Category: Tiny Town Texas

The Pocket Neighborhood Difference

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

Hill Country Tiny Houses has partnered with the founder of Bigelow Homes to create an extraordinary solution for affordable housing in pocket neighborhoods that can be duplicated across the country. Stay tuned…

FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

Imagine for a moment that you are in your new home. You step out your front door onto a large porch and look out to see children playing catch in a spacious green park or trying to climb one of the many beautiful trees. Your neighbors across the park wave hello from their porches while the scent of roses from the park drifts over to you in the breeze. Your friend next door steps out to walk her dog and you invite her to sit with you for a cup of coffee. You enjoy the friendly conversation while the sound of children laughing, chatter from other porches and the wind in the trees melds in the background.  

BIGELOW’S POCKET NEIGHBORHOOD *Used with permission from Bigelow Homes website

At Bigelow Homes we don’t do typical neighborhoods. You won’t find garage fronted houses facing high speed, unsafe streets with sidewalks that are unable to be walked on because cars are parked across them. Instead, you’ll find a real neighborhood that has been thoughtfully designed so that each home faces a welcoming and beautifully landscaped pocket park with a front porch that is meant to be lived on and enjoyed, making them the perfect place to work, play, and relax. We believe that neighborhoods are a way of life, not just where you go to sleep every night. 

Bigelow Homes has been building neighborhoods for 40 years and was honored to receive the most prestigious award in the housing industry, the National Builder of the Year Award. We became the nation’s first developer and builder of highly energy efficient homes in the early 1980’s. Our emphasis on energy conservation naturally led to an interest in cultural and social sustainability. This interest became a deep rooted passion and has resulted in the following practices applied to each neighborhood we design. 

  • Neighborhoods that encourage the residents to be as friendly with neighbors as they would like. 
  • Neighborhoods where the streets and sidewalks are safe and enjoyable for pedestrians, without the worry of fast driving cars.
  • Sidewalks that are walkable and safe for children to play on. 
  • Homes facing pocket parks. 

Hometown Kerr Project

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, WellnessLeave a comment
#keepthecoffeecoming

Todd and I are buried in work, meeting a deadline to submit a pocket neighborhood Proposal to the city! The City came to us about a year ago to help with their housing crises. We have assembled a winning team of consultants and developers! Now to gain their approval for all the unique pieces this project will require…

Stay tuned…

We are honored to partner up with Perry Bigelow, Founder of Bigelow Homes, as our chosen Developer for this project. Video above explains how he built healthy communities.
  • <img src="https://sharisnyder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/img_5518.jpg?w=768" alt="Mayor Blackburn
    Mayor Blackburn
  • <img src="https://sharisnyder.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/jhvwnmdot6x4cx4uhmgww-1.jpg?w=1024" alt="City Hall
    City Hall
  • Armed with blueprints and Slide Deck
    Armed with blueprints and Slide Deck

Our proposed project is a cottage-type neighborhood design that has every modern comfort with a little Hill Country flair.

Mr. Bigelow himself. His reputation and legacy for doing good by doing right is an honor to partner with.

A pocket neighborhood is essentially a cluster of homes gathered together around a shared open space that affords residents the chance to get to know their neighbors and be a part of the community.

(Think of a cul-de-sac, but with parking behind the homes and instead of facing concrete, picture a beautiful green space.)

It’s different from a traditional neighborhood because there’s a function:  The front porch has to be big enough so you can sit on it on a Sunday morning as your neighbor walks by.  Most of the pocket neighborhoods are groups of up to 12 homes and act like villages within towns.  

They share a lot of the same traits: 

  • They participate in common goals and practices
  • They depend on each other
  • They make decisions together
  • They identify themselves as part of something larger than the sum of their individual relationships
  • They commit themselves for the long term to their own well-being, to each other, and to the group
  • These type of neighborhoods started in Denmark and were introduced here in the 80’s but it took them a while to get a head steam
The 2 main books Mr. Bigelow used for 40 years to develop healthy communities across the U.S.

What homeowners say about Bigelow Neighborhoods and Homes…

“We really love our home and the neighborhood. There is a very warm feeling when you enter the subdivision. Our lot is perfect. Even our friends have commented that there is a good feeling in the neighborhood.”
– Michael & Verna B.

