Story & photo by Robin Beaudoin
Standing in front of a charming red-shuttered 832-square-foot new home, flanked by azaleas, is Reverend Dwayne Jones, preacher, architect, and general contractor, fresh from leading a mission trip to Haiti. He is gentle and stalwart with his arms crossed, in a neighborhood near Melrose High School and Orange Mound, where he spent his youth. Though he built this house, this modest home is not what he has become known for. Think smaller. Now think much smaller.
Since 1989, Jones had been building large homes in Eads and Fayette County, but when the economy tanked, so did his business prospects. He lost everything and seized the opportunity to serve at-risk youth by way of international relief work in Ghana, West Africa and Togo, and most recently, Haiti and India. Having experienced the universal tremendous poverty and homelessness that affects these places, he changed the focus of his work to helping the homeless.
His design was to create tiny homes on trailers, costing around $7500 for the trailer and materials. He built a model, drove it up to Nashville, and through combined fundraising efforts with Reverend Jeff Carr, raised over $67,000 to produce six extra tiny homes that he took to the Sanctuary at Green Street Baptist Church. This micro home community is the first of its kind in Nashville, produced by interfaith community organization Infinity Fellowship. It falls in line with nearly a decade of other creations Successful homeless communities have been built in cities along the West Coast, as well as in Texas and in Wisconsin.
Just 60 square feet, with one window and one door, micro homes provide security, dignity, and privacy for a handful of grateful homeless men and women in Nashville. Jones, who embarked upon his career building energy-efficient homes, works with public designs and creates his own blueprints for tiny houses, but has run into plenty of walls and red-tape when it comes to building and selling them in Shelby County.
Jones explains, “On wheels, these are considered recreational vehicles, which are illegal in Shelby County. I decided to go a little bit bigger, and put them on a concrete slab. We pre-sold 16 [CoziHomes], and I sell them for $35,000- $45,000, depending on amenities.” Plans hit a speed bump when local lenders would not approve mortgages for less than $50,000. Partnered with Hope Credit Union, a private investor, Jones made loans possible for prequalified customers. He had two lots ready to build on Southern Avenue, but those builds fell through because the lots backed up to a historical district, causing permit problems.
Currently Jones has six lots on Pendleton Street in Memphis, and breaks ground this spring on some 480-square-foot homes with one bedroom and one bath. At this size, the cheerfully colored homes fulfill the cost and energy-efficient needs of the neighborhood. “I’m trying to reduce the carbon footprint. In a lot of neighborhoods, there are vacant lots that fulfilled the Brownfield Grant – dilapidated, dangerous homes that have been torn down and lots cleaned up to combat blight within the city.
With the increasing number of baby boomers tacking on in-law suites and “granny cottages” (tiny guest houses) off a main residence, what should be trending in Memphis has tripped down a bumpy path with seemingly apathetic zoning and planning commissions. Even still, with more than 14 million internet views of the stories about the Sanctuary in Nashville that have appeared, his phone keeps ringing; his travels have taken him all over the United State, consulting and meeting with other Tiny House builders. Ideally, Jones would love to erect CoziHomes villages and bring the Sanctuary concept to Memphis. He’s hopeful that he can raise the needed funds – and work with city officials to navigate the permit issues – to make it happen.
Learn more about tiny houses at www.dwayneajones.com.
