Be it a divorce, a breakup, widowhood or single parenting, women are often left in situations where they have nowhere to go, no other home that they have invested in and no other residence whose doors are open for them. This is why Robyn Yerian, a 70-year-old Texas woman spent about $150,000 from her retirement savings to build an all-women tiny-home community. Eleven residents now live there and rely on each other for company and practical help, according to a report by inkl.com.Called the Bird’s Nest, the community is located on five acres in Cumby, a small town roughly an hour northeast of Dallas. She opened it in 2022, drawing money from her 401(k) retirement account after working out that her savings alone would not carry her through retirement.A single empty-nester, she said the idea grew out of her worry about the rising cost of living around Dallas. Robyn herself first moved into a tiny two-bed in 2016 after watching the TV show, Tiny Home Nation, a documentary about people living in mini-homes. Later, she decided a second plot could bring in more passive income. “I just took a leap of faith,” she told People, describing the choice to sink her savings into land and construction.The site has concrete pads with rent starting from $450 a month, close to half the going rate in Cumby. Residents pay that to park a recreational vehicle or set down their own tiny home. The gated community only has two rules: no men and no drama. Moreover, residents enjoy an idyllic life with access to fire pits, yoga sessions, book clubs and a private pool. The demand for her pads has far outrun the supply, with more than 500 women on the waiting list for a place. “This community is our little utopia,” said Robyn to Metro UK. “We have dogs running around, and get together all the time. We are a bunch of really great friends.”
It takes a woman to build a village
The residents at Bird’s Nest are aged between 60 and 80 and mostly single, divorced or widowed.
Yerian did not begin with the intention of only housing women. “It’s all women. It just kind of evolved that way,” she said in a CBS Texas interview. At first, Robyn advertised The Bird’s Nest to anyone aged over 55, but after hosting a workshop for a group of women, teaching them how to use power tools, she pivoted to the idea of a women-only commune.She pointed out that most people living in tiny homes on a fixed income are retired women, a group she knew would be hunting for cheaper ways to live. Robyn said she “didn’t want to exclude men”, but that this was “all about empowering women.”Getting the site off the ground was the harder part. Tiny homes are barred from many areas, so Yerian looked for unincorporated land outside Dallas, then had the plot zoned as an RV park. “Getting zoned was the hardest part,” she told Realtor.com.The residents at Bird’s Nest are aged between 60 and 80 and mostly single, divorced or widowed. They gather at an outdoor pavilion they call the kitchen and have a unique rule: grievances are aired directly and put to rest. “I won’t put up with drama, pettiness, talking behind people’s backs – we don’t do that here. If we have an issue, we will say something.”There’s a process for welcoming new members, too, as Robyn will initially speak to interested parties over the phone before inviting them to Texas to spend a few days on the land, with each plot coming with its own deck and a garden with flowers and landscaping. “I spend a lot of time vetting people,” Robyn explained, adding that she’s after a “caring person who wants to be part of a real community.”
Beyond just housing
For residents of the community, the appeal of the place extends beyond just low-rent housing. “It is literally a sisterhood,” resident Donna Welborn told the broadcaster, saying she had not expected the group to grow so close.The group also helps out when someone falls ill. Cheryl Huff came through heart surgery earlier in the year with her neighbours around her. “There’s somebody there that’s gonna help you out,” she said, describing a group that shares meals, lifts, and errands.The Bird’s Nest has drawn national attention at a time when many women retire with less than men. According to a Goldman Sachs report, 28% of retired American women have less than $50,000 (£36,700) saved.Affordable, sociable housing for older women remains scarce, and Yerian has said she will not lift the $450 (£330) rent. She has cast the project as women supporting women, and urged others to build something like it.Now, Robyn said she would “never change” her way of life and is glad to have introduced others to her alternative way of living. “Everyone in the community now is from all over the state. They came, met us, and decided they wanted to be here – sold their home and bought a tiny home,” she concluded. “This is our final home; we won’t be going back. We hope to keep each other’s company for as long as we can.”
