{"id":448099,"date":"2022-05-17T00:03:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T21:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-man-is-building-a-tiny-home-utopia-in-p-e-i\/"},"modified":"2022-05-17T00:03:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T21:03:13","slug":"this-man-is-building-a-tiny-home-utopia-in-p-e-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-man-is-building-a-tiny-home-utopia-in-p-e-i\/","title":{"rendered":"#This man is building a tiny-home utopia in P.E.I."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ad3d31cc03\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2ad3d31cc03\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-man-is-building-a-tiny-home-utopia-in-p-e-i\/#%E2%80%9CThis_man_is_building_a_tiny-home_utopia_in_PEI%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;This man is building a tiny-home utopia in P.E.I.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_man_is_building_a_tiny-home_utopia_in_PEI%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;This man is building a tiny-home utopia in P.E.I.&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                                                                        <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Route 6 in Bedford Station, Prince Edward Island, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> retired jack of all trades is on a mission. Jim Walmsley spends long days clearing part of his 25-acre property with the goal of opening a tiny home community for those priced out of the market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, homes in P.E.I. sold\u00a0for an average of $414,742 last month\u2014a record high, and a 20.3 per cent increase from April 2021. In Walmsley\u2019s vision, a membership of $5,000 will cover a plot fee for 25 years, with residents shouldering the cost of building or installing their own tiny home. The 73-year-old anticipates a community centre for residents and a laundromat, but talk to him long enough and you\u2019ll hear all about his visions of a self-sufficient utopia.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>MORE:\u00a0This family left their Toronto bungalow for rural Nova Scotia<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tiny homes still have unsettled legal and regulatory questions that could affect his plans, but Walmsley\u2019s well versed in them. His first home, purchased in rural Nova Scotia when he was 20, measured about 12 by 18 feet. He loved its efficiency, making his quest a natural fit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His tiny home community, about a 10-minute drive from Charlottetown, would be an intentional collective of like-minded people. For the adventurous or unfussy community-minded individual, Walmsley\u2019s utopia might represent an affordable plot of paradise in the pastoral P.E.I. countryside. His vision won\u2019t solve the housing affordability crisis, but it could help some people escape it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> asked Walmsley about his plans, the challenges he\u2019s faced, and how he\u2019s avoiding the temptation to cash out in a seller\u2019s market. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why did you take on this project?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I see what\u2019s h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening in Charlottetown. There\u2019s no place to live for people who don\u2019t have an awful lot of money. I\u2019m taking land that\u2019s been sitting undisturbed for 40 years and I\u2019m turning it into something that\u2019s going to be good for the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been a single man most of my life\u2014probably because I like to work all the time. I don\u2019t have any kids. I\u2019ve got one brother and he doesn\u2019t need any help from me. So I have to find a way to more or less dispose of my estate. I\u2019m planning on doing that by setting up a tiny home community and having it run in perpetuity long after I\u2019m gone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>A parcel of land on Prince Edward Island would sell for a pretty penny these days, but you\u2019ve chosen to clear your land to build a community. That takes a lot more work.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, it\u2019s something that I like to do. I like to work. I bought a great big excavator. It\u2019s such a hoot to run. You can dig, you can trench, you can pull out stumps, you can level off land.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the trees get levelled off, it\u2019s the difference between night and day. I could sell the land that I cleared right now. In today\u2019s market, I think I could get $100,000 for that as a two-and-a-half-acre piece of property. But I don\u2019t need money. I wouldn\u2019t mind buying a gyrocopter, but I live simply. No sense in generating money I don\u2019t need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>So this isn\u2019t in any way a profit-seeking venture for you then.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, definitely not. Currently, it\u2019s a money-losing venture, and any profit that eventually comes from it will just spin around and go back into the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What have been some of the biggest challenges you\u2019ve faced so far?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I started last fall, but I couldn\u2019t work this past winter. We had so much snow. That was a challenge. Right now I\u2019m clearing land, burning brush, putting in drainage ditches and things like that. My excavator enables me to do it by myself. I think I\u2019ll probably parcel off 10 to 15 acres for this project. I\u2019ve probably got about four acres cleared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something I learned the long way is you can\u2019t leave brush on the ground because the ground won\u2019t dry. Right now I\u2019m burning off the brush every day. If I keep doing all this by myself, it\u2019ll take two years to clear space for the full community. If I had some help, people could move onto the site this summer. In two years, it should be up and running\u2014I\u2019m talking maybe 50, perhaps 100 sites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Have potential tiny home owners started inquiring about wanting to live in the community once it\u2019s set up?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve had some of that, but I\u2019ve had to turn them down. The people who are asking know it\u2019s going to take off and be a good project. They want to buy a lot and more or less sit on it. But what\u2019s for sale isn\u2019t lots. What\u2019s for sale is a piece of a community. There\u2019s a certain type of person I want here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>So who\u2019s going to live there?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People with money are probably not going to be the ones who want to live in tiny houses. They\u2019re not going to be able to, either. It\u2019s a little bit of a half-step between living in luxury and survival. But I think once you get into the routine, it\u2019s probably better than making the change back to normal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0Want to get in on Canadian real estate? Welcome to the down-payment hustle.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think some one-bedroom apartments in Charlottetown can be had for $1,400 or $1,500 a month, if you can find one. Most of that is based on wanting a flush toilet and a shower. How long do you have to work to get them? At those prices, if you\u2019re getting $15 an hour, you have to work a lot of hours every day just to pay rent and utilities before covering other living expenses. It\u2019s an awful lot of money you\u2019re paying for very little convenience.<\/span><b\/><\/p>\n<p><b>Are you planning to live as part of this community?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I live about 600 or 700 feet away, in the middle of the woods, and I\u2019ll be involved as long as I\u2019m alive. But I really hope others will more or less take charge. I don\u2019t want to become a policeman or a good guy or a bad guy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How have the neighbours reacted?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I get people driving by and rolling down their windows to say it\u2019s a great project. One lady stopped and she said she couldn\u2019t believe I\u2019ve done this work entirely by myself. She said she\u2019d never seen such a productive enterprise from one person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"under-article-widget-nl\">\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-title\">Looking for more?<\/p>\n<p class=\"under-article-widget-description\">Get the best of <em>Maclean<\/em>&#8216;s sent straight to your inbox. 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Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/society\/this-man-is-building-a-tiny-home-utopia-in-p-e-i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This man is building a tiny-home utopia in P.E.I.&#8221; On Route 6 in Bedford Station, Prince Edward Island, a retired jack of all trades is on a mission. Jim Walmsley spends long days clearing part of his 25-acre property with the goal of opening a tiny home community for those priced out of the market&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":448100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/WALMSLEY-CSERNYIK-MAY16-766x431.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12156,129250,79727,71226],"class_list":["post-448099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-housing","tag-maritimes","tag-prince-edward-island","tag-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}