As well as the crippling costs of paying to attend college in the U.S. most students have to consider rent.
But one savvy student studying in Florida spent one year doing just that before he realized it wasn’t for him.
Most people would only consider the option of moving back home but Bradley Langenberg had other ideas. He built his own unique tiny home so he could live rent free.
His design has been making headlines ever since he gave a tour of his tiny house and posted in on YouTube.
Bradley, originally from Australia, built a 27-foot one bed home complete with a study area, bathroom, loft bedroom and 8ft kitchen counter, which is more workspace than most apartment kitchens offer.
The beautiful transformation cost the then 22-year-old $15,000 and he moved back into his parents’ home to save the money.
“It started out more financial than anything,” he told Living Big in a Tiny House. “Right out of high school, I went and paid a year’s worth of rent and decided that wasn’t for me.”
“My family thought it was never going to happen,” he added. “Until I towed home a 27-foot flatbed trailer — and then they started to ask more questions and understood this is something I’m actually going to try and do.”
With a little help from his friends and a keen eye for turning people’s trash into treasure he transformed the tiny 230-square-foot home in a year and a half into something quite unique.
He found a parking space in a beautiful spot in Jacksonville, Florida, where he studied, right on a creek in the middle of the woods and admits he has “the best parking spot in Jacksonville.”
Like all good designers and planners his home is on a travel trailer frame so he can move if he needs to at any time.
Bradley has a five-ft wide porch with two rocking chairs and you enter into a beautiful living and dining area, complete with fire, custom designed couch and TV.
Above the lounge/dining area is a small loft where Bradley’s pet snake, Peanut, lives, in a tank.
His kitchen has a huge sink, 8ft-long counter, refrigerator, two electric burners and electric convection oven which leads to a corner study area with moveable desk in case he needs the extra space.
A pipe ladder leads up to Bradley’s bed complete with full-size mattress, television, bedside table and extra storage space, which Bradley admits is more than he needs.
Bradley regularly entertains friends and says he can fit 25 people into his home.
Even when the area flooded and his home had one-inch of water he still decided to stay in his beauty spot surrounded by good neighbors.
He said his neighbors ended up giving him $800 worth of wood to install new flooring.
“That was a bright moment in those awful weeks, that was really nice, the floors ended up coming out great and I really appreciate it,” he said.
Bradley made a number of savvy finds along the way, his kitchen cabinets, shower and an antique bread bin he uses as a bathroom cabinet, were all items he got for free after people threw them out.
Bradley now lives mortgage free and has even added more tiny homes to his site.
“Every time I pull up at night to my house, there’s a smile on my face because I built that,” Bradley said. “It taught me I can do more than I think I can.”
I love the detailed tour that Bradley gives; a wish more people would build these kind of homes.
Please share if you too loved Bradley’s amazing design.
