QUICK FACTS:
Are Tiny Houses Legal In Indiana: Yes
Tiny House Costs In Indiana: $33,000 – $250,000
Tiny House Friendly Cities: Schererville, Indianapolis, Kokomo
Carpenter Owl Bloomington, Indiana
PRICE RANGE
$10,000-$85,000
Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Carpenter Owl is a quirky bohemian tiny house builder that wants to help you move into a tiny house you truly love. The company creates full-sized tiny houses, studio-sized tiny homes, and excursion structures that you can attach to the back of your car or truck.
Additionally, Carpenter Owl can partner with you to design and build your dream tiny house. All of their structures are whimsical and eclectic, with names like Hale’s Potting Studio, The Gypsy Tug, The Flying Sonnet, Snail’s Away, and more.
Buckshots Tiny Homes & Cabins Kokomo, Indiana
PRICE RANGE
$33,600-$95,200
Buckshots Tiny Homes & Cabins is a new tiny house company. They have many tiny home options available for purchase as well as an option to custom design your tiny house. Buckshots uses (ASIS-418) during the construction of every tiny home that it creates.
Maverick Tiny Homes New Paris, Ohio
PRICE RANGE
$45,000-$110,000
Located in New Paris, Ohio, Maverick Tiny Homes has many options when it comes to tiny house designs. The company offers three prefabricated designs as well as an option to work with builders to customize your own tiny house. It provides turn-key tiny houses, but also allows you to be part of the build process. Check out the website to view models and get financing tips.
INDIANA TINY HOUSE BUILDER RESOURCES
Indiana Trailer Sales Decatur, Indiana
PRICE RANGE
$2,500-$24,700
Indiana Trailer Sales in Decatur offers many kinds of trailers including equipment, tilt, utility, gooseneck, dump, and specialty trailers. The company also offers individual parts and repair services.
Spencer Trailers Inc Spencer, Indiana
PRICE RANGE
$4,500-$10,300
Spencer Trailers Inc. offers cargo, car hauler, dump, equipment, gooseneck, and many other trailers. You can partner with a sales expert on their website to walk you through the process of selecting the best trailer type for your own tiny house.
Mayes Trailer Sales New Whiteland, Indiana
PRICE RANGE
$4,300-$10,000
Mayes Trailer Sales offer a selection of cargo trailers, dump trailers, car hauler trailers, utility trailers, equipment trailers, used trailers, and more hauling products. You can also sell or trade in your used trailer with this trailer dealer.
INDIANA TRAILER RESOURCES
Tiny Houses For Sale In Indiana
Residents love life in the state of Indiana. Indiana is often ranked one of the best states to live in because of its extremely low cost of living, low crime rates, affordable houses, and plenty of job opportunities throughout different industries in the state. Agriculture, energy, manufacturing, steel production, healthcare, and professional services are booming in Indiana.
Indiana is also known for its gorgeous weather with four distinctive seasons, some of the best universities in the nation, and friendly locals both in urban cities and rural areas.
TINY HOUSES FOR SALE IN INDIANA RESOURCES
THOW RENTALS IN INDIANA RESOURCES
There are so many reasons families take vacations in Indiana. The Hoosier State often gets a bad rep for having little to do, but you can find gorgeous state parks, mouthwatering cuisine, and booming nightlife when you know where to look.
Visitors enjoy exploring Indiana Dunes National Park, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, and the Indianapolis Zoo while vacationing in the state.
Tiny house communities are about much more than the size of the homes in the community. They are about living sustainably with a group of like-minded people and working together on the land.
Moving into a tiny house community facilitates an intimate social connection between members and encourages simple living, homesteading, and sustainability. There are several communities in Indiana that do exactly that.
Green Acres Permaculture Village
Green Acres Permaculture Village is a small, retrofit, intergenerational intentional community in Bloomington, Indiana, that integrates self-knowledge and self-expression. The community shares resources and encourages one another to be good stewards of resources on the earth.
