His name is Luke and his passion? He wants to build a better house for the world. You see...
Luke believes that a better house can also be a tiny house. And that having a tiny house can still come with all the amenities and comforts of a large house. However he’s obsessed with the tiny house movement because he believes that if he made a tiny house that is affordable and environmentally friendly…that he could change the world with just that one idea.
Luke found a plethora of "tiny house DIY" projects on Youtube and knew he hit the jackpot. The term, “Tiny House” is a movement that advocates living more simply in small houses. Tiny Houses can support all the needs of a regular sized house, and be just as functional.
Luke was only twelve when he made the decision to build his own tiny house in his family’s backyard. Incredibly, the only help he received was from instructional Youtube videos. It's amazing what kids can learn outside the classroom with a little help from Youtube.
As word spread, everyone in the neighborhood was impressed to learn this is how he wanted to spend his summer days. Luke knew he had to start saving money if he was going to pull this off, so he started working around the neighborhood with a bunch of odd jobs. He mowed lawns, cleaned out garages and did any chore that he could find.
Another inspiring part about his story is that he wanted to keep the true spirit of the 'tiny house movement' and use as many recycled items as he could find. Afterall, sustainability is the future.
Apart from offering his services for money, he also worked in exchange for assistance in his project. There is only so much you can learn from a DIY video after all. And there are certain things, like wiring a house for electricity, for example, that call for an expert.
There is a reason for the phrase “don’t try this at home,” that’s because if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will get hurt. One of Luke’s neighbors agreed to help him wire the tiny house for electricity in exchange for cleaning out his garage.
One fateful day when Luke was in school he was called into the principal’s office. Such an event can be stressful for anyone! Not knowing whether he was in trouble, he headed down to see the principal. But turned out that he wasn’t in trouble at all.
Luke’s YouTube exposure and word of mouth caught the attention of the local media, and a reporter wanted to interview Luke about his project for an article. He was getting famous! That same reporter was actually good friends with his school’s principal. But what about the house?
Luke decided to get creative with his DIY skills and set out to create a beautiful countertop using broken pieces of stained glass and glaze. He watched the YouTube video on how the process worked and felt fairly confident that he would be able to create a cheap and interesting countertop. Sadly the experiment ended in disaster. After arranging the shards of colored glass in the positions he wanted he added the glaze.
But the liquid ended up leaking through the mold he used. Let’s just say that it was quite the mess to clean up. It didn’t discourage Luke from finishing his project, however.
Luke’s hard labor certainly paid off and he was nearing completion. The house even had electricity! But what about the plumbing you ask… Every house needs running water and a bathroom. That, unfortunately, was a bit more than the 13-year-old could handle.
He tried to think up numerous ways to create a plumbing infrastructure but they all just turned out to be far too great a task. The tiny house was in his parent’s backyard so he would just have to make do with using the restroom in the family house. Also, there is no A/C…
Once the house was completed Luke made a video tour and uploaded it to his YouTube channel. The video quickly went viral and has almost 7.5 million views! Wow. At the moment his channel has over 16,000 subscribers who tune in to his videos.
Luke’s tour video has received hundreds of comments. Almost all overwhelmingly positive. Many commenters voiced their support, saying that Luke has helped inspire them to be more active and take on a project. Others shared their own experiences about what they were doing when they were Luke’s age.
When it was all said and done the tiny house measured a full 89 square feet. The kitchen is equipped with a small fridge, an electric stove top, and bottled water. Luke even laid floor linoleum on the walls to give it a tiled look. Under the marble countertop in the kitchen, there is a storage area.
The failed stained glass countertop can be found underneath, the mold is now used for storage purposes. The kitchen even has multiple power outlets! But you’ll never believe what’s in the living room…
Luke, still only 13 years old at the time, made the front page! Both the Des Moines Register and the Telegraph Herald wrote up articles about Luke and the amazing tiny house he built and headlined him in their newspapers.
Word of the completed tiny house spread across the United States and even caught the eye of ABC’s show Good Morning America. Stunned, people from the show went out to Iowa to get a private tour of Luke’s tiny kingdom.
Back in Dubuque, Iowa, summer can get pretty hot and humid. Most people would address this issue by installing a store-bought air conditioning unit in their home, but not the resourceful Luke Thill! Moreover, he was only able to fit his tiny house with a 15-amp electrical system, which isn’t enough power for an everyday A/C. Luke’s ingenious solution was so simple, literally, anyone could do it.
He bought cheap, $2 furnace filters, sprayed them with water and placed them next to a fan or in a window. The air then goes through the damp filters, creating a makeshift evaporative cooler which cools the air using the evaporation of water. Pretty clever, huh?
One of the disadvantages of owning a large, spacious house is the amount of time it takes to clean it. For that reason, the Tiny House Movement is perfect for people who hate cleaning–there’s so little space, cleaning is a breeze. Even though Luke makes sure to clean his house at least four times a week to keep it in top shape, it doesn’t take up much of his time.
In fact, in one of his videos, Luke admitted that cleaning the entire house takes him around 15 minutes tops. Sounds like a dream!
Inspired by his younger brother, older brother Cole has also taken on an impressive DIY project. A teardrop camper, which is a lot like just a tinier tiny house on wheels. Between the two, the brothers are set for home and travel.
Cole also documented the building of his camper on YouTube and used recycled materials. And just the same as Luke, Cole was on a budget and had to work to get the project done. That is one skilled and creative family.
Having such a talented group of builders around the house must be pretty inspiring. So, the matriarch of the Thill family decided to dive into the world of DIY with a project of her own. Why not build on (pun intended) the success of her son’s tiny house? Luke’s mother isn’t as much into building as her two sons are.
For her project, she purchased a 1972 Forester Kayot camper–already built but in definite need of some TLC. Her now-famous son plans to film her progress as she makes new curtains, tiling and some more updates to her old camper. This family’s turning into a DIY empire!
In the annual “Movers, Shakers & Newsmakers” event in his town of Dubuque, Iowa, Luke Thill was chosen as #10 of the year’s most fascinating people. The tiny house builder was recognized for his achievements, as well as all the media attention he received. Officially recognized as being ‘the talk of the town,’ Luke got to attend a fancy dinner party and received a swanky award.
He even said the meal was so fancy, it was unlike anything he ever had before. Imagine receiving such an honor at 14 years old!
The fact that Luke Thill managed to put together such a project on his own is impressive enough, but his young age makes it all the more admirable. His many fans, both young and old, were definitely inspired by his determination and skill.
One fan, a 13-year-old by the name of Jacob Dille, was so inspired by Luke’s jaw-dropping story that he decided to try his own hand at building a tiny house of his own. Maybe he’ll be the next YouTube sensation!
Architect and best-selling author Sarah Susanka is credited for inspiring the birth of the recent phenomenon of the Tiny House Movement with her book, The Not So Big House, released in 1997. Susanka’s aim was to encourage people to “build better, not bigger.” Before Susanka, several other authors encouraged living in simpler, smaller homes; Author and green building advocate Lloyd Khan released his book, Shelter, in 1973, and author Lester Walker released a now canonized book entitled Tiny Houses in 1987.
Henry David Thoreau’s classic Walden is also considered an inspiration for the movement.
Living in a tiny house isn’t as easy as it seems. Though people who live in small homes save money and can pride themselves in greener living, there are many drawbacks they need to cope with, such as the obvious lack of living and storage space.
Besides the lack of space to spread their legs in, tiny homeowners say it’s hard to find a building spot for these unusual structures since they’re not always built to code. With the lack of plumbing infrastructure in his own tiny home, Luke Thill can definitely relate.