Even if we had the opportunity, most of us wouldn’t have considered building our own home from scratch at the age of 13, but that is exactly what young Luke Thill did – and for no more than 1,500 bucks! Luke built himself his own (very small!) home in his parents’ yard. We think you’ll agree, that’s a pretty impressive thing to do at any age! Continue reading to find out about Luke’s impressive journey, find out about all the challenges along the way, all the ups and downs he encountered while attempting to achieve his dream… You can even note down a number of tips for your own tiny house building project!

With My Own Bare Hands

Meet Luke Thill, an 8th grader from Dubuque, Iowa, who started doing odd handyman jobs in order to earn the money that would help him realize his dream. Luke built his own home, an 89 square foot structure that he calls his “starter home”. If this is just his “starter home”, we can’t wait to see what’s next! Luke rolled up his sleeves and worked hard to achieve his goal.

Inspired

So how did this all start? Well, in fact, it all started from a random YouTube video. Luke said in an interview with ABC News, in October 2017, that he was just scrolling through different videos on YouTube when he “came across a tiny house idea and then that spiraled into looking at almost every YouTube video there is, it felt like … I got obsessed with them and decided to build my own.”

Different

There was another reason that motivated young Luke to build his own home. During the long summer vacation, Luke found that he was getting really bored, lazing around not doing much, and while that might encourage other children to stay indoors all day with an overload of PlayStation and other technological gadgets, Luke was inspired to create something out of nothing.

The Go-ahead

After Luke had begun to plan the details of building his compact home, he knew he wouldn’t be able to go any further until he had his parent’s permission and approval. Thankfully, Luke’s parents, Angie and Greg Thill, saw right away that their son was serious about his project, and gave him the go-ahead to embark on his mission and start building on their four-acre property.

Three Rules

When the project began, Luke’s father Greg told his son that there were three simple but key rules he had to follow. The rules were that Luke had to raise the money needed to build his home by himself; that he had to be prepared to build it independently; and lastly, that Luke would be the proprietor. Luke was determined and undeterred.

Ground Rules

“We said, ‘If you’re that serious we have to set some ground rules,’” Greg Thill told ABC News in October 2017. “We told him he had to have the financial responsibility of it, raise the money and choose the materials and stay in the budget.”

A Crash-Course in Housing

Greg Thill wasn’t intending on abandoning his son and leave him struggling in this mammoth task that he set himself, but he wanted Luke to learn most of it on his own so that he could really gain some skills and important life lessons. Greg was always there to guide him and work alongside him, but Luke learned alone how to frame a structure, wire the house, deal with adults, and how to make important financial decisions and not waver off budget.

Life Lessons

“It was a chance for a kid to do something more than play video games or sports,” Greg said. “It teaches life lessons.” So true, especially in this day and age! Technology has captured so many children and young people so much so that they are often so caught up in a digital world, that they miss what’s right in front of them.

Neighbors

When he began, Luke set about raising money through a number of means. He mowed lawns, raised money online, even recycled materials, as well as exchanging the odd job for the help of an extra hand in the building process. As you can probably imagine, Luke had to do a lot of planning towards achieving his house building dream, and while some plans were successful, others had to be thrown out or re-thought.

Solid Bartering

Some of the barterings Luke did was quite important in the long run. Luke cleaned out the garage of his neighbor, an electrician, in exchange for him helping Luke to wire the house. He also mowed another neighbor’s lawn, a Scout leader, in exchange for him adding a carpet in his loft bedroom. Solid bartering, Luke! He could safely know that even in those areas, his own hard work had gone towards the building of his own home.

A Father’s Pride

Grey, Luke’s Dad, is extremely proud of what his son is achieving and his determination to reach the goals he set himself. “He’s a very driven kid for his age,” said Luke’s dad. “There were times the project got stalled out and he had to earn more money for the next phase. He wouldn’t let it go and kept working at it”.

A Minimalist

To reach his goal with a limited budget Luke didn’t just barter jobs, he was also creative with the materials he used, often using recycling and finding new uses for things. His uncle’s friend gave him a front door that he used, and he also used some leftover siding from his grandmother’s house. “I liked the minimalism,” Luke said (sounding much more mature than his 13 years of age suggest). “And I wanted to have a house without a huge mortgage.

Fill in the Windows

Luke’s uncle’s friend came in handy, not just with the front door, but also rescued him when it came to the windows, giving him some old ones to use. We just hope that there are no busy-body neighbors trying to get a glimpse inside!

Recycling Materials, Saving Money

In fact, the majority of Luke’s house (75 percent!) is made up of recycled materials! That is a pretty impressive figure! Luke’s managed to build a home within a budget of $1500, no mean feat, we are sure you will agree. It actually turned out to be easier to achieve than Luke had thought.

Dimensions

The dimensions of Luke’s home-made-home are 5½ feet wide and 10 feet long, with a small outside deck giving him quite a stable floor plan. And remember his grandma’s leftover siding – that’s the siding you can see in the photo below, it is made of half cedar shakes and half vinyl.