Green Acres is nestled inside of an existing suburban neighborhood in a college town that reflects suburbia, yet the community represents something very different. They share the following values:
- Breadth: sharing many facets of our lives with each other
- Length: establishing a community that endures (even as individuals may come and go)
- Depth: sharing deeply with each other and seeking to fulfill our fullest potentials, both as individuals and as a group
As a community, Green Acres takes part in plant and garden sharing, perma-gardens, solar greenhouses, green retrofitting of homes, and medicinal and edible plant workshops. Together, they enjoy community potlucks, work parties, meditation and yoga gatherings, personal growth workshops, and more.
Sage Valley
Sage Valley is a 501(c)3 registered non-profit that operates as an event space, an education center, and an ecovillage for those who want to live a more intentional lifestyle. Sage Valley represents many things to many people, but at its core, it is the foundation of a community of people who believe that better ways of living are right before us.
The Sage Valley ecovillage was first created in 2016. It originated as a group of people committed to using sustainable practices and holding space for a family-focused environment. The community is currently open to new residents and visitors who share a desire to live close to the land within a web of support from others in the community.
Sage Valley is committed to using solar energy, water catchments systems, solar showers, and organic farming. Check out their website to become a volunteer or a long-term resident of the community.
Tiny living is not just about the size of the house you have. It’s about simple living and prioritizing the things that really matter in life. If you want to connect with people who share a passion for tiny living and the simpler life, consider joining a social group centered on the tiny house lifestyle in Indiana.
Indianapolis Tiny House Community
The Indianapolis Tiny House Community is a local group that discusses anything related to tiny house living. On their Facebook page, you can ask questions, share resources and share ideas that relate to tiny houses in Indiana. This group also hosts educational gatherings with guest speakers that are planned every other month.
Indianapolis Minimalists
The Indianapolis Minimalists is a meetup group hosted by The Minimalists. This group meets up monthly to discuss all things minimalism with others in Indianapolis who have adopted a similar lifestyle. Join their Facebook groups to gain insight on when the next meeting will be held.
Indiana Gardeners
This Facebook page is for those in Indiana who love to garden and are seeking a community they can talk with about all things garden including landscaping, vegetables and fruits, flowers, soil types, and more. Their page is devoted to gardening, wildlife, and ecology information in the state of Indiana specifically. Anyone can join!
TINY HOUSE COMMUNITIES IN INDIANA RESOURCES
Indiana is kind of an outlier when it comes to what they do and do not allow for tiny homeowners. In general, Indiana leaves the legality of tiny houses up to its individual counties and cities to discern. However, they do have one noteworthy statewide law which has been nicknamed the Log Cabin Rule.
The Log Cabin Rule is a statewide mandate that protects the homeowners right to build their own house of any size or type. The rule is found in Chapter 8 of Indiana’s Building Standards and applies to private homes that are built by individuals and used for their own occupancy.
Are Tiny Houses On A Foundation Legal In Indiana?
Thanks to this Log Cabin Rule, tiny house owners are free to build their own tiny house however they want and live in it full time, as long as that tiny house is built on foundation.
Many counties and cities are not huge fans of the rule and have tried to push back on the Log Cabin Rule. However, the State is protective of the law as many feel it represents the culture of Indiana well.
The Log Cabin Rule States That:
- The legislative body of a county may, by ordinance, establish a county department of buildings, with an office of building commissioner and inspectors.
- Establishment of building, heating, ventilating, electrical, plumbing, and sanitation standards.
- The legislative body of a county having a county department of buildings or joint city-county building department may, by ordinance, adopt building, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, and sanitation standards for unincorporated areas of the county. These standards take effect only on the legislative body’s receipt of written approval from the fire prevention and building safety commission.
- An ordinance adopted under this section must be based on occupancy, and it applies to: the construction, alteration, equipment, use, occupancy, location, and maintenance of buildings, structures, and appurtenances that are on land or over water and are: erected after the ordinance takes effect; and if expressly provided by the ordinance, existing when the ordinance takes effect.
