Civic Works teaching young people how to build tiny houses

WBALTV, BALTIMORE —

New home construction in Baltimore City will soon look a tiny bit different.

Civic Works is teaching young people how to build homes one tiny house at a time.

To be considered a tiny house, the interior area must be under 800 square feet. One prototype built by Civic Works is 200 square feet and has everything from a bathroom, a shower, a tiny fridge and a built-in dining room table to a loft bedroom.

“You can fit a queen-size bed up here,” said Rodney Payne, with Civic Works.

The downside of downsizing, though, is that there’s not much storage space.

“Every square inch in a tiny house, you have to plan, really, because it’s not like a typical house,” Payne said.

Civic Works is getting ready to start production on multiple tiny houses.

“(We) could potentially work on seven at a time,” Payne said.

It’s part of the Youth Build program that teaches usable skills to young people so they can get a job in the workforce.

“It’s a job-training program for 17 to 24 year olds,” Payne said. “They get safety training, tool training. The nice thing about building a tiny house is you get all the skills in one compact system.”

Tiny house construction starts soon, and the houses will later be for sale, ranging in price from $25,000 to $75,000.

Baltimore City isn’t currently zoned for tiny houses. Civic Works is hoping that will change within the next year.