Take a Peek Inside!

The interior of the house consists of a small kitchen space, with a countertop and some shelving leads that connect to a lounge area in the back, complete with a table that flips down, a settee, and a TV mounted on the wall.

“A Glorified Shed”

There is a ladder that goes up to a loft, with a mattress for Luke to sleep on. Apparently, according to what Greg Thill told local reporters, city codes actually consider the tiny house “a glorified shed”.

Hard Work Pays

Luke did get some negative reactions from some of his schoolmates, but he didn’t let it faze him too much. He kept working hard to achieve his dream, and didn’t let anything take him off the track of reaching his goal.

News Travels Fast

With a population of about 58,000 in Dubuque, it wasn’t long before the rest of the town had heard of Luke’s ventures. Luke got used to being asked questions about his house every time he bumped into someone from town, so he decided to create a channel on YouTube so that people could follow his progress. Luke’s YouTube channel ended up catching the attention of the media too!

A First

In an interview with a local media outlet, Luke said that when he started watching tiny home construction videos he couldn’t find anyone younger than 14, saying “I thought if no one is out there, I might as well do it so I started documenting the whole process and putting it on YouTube”.

Inspiring Others

It turns out that deciding to post his work and progress on YouTube was the right call, and set the trail of inspiring others to do the same. Luke said, “Now lots of kids have messaged me and showed pictures of their tiny houses that they’re building and they’re even younger than me”.

The Principles Office

In one of his videos, Luke tells the story of being called to the principal’s office in school. Despite his time-consuming project, Luke is a good student with good grades, and says in this video that he was pretty nervous as he doesn’t go there very often and that he has never been called in there for anything bad.

You’re A Star

It turns out that he had nothing to worry about! The principal had actually called him in because a friend of his who was a reporter wanted to write about Luke’s story! It must’ve been a good feeling for the hard working 13 year old, when a local paper wants to tell your story!

Overcoming Disappointment

Luke says that one of the biggest challenges he faced over the course of his project was overcoming disappointment, and learning to pick himself up after failure or when something didn’t go to plan. A big moment like this was what he calls his “counter-top fail”. He had decided to use broken pieces of colored glass underneath what was meant to be a lacquer surface, but things didn’t go quite to plan as when Luke poured the lacquer it completely ran over everything as it turned out to be “way too watery”.

Making the Most of Mistakes

Instead of throwing in the towel and giving up, Luke was set on making the most out of it. So even when something didn’t go to plan, Luke learned to change the plan. The lacquer created a bond which fixed the counter to the wall, and over that Luke attached a standard countertop, covering the messed-up lacquer surface, adding a hinge so that he now has a lift-top for storage space. Good thinking, Luke!

First Meal

We all know that something that makes a house a home, is the food cooked in it! Luke proudly shared a video on YouTube of him making his first meal in his new home which got a lot of attention!

Speech!

Although the city code might have classified Luke’s home as a “glorified shed”, the folks from TinyFest definitely saw things differently. Luke Thill even received an invitation to attend a tiny-home festival in Colfax, Iowa. He was asked to come as a special guest and to give a speech! It turns out this was Luke’s first public speaking engagement, following all the attention he was receiving via the media, and it all went smoothly.

Basic Needs

Towards the end of the construction, Luke was well-equipped with a place to sleep at night, to make meals and eat, and a space to relax. However, there was one thing missing… a toilet! But installing plumbing into his tiny house was something that required a lot of work and a substantial amount of money, something Luke just couldn’t allow for yet.

Cozy Setup

Luke embarked on his mission in the summer holidays, and in between school and raising the money and all the hard work in requires to complete such a task – it took him a year to finish his tiny home. If you are wondering if he uses it, then the answers is for sure he does! Luke sleeps in his self-made loft a few nights a week, he does his homework there, and has friends over to visit. A year may sound like a long time, but when you think of all the work that went into creating something from nothing, it isn’t really that long at all!

Cookouts with Friends

Although his home may be pretty small, for bigger gatherings Luke has the large backyard (which of course, he shares with his family!) where he can host his friends for some scrumptious cookouts.

Front Page News!

Luke’s story was actually front page news in the Des Moines Register and The Telegraph Herald, two major Iowa newspapers. Not long after that, a number of local television stations as well as some other media outlets, also picked up on Luke’s story – and even Good Morning America contacted him!

Attention

Good Morning America asked to interview Luke about his journey and for a tour of Luke’s tiny house. Following the interview with Good Morning America, Luke was contacted by a house designer. Luke couldn’t believe his luck – it was someone he had deep admiration for!

Luke’s Initial Inspiration

It turns out the house designer who contacted Luke was Derek Diedricksen, an author of design, specializing in building tiny homes. Diedricksen was in fact Luke’s inspiration for his project to build his own tiny home, and Luke was understandably overjoyed to be contacted by him! One-to-one conversations with Derek and hearing words of encouragement and support from someone who such an inspiration to him meant a lot to Luke. Just as Derek inspired Luke, Luke is now an inspiration to many too.

