by Gillian Wilson

When our nearly 6 year old son was diagnosed with Leukemia last year time stopped, waiting for our brains to catch up. As I lay in hospital beds, and then at home with my son, we looked at books about tree houses. We had wanted to build one.

Children with cancer are all given a wish from the “Make a Wish” foundation. Right away, Eli wished for a tree house. MAW does not do tree houses any longer due to liability. So he regrouped, and asked for a fairy tale cottage in our yard, like in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. As a paranoid mom, I realized the scale of his wish was greater than MAW could provide. I did not want a kid-sized playhouse that would be forgotten in just a few years.

I envisioned a functional tiny house that could serve our family for all our lives here in many ways. I was really concerned that the structure be safe for him since a big enemy of this cancer is fungus and molds. I wanted double paned windows, insulation, electricity so we could heat and HEPA filter, and water. We withdrew our wish, and I calculated up what we might have spent on vacations and restaurants over the next 3 ½ years. We did a little re-fi, and hired two local builder friends. Over the course of the worst part of his treatment he and I scoured every entry on Tiny house blog looking for ideas. I drew, and planned and got input from Eli over every aspect of the design.

It transformed from a very elaborate (unaffordable) curved roof Bavarian style cottage…to a simple 16 x 16 foot cabin. A feature I would not give up was a full staircase into the loft sleeping area. This is why I went with 16 x 16 rather than a smaller footprint. The builder talked me into a full upstairs since cost was about the same either way. The original set of drawings I also included a small bathroom with composting toilet. I nixed that during construction due to budget and opted for a sawdust toilet concealed in a chest upstairs.

Eli is into the much easier maintenance chemo now and has just over 2 more years left on therapy. Thankfully, the cure rate for childhood Leukemia is very high. Our tiny house has brought distraction, joy, and hope. The house provides a place for our friends to come visit which brings even more joy.

I had a friend tell me it is like entering their own childhoods againwhen they enter the house. I love our tiny house, more than our big house…and could easily live in it full time. Thanks for reading our story.

Gillian in Oregon