Is tiny living working? Bay Area residents share challenges of micro homes and bus life

The ladder leads up to a small loft above the kitchen where Aileen Brown sleeps on a twin-sized mattress. Click through this slideshow for more pictures of the tiny home. The ladder leads up to a small loft above the kitchen where Aileen Brown sleeps on a twin-sized mattress. Click through this slideshow for more pictures of the tiny home. Photo: Aileen Brown Photo: Aileen Brown Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close TINY LIVING - TINY HOME 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Editor's note: This story is the first installment in an SFGATE series that features Bay Area residents living in unconventional ways. If you'd like to share your story, answer some questions here. You may be featured in a future article.

The statistics about the cost of living in San Francisco are astounding.

The median home price in San Francisco is $1.25 million, according to Trulia. When broken down by square foot, it comes out to an average price of $1,048. Per. Square. Foot. The story isn't much better for renters; a one-bedroom in the city will set you back $3,257 a month, according to Rent Cafe data.

So theoretically, slashing your square footage should cut down on your rent.

Could you live in a 120-square-foot home to make ends meet? How about a micro-apartment without a full kitchen? Or a retrofitted bus? We spoke with people who are living tiny in the Bay Area to see what it's like.

A tiny home "sanctuary" that's short on frills

When Aileen Brown was evicted from the Oakland duplex she called home for 13 years, she realized the money she made from her multiple jobs (childcare and hosting trivia nights, to name two) wasn't enough to afford a home anywhere near the size of her old place.

So she downsized significantly and signed a lease for a 120-square-foot tiny home in the backyard of her landlord's house. Now Brown pays $1,000 a month to live with her 60-pound pit bull mix in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood.

Brown admits the tiny home felt "a little claustrophobic" at first, but she has mostly gotten used to it.

"It is my little sanctuary. Though it does make me think about what I choose to purchase as far as clothing, other things, and even food," Brown said. Storage space in the tiny home is of course limited, especially in the kitchen, where she only has a mini-fridge to keep her groceries.

Another place she's feeling the squeeze? In the bedroom. If you can call it that. A twin-sized bed sits in a loft above the kitchen that's so cramped, Brown can't even sit up straight. At its highest point, the loft is only 30 inches tall.

"I know I'm going up there to sleep. There are no extracurricular activities up there."

Like many other tiny homes, Brown's place also has a composting toilet, which doesn't flush or use any water. It's eco-friendly and all, but it's one of the little luxuries Brown says she misses about living in a more conventional house or apartment.

Living modern, but micro

Jessie Svet, an Oakland resident who recently left tech with plans to open a coffee shop, describes herself as a "tiny house lover." She, too, was feeling a pull toward downsizing.

"I was living in San Francisco, renting a room in someone's basement for almost $3,000 and I was fed up. I wanted some light."

Svet and her husband found a perfect fit: a modern apartment with high-end finishes, not far from trendy Uptown Oakland. The building even offers amenities like a rooftop deck for grilling and entertaining. All that for $1,800 a month.

The catch, of course, is that the apartment is tiny, coming in under 200 square feet.

Here's a look at the outside of the building at 2425 Valdez St., near the intersection of 27th Street and Broadway in Oakland. Click through this slideshow to see inside one of the micro-apartments. Here's a look at the outside of the building at 2425 Valdez St., near the intersection of 27th Street and Broadway in Oakland. Click through this slideshow to see inside one of the micro-apartments. Photo: The Nook On Valdez Photo: The Nook On Valdez Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close TINY LIVING - MICRO-APARTMENT 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

"I love it. Even though this space isn't very big, it fits everything we need," Svet says. "It's easy in the kitchen. Everything is just one hand-reach away."

To pack everything into such a small space, the micro-apartments don't have full kitchens. There's a mini-fridge, microwave, sink and some counter space, but any serious cooking has to happen in the shared full kitchens located on every floor of the building.

Svet uses the shared kitchen often, as she loves to cook and entertain. Four to five people can still fit comfortably in the space for a dinner party, Svet says, but she admits the size of the space can shock friends who come over.

"When we're in [the building's] elevator, I tell people my unit is only twice as big as the elevator to prepare them."

The smallest bus you can buy

Ethan Albers and Katy Karns manage to coexist in an even smaller (and far less conventional) space: a school bus. The couple turned a 17-foot-long school bus, the smallest model you can buy, into the their home on wheels.

Albers, a stand-up comedian who also does odd jobs, is originally from the Pacific Northwest. The major savings of bus living appealed to him, as did the freedom.

"I think honestly moving into a bus was me hedging my bets. I could be one foot in and one foot out of the Bay Area."

Here's what the main body of the bus looks like after all their hard work. Click through this slideshow to see more pictures of the retrofitted bus. Here's what the main body of the bus looks like after all their hard work. Click through this slideshow to see more pictures of the retrofitted bus. Photo: Katy Karns Photo: Katy Karns Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Is tiny living working? Bay Area residents share challenges of micro homes and bus life 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

They gave the bright yellow school bus a more subtle coat of paint, put in a kitchen and solar panels, and made space for a queen-sized bed.

Albers estimates the entire remodel plus the cost of the bus came out to about $4,000.

They park the bus mostly in industrial areas to avoid upsetting people in residential neighborhoods. The couple also makes sure they're never too far away from a public bathroom.

As Karns puts it, "We do have a chemical toilet on the bus, but it's better for both parties if we use it just for a number one situation."

For access to showers and the like, they also pay for a $20 gym membership.

"You really gotta be OK with not all the creature comforts," says Albers. "Once you have all the curtains closed, it's your own world. There's no difference between that and a studio apartment. Arguably it's safer because you can always drive away, but you can't move your building."

That's if the bus is working, of course.

"There's nothing worse than when you back into a Jack in the Box to eat and then and your bus won't start," Albers says. He uses his mechanical experience to avoid those awkward situations as often as possible.

"I don't know how someone would live in a short bus without mechanical knowledge."

That's just one of the warnings we heard when talking to people for this story.

Is it worth it?

The temptation to purge your belongings and move into a micro-space can be tempting when rent is high.

"I am not the norm," says Svet, who said she's noticed a lot of turnover in her apartment complex. She has seen people move in, then quickly decide it's not for them.

Is it worth it for these three Bay Area residents?

"Honestly, I feel like it was a huge upgrade. I love the area and we're in walking distance from BART, cafes and awesome shopping options nearby," says Svet of her micro-apartment.

She and her husband are considering starting a family, which may prompt them to seek a bit more square footage in the future. But they've embraced the minimalist lifestyle and don't see a need for much more room. "If we had a bigger place, each individual item would have been larger but we wouldn't have more things."

The Flee Market: How Bay Area residents cope (or don't) with our cost of living

As Albers and Karns contemplate their next steps, they appreciate the flexibility that bus living grants them. Albers confesses they've considered leaving the Bay Area and living in nature, but Karns' family is local, which gives them a compelling reason to stick around.

Of everyone we spoke to, Aileen Brown seems the most eager to get out of town. She's learning tiny living may not be for her, but to afford more space she'll have to move away.

"I'm working to simply pay my rent so I'm missing out on simple enjoyments in my life," Brown said.

She says she loves the diversity and culture of the Bay Area, but is grappling with the financial reality of what it means to live here. We asked her, "If money weren't a factor, would you still want to leave the Bay Area?"

Without hesitation, she responded, "I wouldn't even consider it."

Editor's note: This story is the first installment in an SFGATE series that features Bay Area residents living in unconventional ways. If you'd like to share your story, answer some questions here. You may be featured in a future article.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.