How A Family Of 7 Lives Comfortably In A 900-Square-Foot Off The Grid Home collective-evolution

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say they are looking to move into a bigger house because the one they currently reside in is too small for their family. I don’t question or judge it, especially given the common desire for more space, but the growing popularity of living off the grid truly puts things into perspective.

We are conditioned to want more, and to believe we need more. But this family of seven from Northern British Columbia, Canada has debunked this idea that proper space is found in a big home.

In this video, Jeff, Rose, and their five girls live completely off the grid on 40-acres of land. Building their home for less than $25,000 with cedar posts sunk into the ground like a pole barn, log rafters, plywood, foam insulation, and a living roof, they are among a movement of people looking to live more sustainably from the inside out.

“It wasn’t about getting rich, it was about needing less money,” Jeff says of how their desire to move off the grid came to be. “It was about owning our own land for being debt free.” The couple claims that their new lifestyle allows them to work way less and spend much more time doing the things they love — doing whatever they want.

That idea, to work less and play more, is what so many of us crave, yet feel is a mere dream, as we feel confined to the rat race of the corporate world to make enough money to have a home, to pay the bills, to feed ourselves and our loved ones, and to, hopefully, do some of what we love.

This family also provides a new idea of what “enough space” really entails. While their home may only be 900 square feet, they have designed it in an unconventional way that allows for all seven of them to successfully maneuver and relax with ease throughout the home.

And not only that, they are surrounded by forests, rivers and mountains, providing for endless exploration and of course, space.

When we think of building or buying a home, bills fly by our eyes as we wonder how much debt we will get ourselves into. But this family was able to avoid such concerns. Their home proved so affordable to build because they didn’t have to excavate or pour a concrete foundation, dig a well, or install a septic system.

They also utilize 2 solar power systems to power everything they need, which takes away another worry associated with money. The first system consists of just one solar panel that generates 12-Volt power for their lights, cell phones, and music player.

“Living off-grid for us includes a few different types of chores. We carry water to the house, we empty compost buckets, we collect firewood,” Jeff notes.

How many of us have lost touch with how to make things from scratch? To do things with our bare hands? There are so many levels of value for one’s livelihood when choosing a lifestyle like this.

“We love it out here,” Rose exclaims in the video.

“And we can’t go back. Gridlessness is too good,” Jeff concludes.

Learn more about their story by watching the video below: