build small

Our story started when we met in architecture school at University of Oregon - Go Ducks!  We ended up building a life together that’s centered around family, design, learning, and a WHOLE lot of DIY.

Over the years, Quin has built a career in the world of building—through architecture, urban planning, building safety, and municipal facilities/construction. He’s always been curious about how things are built, why they work, and how to make them better (and has accumulated a truly impressive number of tools along the way).

Mary’s path went from architecture to nonprofit work. She serves as Executive Director of Apple Seeds, a teaching farm that reaches more than 20,000 kids each year, focused on nutrition, health, and food insecurity. With both of us having careers in service work and municipalities, it strongly influences how we think about education, access, and sharing knowledge.

When we decided to design and build a small home for ourselves, we chose to be deeply involved in every part of the process—researching materials, planning the execution, and forecasting budgets. These plans, spreadsheets, and guides grew out of that experience. Our hope is to make building a small, well-designed home feel more approachable by sharing what we learned along the way.