With the cost of single-family homes continuing to rise, Dedria Harper Kolb wanted to create another option for people looking for a place to call their own.

Her answer was a “bring your own tiny home” village.

Through Ideal Ridge Ventures, the former attorney and corporate executive developed Poplar Creek Tiny Home Village in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, where residents own their tiny homes and lease the lots beneath them.

Poplar Creek reports that the community now includes 30 long-term sites across 10 wooded acres, giving residents a place to settle without having to purchase the land underneath their homes.

For Kolb, the project came after years of success in corporate America.

Ideal Ridge Ventures reports that she spent 15 years working as an attorney and executive in the financial services industry before deciding she wanted to build something of her own.

Kolb and her husband ultimately bootstrapped Poplar Creek from the ground up.

The first 10 lots opened in 2024 and were fully leased by the end of that year. The community later expanded to 30 sites, with only a few lots currently remaining.

The model is simple: residents bring qualifying tiny homes, own those homes themselves, and lease the land beneath them.

For Kolb, the goal was not only to create another housing option, but to create a place that still felt like a neighborhood.

“I wanted to create a space that had a community feel,” she said, while also incorporating sustainability and an option that could be more affordable than a traditional single-family home.

That community approach is built into the lot rent.

Poplar Creek reports that residents receive access to high-speed internet, grounds maintenance, trash and recycling services, a community garden, pavilion, dog park, fire pit, and other shared amenities.

For Kolb, Poplar Creek is also part of a much larger conversation around housing.

“I believe this is a solution to help solve the housing crisis,” she said.

Instead of treating tiny homes as standalone properties with nowhere to go, Poplar Creek gives owners a dedicated place to put them while still building community around the people living there.

Kolb has also taken what she learned from developing the village and turned it into another way to help others.

Through Ideal Ridge Ventures, she now teaches aspiring developers about land acquisition, zoning, infrastructure, financing, and the realities of building projects from the ground up.

For someone who entered the project without a traditional construction background, Kolb had to learn the development process along the way.

Now, she is helping other people understand what it takes to do the same.

Poplar Creek may be made up of tiny homes, but Kolb’s vision behind it is much bigger: creating another path toward homeownership, community, and a different way of living.