North·Video

Yellowknife man tows new tiny house to Whitehorse

A Yellowknife man is now comfortably established in the bush near Whitehorse in a tiny home he towed between the two cities. The house was a gift from his 19-year-old brother, who spent the summer building it.

Nathaniel Hamlyn's brother built tiny house for $20,000

Tiny house arrives in Whitehorse

9 years ago
Duration 0:31
Nathaniel Hamlyn is living in a house built by his 19-year-old brother Zachary, a carpentry apprentice in Yellowknife.

A Yellowknife man is now comfortably established in the bush near Whitehorse in a tiny home he towed between the two cities.

Nathaniel Hamlyn is living in a house built by his 19-year-old brother Zachary, a carpentry apprentice in Yellowknife. 

Hamlyn moved to Whitehorse because he wanted to get a four-year degree from the University of Alberta. But to do that, and stay in the North, he had to enrol at Yukon College.

Nathaniel Hamlyn shows off his tiny home's loft bedroom. The house was a gift from his 19-year-old brother, a carpentry apprentice in Yellowknife. (Mike Rudyk/CBC)
So he towed his new home over to Yukon, via the partially-unpaved Liard Highway.

"The trip was quite an ordeal. It was really wet and muddy, that road isn't paved and things were shifting around inside," Hamlyn said.

The house drew so much interest that when he stopped at the Whitehorse Walmart, people were asking for tours and offering him money to buy the house on the spot.

Built for around $20,000, Hamlyn is heating the house with a wood stove. The house's footprint sits at a mere 160 square feet, with a total of 232 square feet of living space, including the loft.

Hamlyn also had to buy a battery, since he's living off grid. But Hamlyn says it's worth it.

"I've got a roof."