Healthy Tiny Homes proprietor will offer construction class

An opportunity for the community to learn how to build tiny homes is coming up early next year.

LaCrosse tiny home builder John Ellis, proprietor of Healthy Tiny Homes, is offering a class on how to build the homes at the Best Western Convention Center in Moscow Jan. 9. Ellis sees this as an opportunity to educate the community and make people more aware of his company.

He said an architect will be on hand to help individuals draw up their own tiny home plan, and he will help those in attendance learn about building homes with health in mind.

“They will actually build a wall while they are there,” said Shannon Ellis, who manages the company for her husband.

Ellis' endeavor to build a healthy tiny home was sparked by his desire to provide a safe and independent living environment for his son Kaleb, 16, who has autism. Using his background in home building – Ellis managed a successful construction and development company for several years and built 1,000 homes – and his background in medicine from his studies to be a naturopathic doctor, Ellis learned of the best available materials to build a healthy home environment.

“I have put this information, based on my son, into homes that heal,” Ellis said. “People do not realize how many toxins there are in our indoor environment.”

His tiny homes are built using all-natural wood, zero plastics or materials that have harmful toxins or chemicals. Floors are made of hardwood, cork or bamboo. Ellis uses water pipes made from copper and creates insulation from alpaca and sheep's wool, which he gets from his own herd.

Ellis said participants at the class will be able to learn about framing and installing windows, finish work, attaching the floor system and walls to a trailer, how to build with health in mind and more.

Lunch will be included in the class. He plans for the class to run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is currently $150, and Ellis said it will go up to $250 in the two weeks prior to the event. Anyone interested can register by calling Ellis or visiting his website.

509-795-9497 or http://www.healthytinyhomes.com.