Efficient Spaces
Sustainable Design
Beautiful Homes
Craig Street
Pee Wee Homes on Craig Street
We constructed our first homes in Spring 2018: a duplex on Craig Street in Chapel Hill, NC through the Northside Neighborhood Initiative, an effort led by the Marian Cheek Jackson Center pursuing a shared vision for preserving historic Northside as a family-friendly, diverse, multi-generational community. These homes are located on one of the most vibrant blocks of the community, with longterm homeowners & renters, new families in quality affordable homes, and over a dozen kids who attend school just blocks away. This 650 square foot duplex is a great example of how small, affordable, dignified homes can fit into the framework of neighborhood-based efforts.
Our first two residents moved into their new homes in April 2018, transitioning out of homelessness and into stable, supportive, and affordable housing.
In the News:
How Tiny Homes Could Solve Housing Problems in Chapel Hill — WRAL
Tiny Homes Coming to Northside Neighborhood — Chapelboro
Living in Pee Wee Homes has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I have loved my home, this community, and the support from Pee Wee Homes. – Mr. Marion “Smalls” Warren
Church of the Advocate (Merin Road)
Pee Wee Homes at Church of the Advocate
Our second site is on the 15-acre campus of The Episcopal Church of the Advocate in north Chapel Hill. Our hope is that other faith communities and landholders will be inspired by the beauty and efficacy of the project and will be led to build one or more affordable homes on their property as well. The advantages of building on the site of a home or church are 1) that basic infrastructure and utilities are already in place, significantly reducing the cost of construction, and 2) the built-in community of other people nearby.
Three new residents moved into detached 1-bedroom units on Merin Road in June 2019, transitioning out of homelessness and into stable, supportive, affordable housing.
In the News:
Ground Broken for Three Affordable Tiny Homes in Chapel Hill — Herald Sun
Chapel Hill Group, Church Taking a ‘Step in the Right Direction’— News & Observer
Mitchell Lane
Pee Wee Homes on Mitchell Lane
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, our commitment to affordable and dignified housing for community members experiencing housing insecurity is as important now as ever. Nestled among the trees in the historic Northside neighborhood, our two newest units total 630 square feet. The duplex’s unique shape maximizes the limited buildable land and highlights how small homes can fit into the landscape where homes would otherwise have been impossible to build. Acquisition of the land was made possible by the Northside Neighborhood Initiative.
With gracious funding by the Town of Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School social entrepreneurship class taught by Jim Kitchen, Oak Foundation, and Carol Woods, these homes will be reserved for community elders.
We welcomed two new residents in July 2022!
Partners:
Groundbreaking at Mitchell
Hill Street
Pee Wee Homes on Hill Street
Our first site in Carrboro will be on Hill Street opposite the beautiful Henry Baldwin Park in the historic Lloyd-Broad neighborhood. Following an incredible show of community support, the Carrboro Town Council voted unanimously to approve a rezoning of this lot which will enable us to build 3 detached units affordable for community members who have experienced homelessness and housing insecurity and have extremely low incomes. Preceding the vote, the Carrboro Affordable Housing Advisory Board proposed that the lot be donated to Pee Wee Homes for this purpose, and community action was organized by advocates and partners at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, Interfaith Council for Social Service, Community Empowerment Fund, Northside neighbors and many others.
One of the three homes will be built by Hope Renovations, a non-profit pre-apprenticeship training program for women to help them enter or continue in construction trades. The other two homes will be built by New Start Development, a minority-owned contracting business led by Greg Mann. Thanks to the generosity of local donors, all three homes will include solar panels.
Thanks to the persistent support of a team of architects and construction managers, we have finalized the designs and received our land use permits from the Town of Carrboro. We are excited to move forward on this critical development.
In the News:
Carrboro OKs Plan to Expedite Affordable Housing on Town-Owned Land — Chapelboro