“We love our house. It is above and beyond our expectations. The quality of the construction is better than the homes twice the price across the street. Thank you Bigelow Homes!”
– F. Mulligan

“I believe that the HomeTown subdivision is one of the best I’ve seen. It is so inviting to everyone that visits me. They always ask, “are they still building and can I see a model?” The neighborhood is beautifully arranged with landscaping, the pond, the ducks, and the friendly atmosphere.”

– J. Club

Beautiful, built extremely well from slab up, and I feel blessed to have an energy efficient, quality home in a unique spot for a great price!
– Gwendolyn K.

We are extremely pleased with Bigelow Homes. We’ve been recommending you to friends and family and even blogged about your great work. The home is beautiful and as we expected.
– Eugene E.

www.bigelowhomes.com

The Magic of Minimalism

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, WellnessLeave a comment
My first tiny bathroom
My first tiny bathroom
My remodeled big kitchen
My remodeled big kitchen
My 2nd tiny kitchen
My 2nd tiny kitchen
2nd tiny home
2nd tiny home

I’m launching ? an exclusive premiere course the end of February! (limit of 23 Founder’s Group spots)


The Magic of Minimalism:
Shari’s “Downsize NOW Method”. This course empowers people to make space for more JOY, productivity, meaningful relationships, and quality of life.

Is this course for me?

? I want to trade ordinary stuff for an extra-ordinary lifestyle!
? I am sick of the energy-zapping stress of overwhelming clutter?
? I am ready to divorce clutter and chaos
? I want to marry peace and productivity for my future life
? I want MORE…
? emotional and mental peace
? quality of life

***Note: Although Shari downsized her family from 2,600 square feet to a tiny home of less than 400 square feet, the method works wherever you’re at right now.
www.magicofminimalism.com

My first tiny home

WHO THIS COURSE IS NOT FOR:

?  tire kickers

?  Curious stalkers

?  those who are unmotivated to change 

?  those who are fearful of change

If you are accepted, do you promise to complete the homework before our first day together?

Do you promise to participate and bring value to this exclusive group of like-minded world changers?


DO NOT SHARE THIS EXCLUSIVE INVITATION!  

There are only 23 spots for this live premiere launch program so you will want to secure your spot BEFORE we launch it the end of February. That’s when we will open it to the public including our 37,000 followers on social media.

(after you go through it, you may share it with your friends and receive referral benefits, but subsequent courses will be pre-recorded, not LIVE!)

NEXT STEP: request to join the private facebook group “The Magic of Minimalism“, answer the questions. Only people in this group can apply to be a Founder’s Group Member.

3 motivations to downsize?  take poll. not burden my children with all this stuff. get control of my life. 3?

Must answer questions before you can be invited.  To be invited does not mean your application will be accepted. We have limited access to this first program to just 23 people.

POLL: What is your biggest challenge to downsizing your belongings? Multiple choice: Emotional attachment, family members, no extra time, no motivation.

New Tiny House Website released!

On By Shari SnyderIn hgtv, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, tiny paradise, Tiny Town Texas, TV ShowLeave a comment

You’re invited to tour our newly launched website and give us your feedback. We want to bring great value to our visitors seeking answers about tiny living. Our daughter, Christianna Snyder, of Sapphire Social Co., worked really hard on this and we hope you will enjoy the experience! To watch the full episode (21 minutes) of HGTV’s Tiny Paradise that shows our family building our tiny house in Mason, Texas, use this link or follow the HGTV logo on our website, to you tube. ($1.99 purchase required by you tube).

The BIG truth about Tiny Living

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

(Candid Conversations between tiny house dwellers).

We will be hosting a podcast interviewing Tiny Dwellers. (Message us if you want to apply.)

