The all-woman tiny home retirement village in Texas
An hour or so outside of Dallas, Texas, is an all-woman tiny home village founded by 70-year-old Robyn Yerian, akin to a college dorm for older folk, she says.
Established in 2022, the village dubbed The Bird's Nest is a retirement community which espouses privacy and autonomy, while also providing caring and mutual support for its 11 inhabitants and their pets.
The community is set on two and a half acres, Yerian told RNZ's Sunday Morning.
"It's completely fenced and gated. I have 14 concrete pads with hookups at each pad, just like an RV park. It's electric, water, septic, all right there," Yerian said.
Robin Yearian.
Supplied
"You bring your tiny house in and hook it all up. I just put in a big pavilion so we could all meet together, and a lot of green space. That's the key. You have to have a lot of green space."
Most the women living in the community have been married and have children, she said. She herself was married for 10 years and found as she approached retirement age there wasn't much in her pension fund.
The Birds Nest: an all-woman tiny home village
"I wasn't able to put a lot of money into my 401 when I got divorced, so I needed every penny, and so until 60, I really... maybe 55, I started really putting money into my 401, but it was never enough to get me anywhere, so I had to do this."
She had the funds to buy the land however, she says.
"The land at that time out here was only $US7000 an acre. So that was easy, and then I just developed it all."
The Bird's Nest isn't burdened by the rules and regulations of similar gated communities, she said.
"I don't like structure, and I don't like rules and regulations, so everything flows pretty easily. We meet usually in the evenings for a cocktail and just catch up for the day."
Women at the Bird's Nest can live comfortably on a modest income, she said.
"I mean, maybe $US20,000, $US30,000 a year if you really wanted to just have a nice life and not spend and, you know, go on vacations."
She believes living communally in a small social group will keep to medical bills at bay.
"If someone gets to the point where they can't move around too much, we're ready to jump in and help to a certain extent. And then, you know, home health care. We have home health care here that can come out like three times a week," she said.
"So, we've talked about that. We're going to do whatever we can to enable people to stay here as long as they possibly can."
The atmosphere is akin to a college dorm, but for older people, she says.
"It's comparable to being with all your high school friends and they all go home to their own house, but we're all here. If somebody wants to go do something fun or, you know, it is like being in college or high school because we're all right here."
And all the women have pets, she says.
"I think there's nine dogs out here. So you have built in dog sitting. I'm getting ready to go away for a week and, hey, everybody's stepped up. They're going to take care of my dogs while I'm gone. So, it's a real it's a community. I don't know. It's just the perfect description of a community."
