I spent the past 12 months getting blown off by builders. All I wanted to do was build a lousy cabin, but the builders are focused on the bigger barndominum-scale stuff. So in July I decided to go back to my original plans to buy tiny homes on wheels. There are advantages to this - cheaper and financing is available, plus they are novel. I pivoted from my original plans to a Scandinavian themed approach, since these types of homes are readily available without custom orders, and they have a history of doing well. The builder I had originally preferred now has a work backlog is 18 months. I've picked a builder who specializes in the Nordic themes and he is ready to go. And now we get to the last hurdle... I met with the County to discuss my options last week. The dilemma is, VA code does not recognize tiny homes on wheels. The concept falls in the grey area between tiny homes and RVs, so each county deals with it differently. Shenandoah County as it turns out has two options for me. One is to declare your development a campground through a special use permit. This allows you to build a minimum of three camping lodges, and tiny homes on wheels fit right in. This is what I preferred to do, but in order to do that, the Health Dept. requires you to modify your septic build and provide an additional 'back up' bathroom for the units. The easier option is to get a special use permit allowing you to place units like these in lieu of actual dwellings. Dwellings are defined by the building code so since a tiny house on wheels isn't normally built to VA residential codes it requires the permit. The next public meeting is in November. More delays, but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel.