From Raw Land To Real Life: The Story and Home Built From Our Hearts
- Simple By Lacey
- Aug 26
- 8 min read
It’s been a while— three years, in fact—since I last wrote here.
Back then, we had just arrived in East Tennessee, filled with excitement and vision. We were stepping onto raw land with nothing but a dream, a tiny home bus and a whole lot of determination to build something beautiful with our own two hands.
Since that last blog post, a lot has happened. We’ve grown, been tested and walked through seasons of joy and heartbreak. And while I’ve shared pieces of our journey over on Instagram, this blog has quietly waited for the next chapter to be written.
So today— I am writing it.
When we first moved here in 2022, our goals were clear:
Set up my mom’s tiny home bus so she could live on our land
Get our shipping container delivered and set up for our living space/garage storage
Carve out a working driveway so we could actually access the land and not be covered in mud
And then…build our home from the ground up!
We gave ourselves two years to make it happen. We paused our work life, uprooted everything and poured ourselves into this land and the life we were dreaming of.
From the very beginning we were juggling more than just developing our land and creating our home, I at all moments had to care for my mother full time. Unlike Richard and I roughing it in the container using buckets for our toilets and making things work any which way we could, my mom needed a full functioning space to live. Her tiny home had to already be set with electricity, heat, ac, television and a working bathroom before she could move onto our land.
We had to make that happen right away.
Her tiny bus was set before we moved it onto our land, but after sitting there from back in January of 2022 when we had brought it, a few things had to be fixed. We had drained the pipes but a small amount of water must have still been in the lines and over the winter it burst a few different lines. We had four days in our air bnb we rented to fix them, get running water set up, attach her shower rails and create her couch cushions. Fast forward we did not get it done in time and we had to rent another air bnb for three more days.
Once her bus was finally set, we all moved onto the land. Richard and I slept in our enclosed trailer for about a week, literally sleeping on gross blankets and foam pads. No heat, no insulation, everything slightly muddy and bugs, definitely bugs were in there. Plus we had our dog Abbie and our two cats sleeping in there with us.
Finally once our container arrived Richard and I got right to work creating that into our livable space. We made it into our bedroom, closet, office and kitchenette. We also put up a partition wall to separate a portion for storage since we had a lot of items we were saving for the house.
Sleeping in the container felt like a five star hotel after a week of sleeping in a dirty, cold, damp enclosed trailer. It was warm, we slept on a mattress and we were able to organize our items. It felt incredible. We were able to cook and shower always due to having my mom’s tiny home bus up and running since we moved onto the land. Again my mom needed to be able to have everything fully functional.
That was a huge part of the challenge we ended up facing. My mom had been sick my whole life and I have always cared for her. Ever since I remember. One of my very first memories when I was 7 was bathing her after her brain surgery. I remember it like it was yesterday, I enjoyed helping her and caring for her. It brought me joy to be there for her and help her in any way I could.
Moving to our land was mine and Richard’s dream. Being able to leave NY, have our own piece of freedom, build our home from the ground up— it was all part of our dream. For me my mom was an essential part of that dream. I wanted her there with me. I wanted to take her away from her complicated relationship with my father and give her a life where she could be at peace and filled with joy.
What I didn’t plan for though was the struggle of balancing caring for her and being actively part of building my dream. When I thought of creating our home it was Richard and I side by side, board by board creating our home together. However my mom needed endless care even from the very beginning when we first arrived. There was never a moment of ease for me— it was always hard, trying to balance my mom and the build. The only thing that changed in January of 2023 was that it got even harder.
As I stated her health was never good, she was always sick sometimes being slightly better for a little while and then she would have some weeks of being really bad. She was always up and down for years. When her health declined dramatically over the winter I brought her to more doctors to see what was going on with her. She was diagnosed with cancer, this being her third diagnosis of cancer she received in her life, and I stopped helping with the house build all together. At that point I gave everything I had to give to her care.
February she was officially diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, March we saw a Ovarian cancer specialist and May she went in for surgery for a full hysterectomy. The plan with the doctor was to remove everything and then as long as they took out the tumor and everything looked good, follow it with chemo and her chances were good. The surgeon called directly after her surgery to declare that when he went in they found the cancer everywhere. She was then diagnosed with stage 4 Ovarian cancer that traveled to her colon, small intestine, bladder, surrounding sac and to her hip. He said it was her last year to live. She passed away July 21 2023, just two months later. =
Richard had stepped in during all the hospital stays and driving back and forth to Knoxville (1hr 1/2 one direction) to support me and her through it all, leaving the house build to slow down to a crawl. We had been building our dream but in an instant we were fighting for comfort, safety and some moments of peace during the most painful time of our lives. Our time, energy and our hearts were stretched thin.
Losing my mom was losing a part of my soul, something I will never get back. She was my biggest cheerleader, my best friend and a beautiful heart in the world especially during times in my life that were bleak.
Then the following September, just two months after losing her, I found out I was pregnant. It was a whirlwind of grief, love, exhaustion and transformation. We were healing from one of the hardest chapters of our lives while stepping into a brand new one.
We conceived Emma in September but actually found out I was pregnant on October 25th of 2023. The next month in November we finally moved into our home for the first time. Was it finished no, no it was not. But it was livable and functional. We still had so much to do. We were still showering outside for most of my pregnancy, we were cooking in my mom’s tiny home bus for a decent portion of it too.
We were still building slowly getting small milestones on the house complete but while I handled growing a baby and grief at the same time we focused on healing. Healing our hearts and resting to ensure that we would be mentally and emotionally ready to handle being parents free of that whirlwind of a roller coaster ride we just experienced.
As my pregnancy came to an end we hyper focused on accomplishing major tasks which were the kitchen, the inside bathroom and the stairs leading from the driveway up the rocky, muddy hill leading to our back deck. In case there was any emergency, during the birth, we wanted to make sure there was a safe route that we could quickly go down.
We happily were able to accomplish all of those vital goals we set before I went into labor. We ended up going to the hospital after being home for 48 hours and not being able to fully dilate, non-emergency just made the choice to head over.
After our daughter was born we had to make the decision of going back to work full time. Our allotted two years to build our home and shop was up and actually spilling over into 2 1/2 years really of not working.
Our plan did not really work out, we did not finish our home. We had such a large space of time where we were both focusing on my mother’s care, followed by healing and then preparing for the baby. Through all of it, yes the house was getting done but the progress was slow and scattered, which blew our two year plan out the window.
So our home became…livable, functional, full of warmth, love and life —but not finished. Not fully, not the way we had envisioned when we started.
And now that our daughter is here and thriving, and we are back working full time Simple and we are slowly starting to catch our breath again.
We’ve had so many people ask for a full house tour— and we want to give you one. But before we do, we think it’s important that you hear the full story.
Not just where we are now, but what it took to get here.
We want to walk you through:
How we carved out this space from scratch
How we built every wall, lifted every beam and installed every window
Where each room currently stands
And what our vision is for its final form
it’s not just about showing you our home. It’s about honoring what it took to build it. The late nights, the moments of loss, the sparks of joy, the unbreakable love woven into each corner.
We are continuing (finally!) our YouTube series that will guide you through the entire journey, one piece at a time.
Each video will include:
Behind-the-scene clips and photos from when we first started building
Where that space is today
A personal sit-down with us sharing our heart and plans for that section of our home
We’ll show you what’s real, what’s raw and still unfinished— and we’ll bring you along as we continue building toward the dream we first saw when we stepped foot on this land.
The first prelude video of this series is up now— it’s the story behind why we’ve waited to give you a house tour, it’s the heart of our story.
Click to watch and thank you truly— for being part of our journey ❤️🌲
From our home to yours,
Richard and Courtney Lacey
Simple By Lacey
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