It’s been 3 months since I last wrote about my tiny house on wheels. There are several reasons for this which you will now get an explanation for – and it’s not so pleasant. Here is an explanation of what has been going on lately, concluding three pieces of good news!
HARASSMENT
Let’s get straight to the point and talk about something less pleasant that has been going on since last November (2023). An unknown lady named Dorota Dawidowicz who lives in another county here in Norway has harassed me countless times on her page on Facebook for the past six months. In addition, she has contacted my municipality, Vestby, and sent emails to journalists who have interviewed me about my tiny house to tell them her negative opinions about me.
The latest thing is that she has made an invasive video about me which she has posted on both her Instagram and Facebook page. She goes far beyond what is okay and she has been reported to the police by several people (not by me), but she doesn’t stop. She keeps track of who owns tiny houses, builds them or has anything to do with tiny houses on wheels (private individuals and companies) and posts about them on her page. There she writes about how stupid they are and how much money they have lost, among other things. If she finds a tiny house, she notifies the relevant municipality to tell them they have a tiny house parked for which a residence permit has not been applied for and goes to great lengths to find out all the information. She is a person who destroys others.
She has even gone so far as to check my tax returns and post them on her site! She has done this with several people in the tiny house community. Motive is unknown.
For years she has been a fanatic and I don’t understand why she spends so much time and energy hunting tiny house people. Her Facebook page is called “Minihus Norge – Advarsel.” Take a look – suddenly you’ll find a post about yourself in there.
In addition, she has sent me a long email where she wants us to have contact and become friends. Naturally, I didn’t answer this and I was completely sick when I read it.
If you have come across this person, get in touch! Weve become a big group now, and we need more!
TRANSPARENCY LAST LONGEST
Those of you who have followed me from the start and read the blog’s 30 posts, have been part of the journey both before, during and after my tiny house was built. The dream was clear: I wanted a simpler life! I wanted a home that was my own, specially designed by me and for me, adapted to my things and which would give me peace and harmony. And which I could afford to own if one day I was to end up on welfare (which I almost did in 2019 after both breaking up with my girlfriend and losing my job). At that time, life was extremely dark, but drawing tiny houses and dreaming about that life became a bright spot.
I had this dream and vision of a tiny house since 2019, and before that too, when I lived in a much too big house with way too many things. I thought about tiny houses day in and day out and dreamed about it at night. The idea of starting completely fresh with a new house and owning only a few things eventually became more than just a wish; it became a necessity!
Anyone who recognizes it? The desire to start over?
Even after I spontaneously moved to Oslo in 2020, where during the first week I rented a small apartment, I got a wonderful lady (we are now engaged, live together, have a small dog and are approaching 4 years as girlfriends ❤️) and got a job, the dream of a tiny house was still just as strong! Carine lived in a small apartment of 35 square meters on the fourth floor in Oslo, and with two half-grown children who went to school, it was not possible for us to move in together for at least 6-7 years. So it was a good opportunity to go for the dream of a tiny house – who knows where you’ll be in 6-7 years, anyways?!?
I decided to go for it!
I sold my big rat-infested house in Kristiansand in 2022, ordered the trailer for the tiny house on my birthday and traveled to Tønsberg every single week for the four months it took to build it to film for YouTube and Instagram.
In the summer of 2022, it was finished in all its glory! I was going to move it to a lovely farm in Tyrifjorden and everything was ready.
Suddenly there was a change in the lives of Carine and me which opened a way for us to now, in fact, finally, after two years, move in together – but then we had to buy something bigger! Tiny houses weren’t Carine’s thing anyway, so a normal house with a garden was what we wanted.
The search for the perfect place to live began and the tiny house move to Tyrifjorden was put on hold at the last minute.
Now suddenly everything in my whole tiny house world has changed, and the future I envisioned suddenly became a little woolly, so what happens now?
We looked at the map and south of Oslo is where we want to live. Both closer to Kristiansand (home, hooray!) and closer to several of Carine’s friends who live in Vestby, in addition to the fact that both Son and Hølen are secret perls. The dream house appeared and the offer was accepted – Woohoo!
And help!?!
For what about my tiny house that’s still in Tønsberg, shining like a star?
Easy! We have to bring it along! So now the hunt was on to find a place for it near our new house. After a bunch of inspections of different farms, gardens and plots, only one stood out:
❤️ Drømmerud farm in Garder ❤️
The whole process looked like this:
– The transport that didn’t go so well
– Preparing the plot, getting water and electricity
– Fly the tiny house into the woods
And since that day in August 2023, my beautiful tiny house on wheels has been standing here, looking like a dream ❤️
But, then the letter from my municipality arrived!
January 12th, 2024
The headline went as follows:
ILLEGAL: POSSIBLE ILLEGAL HOUSING
I knew that Dorota Dawidowicz had emailed the municipality about my house, so I had called them in advance and told them everything about who she is and about my tiny house.
The letter states that Dorota Dawidowicz (hereafter referred to as “DD”) has notified Vestby municipality that my tiny house is illegal in their municipality and that they want an explanation. In the comprehensive email the municipality received from DD in November, there is text and images from my blog, clippings from Google Maps as well as all information about address, farm and utility number. She refers to laws and sections and it is all very thorough. As well as her assumptions that I live in the tiny house.
She has also created a timeline of my life, and I find it unpleasant how she has continued to release information about me on her pages and to the municipality and journalists. She seriously lacks common decency.
She has done this type of research and notification against several tiny house owners and tiny house companies, and she has caused so much damage for so many.
So again, if you’ve had anything to do with her, please let me know!
