Homes on Wheels Are Filling a Big Gap in Portland
Three personal stories show how these small, affordable, flexible homes provide big solutions for families.
Catie Gould
September 11, 2025
- Homes on wheels bypass the traditional building permit process required for traditional ADUs, making them faster and cheaper to build.
- With no foundation needed, homes on wheels are a solution to add housing capacity on space-constrained lots while preserving existing trees.
The Maine family needed a cheaper place for one of them to live. And quickly.
It was 2024. Synia Maine, 56, had just developed a back injury so severe that she had to retire from her career as a hairstylist a decade earlier than planned. Suddenly, she had increased medical bills and no income.
Her daughter-in-law, Ember DeVaul, recounted that they’d explored multiple options to try to keep Synia in Arizona, where she lived. Even the lowest-cost housing option, manufactured homes, required a permanent foundation and tens of thousands of dollars in permitting costs…