In North Texas, a tiny-home village is making downsizing feel luxurious

On a chilly January night in Aubrey, Texas, a roomful of retirees gather to swap their homemade chilis and soups. As people mingle, one woman asks the crowd if they've ever watched "The Golden Girls."

The group, which is majority women with a couple of men, erupts in laughter and knowing groans. The woman kicks off a trivia game about the beloved TV show, firing off questions as people shout answers and correct one another like old friends.

Not long after, a teary-eyed woman arrives. She's immediately met with hugs. Someone presses a card into her hands as the group offers their condolences on the loss of her mother.

For a moment, the room feels impossibly warm. Maybe it's the heaters running full blast to stave off the cold as a winter storm approaches. Maybe it's the steady heat from crockpots and burners keeping the food hot. Whatever it is, nowhere in Texas feels warmer than the community kitchen of Liberty Tiny Village.

Tucked between sprawling master-planned communities and a handful of family-run farms just over an hour northwest of Dallas, Liberty Tiny Village is easy to miss. But what the 55-and-older tiny home community lacks in size, it makes up for in personality and style.

Gone are the days when building a tiny home would conjure images of living frugally in a backyard shed. The tiny homes of today are designed to feel modern and homey, offering cost-effective solutions for everyone from newlyweds living on their in-laws' property to homeowners looking to earn extra rental income. They're attracting buyers who previously wouldn't have considered living in a tiny home — let alone an entire neighborhood of them.

Liberty is betting big on this demographic, hoping to appeal to people nearing retirement age who want to downsize without sacrificing community and amenities.

"Our goal was to create a tiny home community, but make it feel more like a normal stick-built neighborhood — where people have yards, and it's landscaped, and looks really nice," said Melissa Hayes, who co-owns and runs Liberty Tiny Village with her husband Phillip Hayes.

The Hayeses teamed with Kristene Newton, a former real estate agent who now designs tiny homes, and her husband, Jack Newton, to help bring the village to life, and they officially opened Liberty Tiny Village in 2024.

Newton said she had doubts early on, but the project has since proven itself.

"I have people walking in the door selling their million-dollar houses to do this," Newton told Business Insider. "I think that's been the most shocking thing for me to see this year."

Tiny homes are becoming more affordable solutions to homeownership

Though home prices and rents are cooling in many parts of the country, the typical single-family home still remains out of reach for many Americans. Redfin data shows the median home-sale price was $422,980 in January 2026 — up 14.6% from the same period in 2021, when it was $330,848.

Tiny homes, in contrast, can often be built for a fraction of the cost. According to Rocket Mortgage, prices for tiny homes ranging in size from about 100 to 400 square feet often fall between $30,000 and $60,000, depending on who builds and customizes them, though high-end models can cost up to $180,000.

Those lower price tags and minimal land requirements have made tiny homes a more feasible option for people navigating a higher cost of living when wages haven't kept pace.

"There really aren't any entry-level homes being built anymore," Benjamin Hart, a senior lecturer in the department of finance, insurance, real estate, and law at the University of North Texas, told Business Insider. "Land costs and the prices of homes have gone up so much, it prevents young people, first-time homebuyers, from being able to afford anything."

In places like Texas, where rapid population growth and the demand for housing have driven up home prices and property taxes, tiny homes are increasingly viewed as a practical middle ground, appealing both to buyers who can afford a home but don't need much space — or the property-tax bill that comes with it — and those seeking a more attainable path to homeownership.

Tiny-home communities are now cropping up across North Texas — from places like the Bird's Nest, a women-only retirement community about 65 miles southwest of Dallas, to the Lake Dallas Tiny Home Village, a child-friendly community about 30 minutes south of Liberty.

"One good thing that Texas has going for us is we have so much land," Hart said. "There's a lot of pressure from the public for these types of homes and communities."

Tiny homes, mighty amenities

Liberty's tiny homes are one- or two-bedroom layouts with one to one-and-a-half bathrooms that typically cost from about $75,000 to $160,000. Though they stand out for features like full-size baths, walk-in closets, and outdoor kitchens — which all fit in 399 square feet — the community's property-tax status may be the real selling point.

