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Local tiny home builder a big hit at Red Deer Home Show

A custom tiny home builder has been a big hit at the Red Deer Home Show.
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Tree Hugger Tiny Homes, a Red Deer-based company, is one of the 160-plus exhibitors featured at the Red Deer Home Show, which began on Friday at Westerner Park. (Photo by Sean McIntosh/Advocate staff)

A custom tiny home builder has been a big hit at the Red Deer Home Show.

Tree Hugger Tiny Homes, a Red Deer-based company, is one of the 160-plus exhibitors featured at the three-day event, which began on Friday at Westerner Park.

Since the business was founded in 2019, tiny homes on wheels have become a hot commodity, said Tree Hugger Tiny Homes founder Scott Smythe.

“It’s definitely a growing industry,” Smythe said in front of the company’s exhibit, which featured a tiny home that people could tour.

“It’s been steadily increasing and there’s no specific market. I thought it might be a niche product for a certain group of people, but it’s not. There are lots of seniors looking to retire into them. There are young couples – owning a home for young couples is almost an impossibility – so they’re looking at this type of product too.

“A lot of recreational type of properties are looking at them. Some people want to use them as rental (units) or Airbnb type of situations – we’ve done quite a few where we sell them and they’re used as an Airbnb. The turnaround for payoff is pretty short.”

Smythe said the business was received well at the home show.

“It’s been fantastic actually. We’ve been super busy. It’s been like this non-stop all day,” he said.

“We’re a full custom builder – we do have base plants, so we can build as is and custom those models. But people can also come to us with a sketch on a napkin and some pictures they’ve found on Pinterest and we can build that too.”

Tree Hugger Tiny Homes is RV certified and is legally classified as a RV manufacturer.

“There are a lot of people looking for flexible. There’s a lot of uncertainty even. Since COVID, people might not know where their job is or where they want to be a year from now. This isn’t about selling your house, this is about taking your house with you. You don’t have to worry about taking a hit in the real estate market, you just go.”

For more information on Tree Hugger Tiny Homes, visit www.treehuggertinyhomes.net.

The annual Red Deer Home Show is hosted by BILD Central Alberta. In addition to exhibitions, the event also featured guest speakers who discussed home improvement, interior design, gardening, home construction, home efficiency and more.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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