Request to join our private Facebook group now: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebigtruthabouttinyliving/

~Ask your burning tiny house questions to this like-minded group; this is your tribe and you belong here!
~ T.H. Dwellers, please participate and answer as candidly as possible!
Note from the Author, Shari Snyder, Tiny House dweller, designer and builder for almost three years!
Our family owns Hill Country Tiny Houses and our next project is Tiny Town Texas, more than a place to be, a place to belong!
In my humble opinion after interacting with thousands who want to go tiny and who live tiny, this is what I know:
Tiny house dwellers are the salt of the earth; they are kindhearted, values-driven, family-focused, entrepreneurs, minimalists, heroes, and pioneers. They’re the ones you want in your corner.
We’ve all felt like the odd duck ? from family and friends: “you wanna do what?”
I want this community to be a safe place for all of us to hang our hat ?, be ourselves, be encouraged and inspired!
Maybe they’re the strange ones! Chasing after status quo and such…
Let’s “shrink our house, not our dreams” TOGETHER!!
Welcome aboard, my friend, you are our hero and we celebrate and honor you! ?????

Meet the Author

On By Shari SnyderIn Design, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

Shari Snyder along with her husband, Todd, and teenage son, Andrew, is a tiny house dweller, designer, and builder. She is passionate about creating environmentally conscience tiny house communities that families will thrive in for years to come. As a wellness lifestyle coach of 17 years, her focus is on total wellness; body, soul, and spirit. Shari is the Chief Hope Giver for Hill Country Tiny Houses and Tiny Town Texas with a mission to help people downsize their space to enjoy more freedom, simplicity, and adventure.

WHAT’S NEXT for the Snyder Family?  

After downsizing from the large 4 bedrooms, a 2 car garage, and in-ground pool home, to live in the 390 square feet they built on HGTV, their passion is to educate the world on this high-quality, low-impact lifestyle inside Tiny Town Texas, more than a place to be, a place to belong.  Follow their journey as they design and develop beautiful, inspiring tiny home communities across the nation.  

Visit blog at www.hillcountrytinyhouses.com/blog

Welcome to Tiny Town

On By Shari SnyderIn Airbnb, Family, Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, WellnessLeave a comment

Welcome to Tiny Town Texas, where dreams are big and houses are small.

We’re on a mission to show Texans that bigger is not always better.  

The heroes of Tiny Town™ are exchanging the chains of mortgage debt for a life of freedom, adventure and simplicity.  

Do you have the courage to live tiny to make your big dreams come true?   

  • Tiny Town Texas™ is a Master Planned Tiny House Community with 400 living/rental units. 
  • Community gardens, nature trails, doggy park, barbecue pit, pavilion, outdoor cinema, landscaping with natural water features foster total wellness for body, soul and spirit, resulting in vibrant healthy relationships.
  • Tiny enterprises owned and operated by residents focus on artisans and affordable wellness, often found in farmer’s markets.
  • B & B’s comprise about 20% of the tiny homes. Agr-itourism is part of the attraction.

Tiny House Show and Zach Giffin

On By Shari SnyderIn Lifestyle, Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town Texas, Tours, TV ShowLeave a comment

Thank you to all who came to tour our tiny house at the Austin 2019 show this last weekend! Our family had so much fun meeting you and we were so blessed by all the positive feedback. Once again, the people voted the Hill Country build their top favorite in the show!

Do you recognize these guys? Do you recognize the house behind us?

They co-host Tiny House Nation and are great advocates for the good of the tiny house people and with Operation Tiny Homes for Veterans. Tiny House Nation reached out to us to find a good client for a show. We were building a shell for a sweet family in Dallas. They were a perfect fit. They helped our client finish their tiny House on the show. It was beautiful! Did you see the episode, “two turntables and a tiny house” last season? Search for it on Netflix and watch tonight! It was fun to give them a tour at the Austin tiny house show.
Zach Giffin and John Weisbarth. #operationtinyhomes

Market Research Survey

On By Shari SnyderIn Tiny Houses, Tiny Living, Tiny Town TexasLeave a comment

What type of content would you like to see in a free downloadable pdf?

1. Roadmap for How to go Tiny

2. The Truth About Living in a Tiny House

3. How to De-Clutter Your Home in Preparation for Living Tiny

4. Tiny House Readiness Checklist

5. Is Tiny House Living Right for Me?

We will enter you in a drawing for a free stay in a tiny house if you submit by Nov. 30.