Family embraces togetherness in their tiny house

When it comes to family togetherness, Tamlyn and Toby Hayman are experts.

It’s a benefit of living with their six children — four girls and two boys — in a home that measures only 32 feet long by 12 feet wide.

“Our first house was two stories and 2,400 square feet. Many times I’d be in the kitchen, she’d be in the living room and our kids would be upstairs. So while we were all under one roof, we were kind of just acquaintances in our own home,” Toby said.

“Here, we spend so much more time together in the same actual space. The main area serves as our living room, play room, dining room, you name it. And if we go more than a week without having family night — with pillows, blankets and a kid show — somebody is having heart failure.”

So why give up what Toby described as his “American dream” cul-de-sac home for a building with just 584 square feet of living space?

Financial freedom calls

Fans of the TV program, “Tiny House Nation,” the Haymans were attracted by the prospect of financial freedom and doing more with less.

“When I was young, we were poor. None of the houses we lived in were finished. So when she and I got together, I told her I wanted a concrete driveway and a finished house. I wanted the new vehicles. I wanted what I thought was the American dream,” Toby said.

“Then all of a sudden I woke up one day and it was like, yeah, we have everything but we’re up to our ears in debt. It was kind of an uncomfortable place to be.”

Facing a 30-year mortgage and two vehicle payments — plus the challenge of clothing and feeding a growing family — the young couple were considering their options.

Having lived in the house for eight years, they decided to place it on the market. There were no early takers when Toby went on a three-week mission trip to China and Vietnam with Living Hope Church in Baytown.

What he saw there really opened his eyes.

“In Vietnam, there were some very poverty-stricken places. Kids were running around naked in these villages. What they were eating and their living quarters, it was all very humbling,” Toby said. “You kind of got this feeling like, man, how wasteful are we, at everything?”

When he returned from the trip, the real estate agent called to say that somebody had offered the full listing price for their home. But the family would need to move out within a week.

“Which was great, other than the fact that we had this two-story home full of stuff we had accumulated,” Toby said. “We didn’t realize how much stuff we had until we had to think about moving it all.”

The Haymans and their three children at the time moved in with Tamlyn’s parents, Tammy and Bobby Retzer of Baytown, before deciding on their next step.

Time to downsize

“We loved watching ‘Tiny House Nation’ to see how people were transforming these little spaces,” Tamlyn said.

“They would build these tiny homes and move them to some property. They had no mortgage, so the freedom they got was crazy,” Toby said.

“We were watching that show one day when her dad, who is a home builder, said, ‘Why don’t we just build one? Y’all can have that little spot on the side of our house. Then if you ever buy a piece of property you can move it there, and you’ll be mortgage free,’” Toby recalled.

Construction began in February, and the home on John Martin Road was ready for move-in by June.

Tamlyn’s father donated the wood flooring that came from a church he renovated. The windows used to be in a home he had worked on.

“All together, with labor costs and the appliances we bought, we put about $25,000 into this building. We were able to pay for it from the profit we made on selling the other house,” Toby said.

Tamlyn was pregnant with their fourth child when they moved in. About a year after he was born, twins entered the picture.

“They were our little surprise blessings,” she said.

The layout

The house features a main living space where they all can hang out, watch TV and eat their meals. The ground floor also includes the kitchen, an area for the washer and dryer and for storing everyone’s clothes, a bathroom with a shower, and a bedroom with bunk beds for the two boys and a crib for the twin girls.

Stairs lead to a bedroom for Tamlyn and Toby on the second level, which isn’t tall enough for them to fully stand. A tree house-style ladder in the kitchen connects to a shared sleeping space for their two older daughters.

“We will have been here two years in June. Overall, I love it,” Tamlyn said. “Toby struggles with it more because he’s bigger and needs a little more room.”

While Toby is at work as a plumber and Talyn (11) and Talee (8) attend school, Tamlyn stays at home taking care of sons Tripp (4) and Tee (21 months), and twins Tinlee and Teal (7 months). Two days a week, mom gets a little break when she drops off the children at daycare.

For Tamlyn, being mostly debt-free and getting to spend quality time raising her young children is a good trade-off for living in a very small space.

When the kids are at home, they spend a lot of time outdoors. They can play in the yard, ride bikes and scooters in their grandparents’ driveway, or spend time in the horse stalls on the 7 acres that Tamlyn’s parents own.

As youth pastors at their church, Toby and Tamlyn enjoy their roles teaching and mentoring teens.

“It’s kind of like being their second set of parents, complete with the text messages and calls,” Toby said.

“I can definitely say that living in our tiny house with six kids has taught us a lot about patience. I think that’s why the kids at church love us. It doesn’t matter what they do or what they tell us, nothing really gets us riled up or uncomfortable.”