rolls through the South Bay with big savings

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The tiny home movement is rolling through the South Bay this weekend at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose.

Whether you're in the market for a spare bedroom, an office, or a backyard ADU, TinyFest is showcasing more than 20 tiny homes.

The tiniest of them all is 48 square feet. It's a sauna-inspired, hive-shaped, fully-insulated home that fits a queen bed. It costs $15,000.

"Because it's on skids, it doesn't need a foundation, you can move it around, you can plug it in, it's off-grid capable. It's really low usage for electricity so it'll run off of a battery pack, or solar generator," said Oakland-based Hive Design owner Cyrus Pond.

Going tiny isn't just about small living spaces and sustainability.

"Financial freedom is another big reason that people might want to minimize their footprint," said TinyFest CEO Renee Seevers. "Maybe they want this for themselves, or a family member, particularly maybe an aging family member, or they want to rent it out in their backyard for extra income."  

One of the most unique homes is this 3D-printed home that was produced in less than 24 hours, made by Azure Printed Homes. It's made mostly out of recycled plastic, or the equivalent of 150,000 water bottles.

The 180-square-foot unit costs $39,000. It's complete with a microwave, wine fridge, queen bed, and shower.

"We're able to have a positive impact on the environment... 3D printing [at large scale] has been around within the last year or two, and a lot of companies are using concrete. Concrete's emitting CO2 in the air and we're going in the other direction," said VP of Sales at Azure Printed Homes Jeremy Peyton.

Clever Tiny Homes, which makes modern homes ranging from $70,000 to upwards of $220,000, said it delivers one unit every other day across the country.

"San Jose, in particular, allows movable tiny homes… so it's really easy to get in the backyard and get it permitted really quickly, so we have these units here that are three months from when the customer saying ‘go’ to having it in the backyard," said CEO of Clever Tiny Homes Jonathan Palley.

Vidhu Chilkuri is currently renting an ADU cottage in Saratoga, and hoping to buy one as her primary residence in the future.

"I grew up in India and houses are usually smaller, even if it's a full bedroom, it's usually smaller, so I'm used to smaller space living," said Chilkuri. "Also priced out of the market, looking at alternative living options. I'm lucky to be in California, where all of this is becoming more popular."

TinyFest runs through Sunday at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.  

TinyFest showcases more than 20 tiny homes, ADUs, and vans at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.