- The rules of the fire prevention and building safety commission are the minimum standards upon which ordinances adopted under this section must be based.
- An ordinance adopted under this section does not apply to private homes that are built by individuals and used for their own occupancy.
These regulations were added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.27. Amended by P.L.8-1984, SEC.125 in Indiana’s Legislative Laws.
Are Tiny Houses On Wheels Legal In Indiana?
Unfortunately, the Log Cabin Rule does not protect tiny houses on wheels. In Indiana, tiny homes on wheels should be treated like recreation vehicles and thus should abide by all of the laws for RVs that the State of Indiana provides.
The Indiana RV Regulations State:
- Recreational vehicles or travel trailers may not be placed on any lot or parcel for continuous occupancy of greater than four consecutive days unless the placement is in a campground used for that purpose or a mobile home park.
- Recreational vehicles or travel trailers cannot be used, located, or placed on any lot or parcel on a continuous basis for use as a weekend, vacation, or summer residence.
- No permanent structure may be erected or used on any parcel for use with the occupancy of an RV or travel trailer, such as porches or storage sheds, unless the RV or travel trailer is located in an RV park or campground.
- Any person in violation of the provisions of this section will have 24 hours to remove such recreational vehicle/travel trailer once notified of the violation. Failure to do so will subject the individual to the fines and penalties as specified by this code.
- The Building Commissioner, in his or her discretion, may issue a temporary permit for a period not to exceed 14 days, for the limited placement of an RV or travel trailer, whether for extended vacation usage or emergency residential purposes, so long as appropriate health permits regarding sewage and sanitation and electrical permits have been complied with.
Tiny House Building Codes In Key Counties Of Indiana
Counties hold a huge amount of individual power when it comes to regulating building laws and regulations in the state of Indiana. These counties have lots of autonomy.
Marion County, Indiana
Marion County has its own ordinance that limits the ability of tiny houses on wheels owners to live in their tiny homes full time. The 2017 ordinance states that RVs cannot be used for housekeeping purposes, sleeping, or living for more than one instance per calendar year.
It also states the length of time the RV can be used for these purposes cannot exceed 15 days, and limits where the RV can be parked. If you live or hope to live in Marion County, make sure your tiny house is on foundation to stay legal.
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Evansville city and Vanderburgh County codes state that the smallest single-family dwelling can be no smaller than 720 square feet. This is very limiting to tiny house lovers.
Tiny House Building Codes In Key Cities Of Indiana
Specific cities in Indiana also have leeway to create their own laws for tiny homeowners. Some cities in Indiana are more accommodating of the tiny house lifestyle while other cities are much more restrictive.
Schererville, Indiana
Schererville, Indiana, is one of the most tiny house-friendly cities in the state. It was one of the first to begin approving individual couples the right to live in tiny houses on wheels full time. This is great news for those who want to own a tiny house in Schererville, Indiana.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Despite the lack of statewide clarity on tiny homes, many in Indianapolis, Indiana, have been pushing for tiny homes to be allowed in their city. It depends on which neighborhood you live in, but many areas in Indianapolis have started to welcome tiny homeowners.
Bloomington, Indiana
Unfortunately, most Bloomington neighborhoods prohibit sitting a tiny house on a lot with an existing residential structure, even if the lot is large. Accessory dwelling units are frowned upon in Bloomington and are not commonly allowed.
*Disclaimer: The information provided on this website should not be taken as an expert opinion, consultation, or advisement of any kind. Building codes, home building, zoning, local laws etc are complicated and ultimately your responsibility to execute legally and safely. You must do your own research, consult with and verify with all applicable authorities, local officials, regulatory bodies, code and zoning officials, and city/state/federal governments. See our full legal page for further information here: https://thetinylife.com/about-us/legal/
Elkhart county has approved a tiny home on wheels for a “single unit rv park” under agricultural improved zoning in one instance. This is outside of any city limit subject to standard set back and other codes etc.
What about your sewage in rural Huntington county.