Unlike tiny homes in other Texas developments, Liberty's homes are movable and not set on permanent foundations, which classifies them as recreational vehicles, not real estate. That means residents don't pay property taxes. Instead, they pay $950 a month in lot rent, which covers water, sewer, trash, landscaping, and Wi-Fi.

Liberty's predictable monthly lot rent can be a game changer for its older residents, many of whom live alone and are relying on fixed incomes from retirement savings, investments, or Social Security.

"The senior community can get into one of these homes, pay for the home, and the lot rent is going to be cheaper than moving into an apartment — or sometimes even assisted living," Newton said, adding that more than 200 people are currently on Liberty's move-in waitlist.

Savings worth downsizing for

Liberty is a co-ed community of 16 homes (11 owned by residents and five model homes), though most of its residents are women, many of whom spent their careers in hospitals or classrooms and are now retired or on the cusp of retirement. A number are divorced or widowed and have entered this next chapter of life on their own.

Several of them told Business Insider that Liberty offered a way for them to live independent lives while keeping their expenses in check.

Debbie Giamalva, a widowed, retired intensive care nurse, moved into Liberty in 2024 after downsizing three separate times into smaller homes. When a stint in a 900-square-foot townhouse still felt too big, she bought her one-bedroom tiny home for a fraction of the size and price of her previous homes.

For Giamalva, 70, living in an apartment or in a senior or assisted-living facility was out of the question. She didn't need the extra space or fees, and she didn't want the hassles that come with sharing walls with neighbors.

"A tiny home was a great option because you don't have school, property, or other taxes; you just pay rent for the lot," she told Business Insider. "You have your own space. And as long as I'm able, I would prefer to have my own floor, my own walls, and have a little bit of an option to go out and walk when I want to, or visit with somebody."

Brian Seiz and his wife, Dixie, moved into Liberty in January 2026 after selling their 1,870-square-foot home in Robson Ranch, a retirement community in Denton, a city about 45 minutes north of Dallas.

"We were there eight years, and it's a very nice place, but we just felt like the homes were too much for us," Seiz, 72, told Business Insider. "There was an HOA, and the taxes were a little bit high."

After selling their home, they bought a one-bedroom, one-bathroom tiny home with a loft at Liberty for under $200,000 in cash.

"Why would we need a new huge house? It's just the two of us," Seiz said. "Downsizing is pretty daunting, but we don't really need all of this stuff."

The community is what makes living at Liberty worthwhile

As a 55+ community, Liberty is home to many empty nesters looking for more community. Management has answered the call with monthly events like Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas parties, and the January chili cook-off. The neighbors also have a community group chat where they ask for help when needed and keep in touch. Over time, these small events and conversations have helped knit the village together, turning neighbors into friends and a support system.

"I appreciate knowing the people around me," Giamalva said. "If something happened to you in your place, everybody would know."

I experienced that feeling of community and mutual care firsthand at the chili cook-off, where longtime residents, newcomers, and a few visiting relatives mingled and took a genuine interest in a visiting reporter, offering me bowls of chili.

Among them was Shauna Brewer, who lives nearby, not in the village itself. Her younger brother, Terry, and his wife, Patricia, both of whom have special needs, are Liberty residents.

After their mother died unexpectedly, Shauna and her husband stepped in to manage Terry and Patricia's finances and care. She said she wanted to support them without bringing everyone under one roof, something she knew wouldn't be sustainable in the long term.

"We weren't excited about grown adults moving into our home; all our children are out, and we were happy," Shauna said of their predicament. "But I know they needed help."

Liberty offered a happy medium.

"I'm nearby, but they're fully in their own community," she added. "It's been a true blessing."

Gwyn Bass, 58, agreed that the conviviality at Liberty has made all the difference.

After the cost of living alone in a 1,500-square-foot home in Northlake became too much to manage on her own, Bass moved into Liberty in the summer of 2024, buying a one-bedroom, one-bath home with proceeds from the sale of her previous house. While the lower housing costs have been a relief, Bass said the sense of community she's found at Liberty has mattered just as much.

"One day I was off work, and my neighbors noticed my car was home, which was unusual, so they called to make sure I was OK," she said.

"I lived in another neighborhood, and I didn't know any of my neighbors. But we have a real community here. We check on each other, and it feels more like a family."