TinyFest brings supersmall living to Southern California house hunters

Renee Seevers, chief executive of TinyFest, an annual gathering of tiny-home providers and experts, still remembers when her 100-square-foot lifestyle went from looks of pity to those of awe.

Be it the hit television show “Tiny House Nation” putting the subculture on display, or the 2008 housing crash stirring solutions around affordable living, Seevers’ passion for tiny homes isn’t so bizarre anymore.

“Within a span of several months, I went from a poor pathetic soul to a rock star,” she said Friday from the event space taking shape at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

The cultural rise in tiny houses, some of them on wheels, inspired her to stake her own claim in the movement, which touts minimizing humans’ impact on the environment. Seevers launched TinyFest Midwest in Iowa before developing TinyFest California, its most popular show. Now in its 10th year in the Golden State, TinyFest brings together dozens of homebuilders and merchants who showcase the concept, their many shapes and forms, all in one place.

The event is an opportunity for attendees to tour houses, much as they would a traditional open house. Seevers hopes the concept will inspire house seekers with the range of possibilities that a minimal lifestyle offers.

“The housing costs here are so incredible and people are just pinched for their finances and for finding a place to live,” she said. “So here is just an excellent place for people to see that there are beautiful small alternatives.”

Along with the dozens of tiny home brands in attendance will be insurance companies, lenders, zoning consultants and speakers like Tiny House Nation co-host John Weisbarth.

Meagan Wilson, founder of Temecula-based Lifescape Builders, spent half a year building the home she brought to the fairgrounds and already sold it to a resident in San Juan Capistrano. Prices start at $80,000, and her company’s focus on customizable details — like an LED-ridged shower, Italian laminate cabinets and a green roof — can push a tiny home’s price north of $200,000.

Having won best in show at TinyFest over the past two years keeps Wilson coming back to the expo with new home designs, which are stick built and feature fire hardening. She noted that San Diego’s recent conversations around easing tiny home restrictions could make such homes adaptable for a variety of lifestyles across urban zoning.

“It’s a fun thing for us to build something and display that tiny homes can be different from what people think; they can feel like a real home when you walk in,” she said.

Vacationing is another lifestyle that tiny homes have tapped into.

Lex Isham founded Stargazing Homes during COVID-19, when his interest in real estate took him to experiment with different kinds of structures aimed at short-term rentals on a newly purchased plot of land near the Grand Canyon.

Replete with floor to ceiling windows, sprawling outdoor decks and broad skylights for star-filled nights, barbecue pit and a cellphone lockbox, the design is armed with the motto “disconnect to reconnect.”

“If someone’s looking to buy a property and wants house guests, I want to be the person who pushes them to say ‘you got this,’ ” Isham said.

About TinyFest

TinyFest takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19,

Where: OC Fair & Event Center at 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Tickets are available at tinyfest.events

Ticket prices: Single-day tickets are $22.50, weekend passes cost $30, ages 15 and younger get in free and VIP passes are $119.