You can learn a lot by living on a bus—just ask Heather and Kevin Fritz, whose unique address as cash-strapped newlyweds tapped a passion for purposeful living. Now, the Spruce Grove parents of four are helping others live large in small spaces.
In January 2020, Heather and Kevin started Fritz Tiny Homes, a business that specializes in small custom homes (we’re talking 268 square feet!). The couple sees tiny homes as a way of eliminating waste and creating more room for what’s truly meaningful—the things that are “chosen and cherished.”
“We look back on that time living on the bus and it was such a blast,” Heather says. “We have amazing memories from living tiny—just Kev and I, living off the land and building a dream.”
After nine months on the bus in 2005, frigid winter weather forced the couple to relocate to a suite above Kevin’s parents’ garage. Over the next two and a half years, they continued saving to build a home of their own in the countryside. And room by room, beam by beam, they did.
Four kids followed between 2012 and 2017, and with that growing family came a narrowing focus on their desire to live purposefully.
“The majority of your life is spent doing what you have to do to pay the bills. All the time I spent driving to and from work was precious time away from my family, and away from the place I loved the most,” Kevin says. “Starting our own business was a way to anchor our life to the most important place, and the most important people, to us.”