Fefe Duran has been living in a tiny home in Shallotte for the past year
By Makenzie Holland StarNews Staff
SHALLOTTE — Two years ago, Fefe Duran decided to go tiny. She packed her bags, sold her 2,000-square-foot house, and now lives in a 300-square-foot tiny house — complete with a tiny pink door and pink accessories.
Parked in an RV park in Shallotte, Duran’s tiny house is smaller than most of the nearby RVs and campers. At 28-feet-long and a little more than 8-feet-wide, Duran has condensed her life into a neatly kept tiny home. Her new lifestyle even captured the eye of a national television show, and she recently appeared on an episode of HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters.
Tiny houses have gained the national spotlight in recent years, though they are a concept that’s only just beginning to catch on a little locally. In Wilmington on Queen Street, for example, a new development called The Cargo District is upcycling shipping containers to create apartments with about 600 square feet of living space.
Inside her home, Duran has dark-colored wood floors and gray-toned walls. Her kitchen is accessorized with glittery kitchen cabinet handles, pink pots and pans and a washer/dryer combination unit. A small gray sofa decorated with two fluffy pink pillows sits below an electric fireplace attached to the wall. Duran sleeps in a loft above her living room, which she accesses via a small staircase.
Duran has lived in her tiny house in Shallotte for a year alongside her aunt, who also lives in a tiny house. Duran said both she and her aunt bought their tiny houses after selling their Atlanta home. Duran said her tiny home cost about $55,000, and she pays $350 a month in rent at the RV park.
Duran first became interested in the concept of tiny living in 2012 after stumbling across an article about tiny houses. Duran said she almost didn’t believe they were real, until she searched them on the internet.
After spending the next three years researching them, and convincing her aunt to get on board with the tiny house life, Duran had her own tiny house built.
HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters filmed her and her house for the show last year. Duran said being on House Hunters was a lifelong dream of hers and when she decided to go tiny she thought she’d lost her chance at being on the show, until she discovered they filmed a Tiny House Hunters as well.
Duran said being on the show was a “cool” experience.
When people ask her how she can live in such a small space, Duran said she recommends they check out a tiny house for themselves. Duran said tiny house festivals are popping up all over the country, and she recently returned from a tiny house festival in Pink Hill, N.C.
“So many people say that they can’t live tiny and they’ve never even been in a tiny house,” she said.
For anyone wanting to go tiny themselves, Duran said her advice would be to try out an RV first to get a feel for the tiny lifestyle.
One of the best parts about living tiny is the manageable cost of living, she said.
“There’s so much more to life than just sitting cooped up in a house because you’re drowning in debt or your bills,” Duran said.
Reporter Makenzie Holland can be reached at 910-343-2371 or [email protected].
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