This is a rendering of one of the tiny homes that will be built this spring along Portage Avenue in South Bend. Illustration provided
This is a rendering of one of the tiny homes that will be built this spring along Portage Avenue in South Bend. Illustration provided
Two tiny homes will be built on this lot between two homes on Portage Avenue in South Bend. Staff photo by Joseph Dits
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SOUTH BEND — Four years in the making, Mike Keen’s dream of building tiny houses finally hit the earth Wednesday as a line of people worked tiny garden shovels for a ground breaking on a small parcel — two houses, in fact, at 907 and 907½ Portage Ave.
But it also marked a step in a broader transformation of a 3-acre spread that he calls Portage Midtown, where he is reclaiming tired and vacant spaces.
“We’re trying to build it up for everybody,” said Keen, a long-time resident, living on Riverside Drive, as he talks about a collective process that involves and supports the neighbors.
A division of Nappanee-based Borkholder Buildings that specializes in energy-efficiency, New Energy Homes, designed the tiny houses, including a solar film that will attach to the roof.
Keen, who is manager of Hometowne Development LLC, sees this as a way to “change how America builds,” by using “materials that last 100 years, not 20” and that don’t end up in a landfill.
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