THE PROCEEEDINGS IN BRIEF:
Excerpt from the municipality’s letter: “You must therefore send us an account of which works have been carried out, and where, so that we can assess both the obligation to apply and the legality of the measure. In the account, we need information about the size and location of the tiny house, what changes have been made, what the tiny house is used for, etc. Feel free to show the location on a map and attach pictures of the tiny house and the work that has been carried out.”
The farm owner and I submitted a statement as requested by the municipality, and one month later we received a reply. The house is in an ANL area (Agricultural, Nature and Leisure Area) and here the rules are strict! In addition, they are still unsure of how the tiny house is used. They also wrote that a one-time fine of NOK 20,000 (2000 USD) and daily fines of NOK 500 (50 USD) a day will roll if I have not “fixed the problem” (either received a dispensation from the municipality or moved the house away from the farm) by May 31st, 2024.
This is looking pretty bad but I emailed them again and explained everything very carefully about the tiny house. An important point for me was to tell them that moving a tiny house is not done in a hurry! In addition, there was snow and ice outside, so inspecting new plots is quite impossible right now. In addition, it can take months to find a perfect plot, check the legality with the municipality and apply for a dispensation. In addition, my house must be lifted out of the forest and transported carefully to a possible new destination.
Now they’ve got it!
Then I got a call from my case manager where she said that they are very positive about having the tiny house staying but that I have to apply for a dispensation. The conversation lasted over an hour and wandered from tiny houses to holidays and puppies!!
NEW EMAIL FROM MY MUNICIPALITY
After the nice conversation with my case manager, she sent me an email in response to the one I sent last time. She writes that the deadline for getting everything in order has been postponed from May 31. until September 30th! Now I have 7 months left to fix it! Hurray! In addition, she said that neither the one-time fine nor the daily fines will be active, because now they fully understand that this can not be done overnight. The most important thing is that they see that I am actively working with their requirements and that we have good communication.
If I had been polluting nature or wanted nothing to do with the municipality, then the fines would immediately become real, but the tiny house is quite innocent and I really do want to have a good dialogue with the municipality. She also said that if things have not worked out by September, we will postpone the deadline even longer.
Dispensation on a housing plot: 12 000 kr (1200 USD)
Dispensation in an ANL area: 24 000 kr (2400 USD)
I often visit the tiny house to see that everything is in order. Play a bit of guitar, take some pictures and work on some projects. Fortunately, it is only 8 minutes from our house.
THREE GOOD NEWS
Now that everything with the municipality has been clarified, it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing how the process continues. And I have to brag about Vestby, my municipality, cause they are so nice!
1
I GOT A CALL FROM THE MAYOR!
I immediately had to straighten my back when the man at the other end introduced himself. The mayor himself! And he wanted to invite me to a meeting in his office at the town hall to talk a little about tiny houses in Vestby! Oh, there will be a separate post about this!!
2
THE RECORDING OF TINY HOUSES IN NORWAY FOR OUR NEW SERIES IS GOING AS PLANNED!
Yes! This is going to be really fun! The film company Mighty Mini Productions is on the starting line, ready to visit tiny houses on wheels across Norway!!
We have received many applications to take part in the first season of Norway’s Rolling Homes and the route across Norway is pretty much nailed down! In short, this is a series that will be on YouTube in the autumn. We will travel around Norway and interview the people who have chosen to live in tiny houses on wheels. You will get an insight into their everyday life and hear how they ended up with this lifestyle and what the road looked like. There is still room for more participants, so feel free to take a look at the website and send us an email if you would like to join!!
3
WE GOT A PUPPY IN FEBRUARY
Isn’t she totally illegally cute? Finally it was possible for us to have a dog! We completely agreed on the breed, and from before we met, we both happened to be in this dog’s breed groups on Facebook. It is a breed with a lot of loyalty, a very good understanding of people and dogs and is simply the best breed in the world – completely objectively!
I’m of course talking about a Staffordshire Bull Terrier ❤️ After two weeks with little Else, I just had to share some thoughts about how this new life with a dog has turned out, and you can read it here. Of course, Else also has her own Instagram!
THE FUTURE
It feels really good to be looked after by your own municipality, because I know that there are many people who do not experience that. Vestby is leading by example, and I wish more municipalities could be so forward-leaning!
There are a lot of nerves and emotions involved in this whole “tiny house drama”, I know. This has been my baby, passion, desire, light of life, business and hobby for five years. Where the tiny house will end up, whether the application will be approved, what measures must be taken, what challenges I will face and how long everything will take and how much everything will cost, is completely impossible to know. Taking one step at a time, and I will continue documenting everything.
IRENEMINI.COM
This website, which I am so fond of, will be of more use! When I built this website with a blog, the initial wish was to be able to write a blog about life, a bit like a diary, with the main focus: The tiny house.
I’ve been writing a diary since I was 7 years old, and it’s something I HAVE to do at times to keep my head in check. Now I want to expand/open the blog to more topics, and I’ve probably already started by writing a post about the summer vacation a couple of years ago, the puppy a month ago, finances, etc., and that’s the kind of stuff it’s going to be more of – in addition to absolutely everything that has anything to do with the tiny house. The tiny house has its own category in the blog filters, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.
I have many projects going at the moment but first and foremost, summer is on its way with a possible record heat! The holiday money will be used for a barbecue, outdoor furniture, materials to build some gates (so the dog doesn’t run away) and outdoor lights.
Now that all the cards are on the table (and some in the air), I hope this can land soon.
Thank you so very much for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly via email or Instagram.
🌈Irene
