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Southern Oregon Home Show is on tap this weekend October Grossnickle, 3, of Grants Pass tests out a hot tub Friday from Orley's Stove and Spa Center during the Southern Oregon Home Show at The Expo, which continues Saturday and Sunday. [Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch] Friday Feb 17, 2017 at 5:25 PM Feb 17, 2017 at 5:25 PM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness Do you own a place where you love to hang out, but you don't see yourself building on the property? Do you plan to relocate sooner rather than later? Or maybe you're just starting all over. If any of those are true, you might want to check out the Tiny Heirloom houses at the 35th annual Southern Oregon Home Show at The Expo this weekend. Tiny Heirloom houses made in Oregon City are 250 square feet or less and registered as recreational vehicles. Beyond the basic shape, these tiny houses have little in common with trailers or RVs. The target market is people who want quality fixtures and finishes, but don't want a large footprint. "It's the best of both worlds," CEO and co-founder Tyson Spiess said. "One of our largest markets for tiny houses are newly married couples, which is actually a lot of fun. They save up their money, buy a tiny house, don't have to worry about a mortgage or extra expenses every month. The other end of it are people who are retired, who want less of a house to clean and property to have to take care of, so they downsize. Our approach to it is that we want people to be able to downsize, if they want, but not have to downgrade from their current lifestyle." The two biggest obstacles tiny houses encounter are zoning ordinances and people trying to figure out what to do with their stuff. "The biggest thing a lot of people find is that getting rid of their stuff is a really hard thing to do," Spiess said. "You really have to get rid of about 90 percent of everything you own and scale down to about 10 percent. The people who do it say it's the best thing they've ever done. The people that are thinking about it say it's one of the hardest things they're looking at." Cities that didn't take the minimalist movement into consideration in developing their planning codes are revisiting the issue. "We're trying to get cities wanting tiny houses," Spiess said. "There is not a lot in it for the city or county. So we're trying to convince them that this is a good thing, it's going to help people in the way of affordable housing, it's going to help get nicer houses in areas where people can't afford to remodel. The price point is so good that pretty much anybody can afford it. If you want a more mobile lifestyle and want to take your home with you or if you just want to park it on a piece of property, that's a great way to go." The sleeping loft favors flexible and diminutive clients, rather than professional basketball players, but the ground floor is far roomier. Because the state classifies Tiny Heirloom houses as travel trailers, they are eligible for conventional travel trailer loans. The custom model base costs $89,000. The Southern Oregon Home Show runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and continues from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 both days. The annual event is organized by the Builders Association of Southern Oregon, and exhibitors come from throughout Oregon, as well as California and Washington. The organization's first Home Show was held at the old Holiday Inn Convention Center in April 1983. It later moved to the Oregon National Guard Armory, where it became a February staple. The Home Show moved to The Expo in 2003. This year's show includes more than 200 home improvement and landscaping exhibits, with product demonstrations and sample interior and exterior vignettes. Seminars will include aeroponic growing, products that may enhance independent living for older adults, window coverings, solar energy, building a sustainable home, countertops and professional painting tips. For details, see http://buildso.com/events/2017-home-show-2/  — Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31