In The Family

Luke even inspired his brother, Cole, to follow in his footsteps and create his own compact camper home. And just like Luke did with his tiny home, Cole also used a lot of recycled and reclaimed materials to make his camper. Cole also developed a budget plan and shared his journey on YouTube. But Cole had one advantage that Luke didn’t have when he embarked on his project – a brother with the indispensable experience to help him achieve his goal!

The Story Doesn’t End There…

By now, Luke and Cole’s YouTube channel already has over 9,000 subscribers. Pretty impressive! Their channel has now expanded to include a focus on other people’s projects beyond their own – which includes a feature on his their mom’s renovations; a sheep herder’s wagon and a 1972 camper. What a creative family!

His Own Space

Luke explained that his new home allows him to have the private space he needs sometimes when living in a busy family home. He says “I have a twin brother so it gives me the chance to have my own space”.

A Tight Budget

On another of his videos, at the end of a video tour of his completed tiny home, he speaks about the cost of building such a structure, saying that the total cost was roughly “more like $1,200, but I rounded it up just in case I forgot anything.”

Hero

When he set out on his adventure, Luke had no idea his tiny home would create such a buzz and attract the attention of so many people – and it definitely wasn’t what he set out to do. But Luke realized that as part of this journey he had to share his message, saying “I want to show kids it’s possible to build at this age”. So what’s next for our young innovative builder?

Expansion

It is onwards and upwards for Luke Thill! Luke says that his main purpose is his starter home, adding “I’m going to save money and expand.” He hopes to save enough money within a few years to build a slightly larger tiny home which can be attached to a trailer. He could even use it as a substantially cheaper alternative to campus housing!

Why Not?

Luke told ABC News, “In a couple of years I want to build a bigger house and stay in it full-time”. With the experience and knowledge (and not forgetting, his determination!) that Luke has accumulated while building his tiny home, he is probably pretty well-equipped to embark on a project of a larger scale too!

The Highlight

One of the things Luke most appreciates about building his tiny home was actually bonding with his dad! He said “Me and my dad really bonded through the process…he was really busy but he made sure to spend time with me”. What a special thing to do together!

Thinking Ahead

Luke is one smart cookie! He is always thinking ahead and looking to the future; he makes the observation that “Everyone had to have a big house, and now people have changed and realized it’s not practical,” and with a mobile and compact home “You can save money, travel the world and do what you want instead.”

Meet Renee McLaughlin

Another tiny home builder is Renee McLaughlin. Renee sold her 3,300-square-foot home, and moved into the tiny home she built herself. Her tiny home consists of 87 square feet, but the matter of it being tiny she says, “I think we’ve reached a threshold where this ‘stuff’ is running our lives. We spend all our time working to buy it, clean it and organize it … It’s not making us happy”.

The New “In”

Tiny homes, usually less than 500 square feet, are actually becoming quite popular nowadays! Renee McLaughlin is actually the organizer of TinyFest Midwest and she invited Luke Thill to be a guest speaker at the festival. She is over the moon with her tiny home (on wheels!), and doesn’t feel that there is anything to be ashamed of – in fact, the opposite!

An Affordable Option

Renee says that there may have been people who scoffed at her new life choice but that didn’t deter her – she didn’t want to be under the financial pressure of being a homeowner anymore, and tiny homes seem to be the current most obvious option. “I now own everything outright with no debt,” she said, as well as the benefit of being mobile, “I can move around. It’s nice to know I can just go.” Oh, and Renee definitely demonstrates just how stylish a tiny home can be!

Get Rid!

Renee says there are all sorts of stuff that we have a habit of holding on to, that we don’t really need. She suggests getting rid of all that excess. She says she tends to shop less and gives away clothes that she doesn’t wear anymore. She confessed that parting with some pairs of shoes and clothes was not easy, saying “I’m a simple girl, but a girl, nonetheless”.

City limits

Although the concept of tiny homes is appealing, along with the chance to cut down on how much we use and need, sadly the majority of infrastructures don’t tend to support it. One example of this is that city codes mostly require a house to be of a certain measurement, larger than a tiny home.

Downsizing

Today, the “tiny home movement” is not only an architectural idea – it is a social movement as well that advocates for a small, minimalized living. Today, with so many people interested in downsizing, this is definitely one of the routes to take.

Numbers

This movement has created a wave, but there is still a lot more work to be done to spread the word! A recent survey listed only 3,000 out of 1.5 million homes in the United States as “tiny homes”.

Mortgage Free

The average cost of a tiny home is approximately $23,000. This means that around 70% of tiny-home owners own their own homes, and many mortgage free right from the beginning! If you are a homeowner then you don’t need to be told how the monthly mortgage payment is one of the biggest killers to your budget, usually lasting for about 25 to 30 years. A tiny home removes that cost almost completely.

It’s In Our Hands

Luke Thill, the young man with astonishing determination, can be a huge inspiration to us all. With a future that gives the impression that we are on a route towards even more mass consumption and greater waste disposal, we can all be inspired to change the way we live, and find more ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Small homes are the future!