“Small” is all about the context. Sure, living in 480 square feet could feel cramped—but if you’re coming from a 160-square-foot Airstream, that kind of footprint is downright palatial.

At least that’s how Madison and Mark Talley of Tall Architects see it. Since they moved from a camper into their self-designed, self-built space in 2017, the couple and their three-year-old son, George, have happily made the tiny house a home in Vancleave, Mississippi.

$550 Permitting	$2500 Wood Pile Foundation	$8,000 Framing
$4,000 Insulation	$6,000 Windows & Doors	$4,000 Metal Siding
$1,250 Metal Roofing	$2,500 Electrical	$5,200 HVAC
$6,000 Plumbing	$3,000 Plumbing Fixtures	$2,500 Flooring
$3,000 Drywall	$750 Interior Doors	$2,500 Paint & Labor
$1,500 Finishes (Tiles, Mirrors, etc.)	$1,300 Lighting	$1,500 Countertops
$6,600 Appliances	$1,800 Misc. Metalwork (Stairs, Awning)	$1,500 Misc. Woodwork (Shelving)
Grand Total: $67,950

Though…“tiny house” may not be quite the right term. “We didn’t design it as a tiny house. We designed it as a super-efficient house we could pay cash for,” explains Mark. “If that makes it tiny, so be it, but it wasn’t a marketing thing—this is all we need, and all we can afford.”

Their incentive for thinking small wasn’t just about challenging the conceit that bigger is better; Madison and Mark were simply trying to keep costs down. “We wanted to build what we could without a loan,” explains Mark. Thanks to some generous help from friends—and a commitment to getting seriously hands-on with the construction process—Madison and Mark were able to execute their build for $68,000 (a budget, Mark notes, that likely wouldn’t be doable in today’s economy).

The home’s structure is simple: a 10-foot-by-24-foot living pod and an equally sized sleeping pod, separated by a 240-square-foot deck, which functions as an outdoor living space most of the year, protected by an oak tree. Instead of a traditional poured foundation, it’s all mounted on pilings, giving the family the option to lift and move the structures to a new location in the future if need be.

“We built the house as an experiment,” says Madison. “How could we live in a cost-effective, smaller way? And I’d say it was a pretty successful experiment. We bring in only what we need. We live more minimally, because we have to.”

The couple made material decisions with budget and durability in mind. “It was a dance between how cheaply can we do it, and how long can it last,” says Mark. Some walls are Sheetrock and others are plywood, all painted in the very brightest white Sherwin-Williams had on offer. “We bought the best paint we could, knowing we were going to beat the house up,” he says. “It’s paid for itself big time already.”

The floors are plywood, painted with hard Fortune floor paint (cheery marigold in the living pod, soothing teal in the sleeping pod). “It was a great budget decision, but also, they’re not too precious,” says Madison. “We didn’t want it to be a big deal if something got scuffed up.” Ikea cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom did the trick just fine. A scrap piece of green onyx from the yacht of “the guy who owns Spearmint gum” made for a perfect bathroom countertop.

Doing 70 percent of the work themselves—and recruiting friends and family to help with most of the rest—absolutely helped keep costs down, but the Talls are the first to say it was no easy feat. “At the end, we just maxed out and just started hiring people to do things. We just got tired of it,” says Mark.

But there’s something special about building a space with your own two hands, they admit: an inherent ownership, and a pride in the mess-ups and screws that are in the wrong spot. “It’s wabi sabi,” says Madison. A big life lesson, from a grand, small space.

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A Shipping Container Is Transformed Into an Off-Grid Tiny Home for $23K

A DIY Builder Creates an Off-Grid Cabin in Canada for $22K

Project Credits:

Architecture & Interior Design: Tall Architects / @tall.arch

Custom Wood & Aluminum Work: Mark Daynes

Countertops: Philip Dellenger Sheet Metal

Official Contractor: Arguelles Marine Contracting

Finishing Work: Round 2 Construction