Create

At IMBY we help build ADU (Additional Dwelling Units) as a creative solution to many of the worlds’ problems. We believe tiny houses are a way to address the housing crisis with innovative and economically sound practical solutions. We also think creating sustainable living and affordable living options is a solid way to deal with our current climate crisis and ongoing creation care. But our creative juices are just beginning when it comes to the actual materials and structures and designs because what we are really creating are new ways of doing life together. We want to help create a better world. And to do that is the greatest creative project of our lives.

Build

We have some ideas around alternative housing and making space in your own backyard. But we’ve never been in your backyard! Every backyard is unique and every property has its own gifts and challenges.

We dream of having a growing library of plans to choose from, varying in size, cost, and build method to best suit the uniqueness of the spaces our homes will occupy. We are constantly dreaming with collaborators of what is to come. Our first build is complete and is a 430 sqft, one-bedroom unit constructed using traditional build methods. Our next two pilot builds are two-bedroom units and will be used to test out various ways of increasing build efficiency. We’re actively making new partnerships and collaborating with other builders to be able to offer modular or pre-fab options in the near future. But we want to emphasize that dreaming and creating are all part of how we build. And we do it together. 

Our commitment to you is to build something together that will make room for your family and community to grow – to flourish – to become better together. We believe the creative capacity for building flourishing community space is endless and want to explore all the possibilities together, but sometimes you need a place to start.

Share

As much as the housing piece of IMBY is essential there is something even more important for the dream of shared community to become a reality: mutuality. At IMBY we believe that proximity (getting together) is a key to change. And it’s when we get together that we realize we all have things to offer one another. Mutuality is the belief that everyone has something to offer and we all need each other. We believe that difference is strength and opportunity. We aren’t just setting up a cool little tiny house to increase the value of your property and make you feel better about yourself. We are crafting a new way of being human together. Everyone has something to offer.

Play

We play joyfully and generously. Everyone has more fun when everyone is invited and joins in. To play together isn’t very hard. Here are 3 principles that guide our playtime: mutuality/contribution: everybody plays and has something to contribute. Respect/dignity: everyone matters. IMBY believes deeply that at the heart of every human being is a shining and glorious light. Generosity/stewardship: what we are offering is not charity. Don’t get us wrong. There is nothing wrong with charity. It’s just not what is happening here. What’s happening here is a posture shift in the way we view the world and how we live our lives in it. We believe in open handed living in a closed fisted culture. What do we mean? We have been taught our whole lives about conquest. We take and we get and we grab and we hold. That’s really a quick history lesson on how we got our own backyards (you can read a much more thorough examination of colonial history to get a fuller picture). But what if there was another way to live? What if our entire life was a gift? What if our house and family and backyard and job and place in the world (our privilege) was ALL GIFTS? What if the central question wasn’t ‘what can I get?’ but ‘what can I contribute?’. In other words, everything we have is an opportunity that opens us to the possibility of becoming more together.