Smarmy High School Kid Builds Tiny House in Parents Back Yard

NY Daily News - Like many other teenagers, 16-year-old Austin Hay was sick of living at home. Unlike other kids, he started building his own – from scratch. In a video posted on Faircompanies.com, the high school junior from Sonoma County, Calif., gives a tour of his progress. He's built the home on a trailer, which he bought used for $2,000, so he can take it with him when he goes to college – and beyond. Sonoma County is home to many of the pioneers of the small house movement, according to Faircompanies.com, and before he started construction, Austin attended a tiny house open house led by Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, who gave him plans to build his own tiny home. Austin has been working on the project behind his parents' much larger (1,800-square-foot) home, financing it with money from jobs at a summer camp and a snack bar. Tiny homes typically cost about $23,000 to build, but Austin thinks he will get the cost down to about $12,000 because he's been able to find materials at salvage yards plus some have been donated.

Austin, Austin, Austin. I get it, I see what you're doing.  Parents have a "no girls in  your room" policy that you're chafing under. Simple solution, build your own house in their backyard, right? Wrong. Sure it'll work in the short term, got your own Little Rascals clubhouse in the backyard, you'll probably be able to lure a couple of naive high school girls over after school, but what's best case scenario? Making out with some heavy petting? You're not hitting a home run in a glorified tree house, and while 2nd base might hold you over through high school, you're looking very shortsighted. Because soon enough you're going to be off to college. College girls hook up, you have your own room, with heat, electricity, and plumbing across the hall. But soon as the girls hear you're kind of a weirdo who camped out in a children's play house in your parents backyard for the past two years? Good luck.