LIVING LITTLE
B.C.'s tiny home builders prove that good things
come in small square footages
by Alyssa Hirose
I N V E N T O R Y
5. One of a Few
Seth Reidy built his
first tiny house out
of unused material
left over from large
construction job sites.
Enormous homes
were cropping up in
Nelson, taking up a
lot of square footage
and generating a
lot of waste. "I felt if
that extreme was an
option, there should
be someone pro-
viding the opposite
option," says Reidy,
who founded Nelson
Tiny Homes in 2012.
Instead of scaling up,
the team is laser-
focused on custom-
ization and sustain-
ability, building only
four to five projects
each year. nelsontiny
houses.com
2. It's All
Relative
You could say con-
struction is part of
the Kingma family
foundation. "All of us
have done nothing
but build our whole
life," says Andrea
Bravo (née Kingma)
with a laugh. She and
her brothers, Dan,
Stephan and Luke
Kingma, started Rover
Tiny Homes in 2019
to give BCers with
remote recreational
properties an afford-
able housing option.
The Chilliwack-based
biz has built and
delivered homes (all
named after B.C.
mountains and islands)
throughout the
province, and as far
north as the Yukon.
rovertinyhomes.ca
4. High-End
Habitats
Vernon-based Sum-
mit Tiny Homes is
nestled in the middle
of a Venn diagram
comparing small
space designers and
luxury home build-
ers—it's a niche that
Oliver Stankiewitz
thoughtfully carved
out when he founded
the company in 2017.
Summit's custom
tiny homes incorpo-
rate technology like
heated flooring and
air conditioning as
well as high-quality
hardwoods and tiles:
"Tiny homes see a lot
of wear and tear," says
Stankiewitz, "and our
materials make the
longevity of the house
much better." summit
tinyhomes.com
1. Logging On
John Beck built full-
size residential homes
in Richmond for 30
years, but started
seriously thinking
about smaller spaces
the way many of us
did: by happening
upon a tiny home
reality T V show. "I got
to thinking about the
need for affordable
housing for both
the young and the
old—it's desperately
needed," he says. He
launched Rolling
Bear Tiny Homes in
2017. The company's
cost-efficient dwell-
ings can be identified
by their signature
(and very charming)
log siding. rolling
beartinyhomes.com
3. Coastal
Construction
Pam Robertson has
made tiny homes a
big part of her life:
she's the former pres-
ident of Tiny Home
Alliance Canada
(now the Tinyhome
Builders Associa-
tion of Canada) and
currently acts as the
organization's com-
munications director.
Plus, she founded
Sunshine Tiny
Homes in Port Mellon
in 2018. The Sunshine
Coast-based builder
offers models that
vary from permanent
dwellings with full-
height bedrooms to
"bunkie" style spaces
perfect for a home of-
fice or gaming room.
sunshinetinyhomes
.com
6. Dare to DIY
Patrick and Jessica
Whelan struggled
to find the right local
resources when
constructing their
own tiny home, so
now their company
Rewild Homes offers
not only move-in-
ready portable cabins
but also partially
completed shells: if
clients want to install
cabinets, appliances
or even insulation and
electrical themselves,
they can choose to
do so. "There's a lot
more to it than people
think," says Jessica—
this Cobble Hill-based
company, founded in
2014, gives customers
the option to (safely)
be their own builder.
rewildhomes.com
1
2
6
3
4
5
64 4: M a r i e A r t i c u s ( A r t i c u s P h o t o)
B C B U S I N E S S . C A
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 2 5
