Tour Jewel Pearson's Tiny Hidden Gem in North Carolina

Just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, tiny-house designer and advocate Jewel Person is empowering others to begin their tiny-home journey.

March 20, 2023

By: Amethyst Ganaway

Show: HGTV Handmade

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Photo By: Tomas Espinoza

Tiny Home, Big Bohemian Vibes

Jewel Pearson is a tiny house designer, consultant and advocate who lives in a 480-square-foot tiny home on a farm just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. She first started downsizing in 2006, wanting to live freely and to be able to travel and relocate easily. She began her tiny house journey with a mobile home Her space started out as a mobile home but she eventually relocated the home added additional space. Though she now considers the 17,000-pound home stationery, it can still be transported if Jewel ever decides to relocate again.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Plenty of Peace

When Jewel began her journey around 2013, it was hard for her to find information on building a tiny home, so she started with a smaller house frame and came up with a design on graph paper. The original tiny home featured a main living space, two lofts, a full bathroom, a small screened-in porch and a kitchenette. In 2020, Jewel converted the screened-in porch to a sunroom.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Farm Living

Born in Brooklyn, Jewel was always drawn to big cities and wanted to be able to use her tiny home to travel around the country. Originally, Jewel’s home was primarily stationed at RV parks, but eventually she relocated the home to a friend’s farm. "I can honestly say I would not have been able to live in this area when I first started my tiny house journey because I was still so connected to needing that energy from the city," she says. "But over the course of 7 years, life changes."

Initially she missed the hustle and bustle of the city, but she has learned to love the space that provides her peace after her seven-year tiny-home journey. Now she has the wide open space of rural living but with proximity to the growing metropolitan Charlotte area.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Gems From a Jewel

Jewel was a single mother in her early 20s who had to quickly learn to budget for herself and her daughter. Now that she and her daughter are older and both well established, Jewel has been able to focus a little more on herself and the things she wants — and that includes making her space one-of-a-kind and fit to her liking.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Wall-to-Wall Windows

Jewel added lots of windows all over the house so that it would always receive as much natural light as possible while still feeling cozy and not too minimalistic — a trend seen with early tiny homes.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Bubbles in the Bathtub

One thing Jewel refused to skimp on was the bathroom. The home includes a full-sized bathroom with a bathtub, and even has a dual washer/dryer combo unit hidden under the counter. “The funny thing is, I don’t even use [the tub] as much as I had imagined,” Jewel says.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Fun and Functional

Jewel’s main living spaces has a floating LED fireplace, bringing in warm and cozy vibes while still being safe. The space also features a floating staircase that doubles as seating at the bottom of the stair landing. It is one of the few multipurpose built-ins from Jewel’s original tiny-house design. She didn't want to deal with the logistics of having too much multi-functioning furniture. “I wanted to think through so I wouldn't have to move stuff out of the way all the time,” she says. “I knew long-term that would get old.” The house originally contained a built-in, flip-up desk, which Jewel later removed.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

A Seat at the Table

The small but functional home has enough space to comfortably entertain guests. Between the flowing floor plan, outdoor-indoor space and the new additions, she even has space for a table and chairs that can serve as a dining area, workspace or just a casual conversation table.

Quiet and Cozy

Her tiny home features two lofts: One serves as her bedroom and another serves as her “plant nook and chill space.” Jewel has found a way to make her home cozy for herself and her visitors.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Cooking in the Kitchen

Knowing that she didn't spend much time in the kitchen, Jewel decided to devote more space in other areas of her tiny home. “I can cook, I just don't like to cook, so I didn’t devote a lot to kitchen.” However, Jewel’s kitchen is still built for functionality — she has a two-burner cooktop, a pantry and a microwave that also doubles as a convection oven, allowing her to bake, cook and do the same tasks as in any other full-sized kitchen.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Textures and Textiles

Jewel’s home is full of fun art and textures, making it feel lived in and giving it a personal, homey aesthetic. The space is a reflection of who she is, and by incorporating various design elements, she has made it one-of-a-kind.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

African Art

Her whole home is adorned with beautiful African masks and art alongside her plants — adding pieces of who she is to her walls. As an African-American, it’s often difficult to trace your roots. But Jewel finds connection through art.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Lots of Light

The tiny home may be small in square footage, but it makes up for it with tall ceilings. Jewel added various types of lighting all over her home to not only give more light in her naturally lit home, but to add depth.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Hidden Hallway

Jewel’s tiny home features something many others don't have — a hallway. In it, you’ll find one of her closets, hidden behind a painted wall, connecting one of the living spaces and kitchen. It’s a convenient way to keep all of her clothes neat and tidy.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Bringing the Outside In

Her original tiny home featured a screened-in porch that she recently renovated to make a dedicated office space-meets-living space-meets-plant room. Her plants are very important to her and bring the element of nature back inside the house. With all of the natural light coming in, her plants are sure to thrive and also help purify the air in the small space.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Screened-In and Sunny

After closing in the original porch, Jewel built a new patio, and eventually decided to screen it in to keep coyotes and other wildlife at bay. The new screened-in porch features a clear, polycarbonate rooftop, making it extremely durable and inexpensive, and while still allowing natural light to flow into the space.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Tiny Travel Trailer

Initially the tiny home was made to be transportable, but Jewel quickly discovered she’d rather keep the property stationary and have it serve as her homebase. She decided to get a second smaller and more easily transportable travel trailer that she could use to carry a piece of home with her when she travels the country. It even has a bathroom and shower.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Tiny House, Big Advice

Jewel’s advice for people who want to get into the tiny house movement: “From the beginning, evaluate what you want and need in your space. What will make you most comfortable?”

Black Ownership Matters

Initially Jewel stayed in RV parks, but as a Black woman was often confronted with hostility and issues, especially in rural spaces. There's already a major gap in homeownership — data from the National Association of Realtors shows about 75% of white families own their homes while only about 46% of Black families own their homes. The tiny-house movement follows a similar trend, making Jewel among the few Blacks and people of color who own her own tiny home.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Black Wall Street

Since starting her tiny-home journey, Jewel has become an advocate and source of knowledge and information for others who are interested in a tiny home of their own. She knows firsthand how difficult it can be to find information on the subject when you don't know where to look first, so she built The Bohemian Brand to educate people on tiny home living.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Building Wealth

Jewel advocates buying your own tiny home not only to build generational wealth but also to break the stigma around conventional home buying. Too often, Blacks and other people of color find themselves discriminated against when buying a home, or they don’t know where to look for resources. Having built her original tiny home for $40k, Jewel knows that it can be a game changer for other people who want to buy a home of their own but may not have access to a lot of capital.

Watch the Video: Explore Jewel Pearson's Tiny House in Charlotte, North Carolina

Tour Jewel Pearson's Tiny Hidden Gem in North Carolina

Related To:

Shop This Look

Tiny Home, Big Bohemian Vibes

Plenty of Peace

Farm Living

Gems From a Jewel

Wall-to-Wall Windows

Bubbles in the Bathtub

Fun and Functional

A Seat at the Table

Quiet and Cozy

Cooking in the Kitchen

Textures and Textiles

African Art

Lots of Light

Hidden Hallway

Bringing the Outside In

Screened-In and Sunny

Tiny Travel Trailer

Tiny House, Big Advice

Black Ownership Matters

Black Wall Street

Building Wealth

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