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John & Fin Kernohan
@JohnandFinKernohans
Off-Grid Issues
|Home Builders
|Design
|Building Materials
|Planning & Zoning
|Tiny House Residents, Event Organizers, Tiny House Builders, Philanthropists
|United Tiny House Assc., For-Charity Tiny House Festivals, Tiny House Rescuers
Tags
off-grid tiny house tiny house community tiny house people tiny house festivals tiny firehouse beloved cabin tiny house dwellers tiny house rescuers alternative energy solar water collection rain water sustainability THOW tiny house living minimalism solar energy composting composting toilets living tiny legally zoning land
Biography
John and Fin Kernohan are the Founders of the United Tiny House Association and Georgia Tiny House Festival®, LLC (originally known as the Georgia Tiny House Association), the Founders and Hosts of the highly successful (and charitable) Tiny House Festivals, including what is considered by many to be arguably the Nation’s largest tiny house event – the 60K+ attendee and 97 tiny structure 2016 Florida Tiny House Festival, members of the American Tiny House Association (John is also a Board Member of the American Tiny House Association), the Georgia contacts for the Small House Society, and owners of Tiny House Rescuers.
After spending his adult life creating/developing several at-home medical specimen collection mechanisms and immunoassays, John retired at the age of 49 when he realized, while lying in a hospital bed and being diagnosed with a life altering condition, that his life-long quest of accumulating wealth was not a life of living. He made the decision to sell his medical research laboratory, to reclaim his health (he lost over 80 pounds and shed 10″ off his waist), and began a quest of learning what it really means to be truly happy.
Originally from Thailand, Fin eventually settled in London after earning her Bachelor’s Degree. She is a world traveler, free-spirit, body builder, yogi, massage therapist, nutritionist, dietician, personal trainer, founder of Fin’s Fitness, and John’s rock.
John and Fin promote the tiny lifestyle with their DIY, off-grid 304sqft tiny cabin, which they have lived full-time in for the past 5+ years; host the Facebook blog, “Beloved Cabin”; are both hosts and admins for numerous other Facebook groups geared specifically for health, food intolerance/allergy support, and tiny/micro-living; and travel the county in the 148sqft THOW known as the Tiny Firehouse – Station No. 9.
Their for-charity Tiny House Festivals have gained international recognition as being some of the largest philanthropy intended tiny house events on record, such as their 60K-attendee and 97 tiny home 2016 Florida Tiny House Festival, which raised MANY THOUSANDS of dollars for 23 charities and worthwhile causes.
Additionally, they have founded and endowed the annual Tiny House Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to a college-bound high school graduate who has displayed high achievements both scholastically and in community service.
In early 2017, John & Fin, along with Free Range Homes, finished construction of their new 148sqft tiny house on wheels, known as the Tiny Firehouse – Station No. 9, which is now their traveling home and is a tribute tiny house honoring firefighters and promoting fire prevention awareness. Filming of The Kernohans and their Tiny Firehouse – Station No. 9’s build was completed by HGTV for “Tiny House, Big Living” (Season 6, Episode 1) and their episode aired August 17, 2017, at 9:00PM (EST), on the DIY Network.
Their journeys and adventures from the big cities of Bangkok, Miami and London to their tiny off-grid lifestyle in the Georgia woods with their 7 cats, chickens, and Brownie the Wonder Dog, have been featured on television and in numerous magazines, newspapers and web sites around the world.
In addition to their DIY-built 304sqft Beloved Cabin and their 148sqft towable Tiny Firehouse - Station No. 9, John and Fin began a school bus (skoolie) conversion build in August 2017 and, also, own a 14' yurt.
John and Fin are a couple who love their tiny lifestyle and the tiny house movement; and it shows in their love for each other - and in their support of others.
Experience
Founders & Chairpersons
United Tiny House Assciation & the For-Charity Tiny House Festivals
July 2015 - present
The United Tiny House Association and Georgia Tiny House Festival LLC, originally the Georgia Tiny House Association, was founded in 2015 by John and Fin Kernohan as an organization for the advocacy and support of the tiny house movement and for those individuals either living the tiny house dream, desiring to start their own tiny house journey, or those simply interested in what all the excitement and buzz is all about in regards to tiny houses and the tiny house movement.
The Kernohans have been living in their self-built 304sqft tiny house, known as Beloved Cabin, since December 2011. They currently reside on their small homestead in the woods of Georgia, where they have embraced solar energy, rain water collection, raise chickens, and grown their own vegetables and fruits. Fin is a vegetarian and fitness expert, while John is the handyman of the property and an avid outdoorsman, where he fills the freezer with fresh game (much to Fin’s despair).
After years of organizing not-for-profit outdoor concerts and festivals as fundraisers for students and college-bound homeschool students, as well as being a board member for an organization responsible for arguably the largest home-education convention in the country, John, along with Fin and United Tiny House Association board member Shorty Robbins, created the state-level Tiny House Festivals, including the now famous Georgia Tiny House Festivals, and the 60K+ attendee & 97 tiny homes Florida Tiny House Festival; as well as the New Jersey and Tennessee Tiny House Festivals… and the upcoming 2018 Tiny House Music Festival.
The Tiny House Festivals from the United Tiny House Association embrace all modalities of tiny living, whether they are professional-built tiny homes, private-owned tiny houses, DIY structures, tree houses, skoolies (converted school buses), yurts, campers, or any other tiny structure someone calls home.
Also, all tiny house lifestyles are encouraged and supported. These include, but are not limited to off-grid living, on-grid living, wilderness living, and urban living.
Additionally, the United Tiny House Association’s Tiny House Festivals are designed to support local communities and charities, through the fundraising activities at its Tiny House Festivals and by means of giving charities and non-profit organizations a platform to share with others.
The United Tiny House Association, and its board members, speak at public events, meet with government officials, work with individuals one-on-one, and partner with other organizations in its efforts to bring both the tiny house community and those outside the tiny house community together in a common understanding of what being tiny is all about.
Owners
Tiny House Rescuers LLC
July 2017 - present
Other
Publications
Tiny House Big Living: Traveling Tiny Firehouse (Season 6, Episode 1)
HGTV's DIY Network
August 2017
A Georgia couple, John & Fin Kernohan, sets out to create the ultimate tiny firehouse-on-wheels, known as the "Tiny Firehouse - Station No. 9".
Complete with a hot red garage door, functional fire hydrant that doubles as a trailer jack and water source, and of course, a fire pole from the upstairs loft, this tiny house's interior is filled with an array of amenities created out of firehouse memorabilia and Fin's native home of Thailand!
What makes this inviting and relaxing tiny house even more unique is the fact it is a tribute tiny house honoring fire fighters and first responders! The Kernohans are traveling the country allowing fire department to use their Tiny Firehouse - Station No. 9 to help raise funds and as a teaching tool for educating students about fire prevention.
Take a 360 tour of the tiny firehouse built with a mission to teach fire safety
The Today Show
July 2017
Georgia couple John and Fin Kernohan found a way to blend their two passions: tiny home living and teaching fire safety. Now, they're hitting the road with the first tiny house inspired by firefighters!
Languages
English Mandarin Thai
