In 2019 the Garden began the long search for a shed for storing tools etc. We looked at all options from Lowes and mail order - all terribly made, or souless, or both. Checked out some Amish-built sheds - nice quality but just not right. Started noticing old outhouses with their lovely patinas and quirky shapes. That was a little closer, but they sell in minutes these days and what about the poo? Chicken coops were interesting but now we’d be getting into a different sort of mess. But… Playhouses were coming up in the search results - some of them were bigger and doubled as sheds.

On a visit to Horticulturist Maggie Tran during her stay at Chanticleer garden in Wayne, we noticed a little storybook house tucked into the hill. It was part of the poetry of Chanticleer. Hmm, what about a little dreamy house.

A month later a whimsical playhouse popped up on facebook marketplace. A dozen people made offers - many above asking price. The name of the ad was “If Abe Lincoln had a Playhouse” - for that was scribed on the top of the little house. The house sold in minutes though - we missed out. A few days later it popped up again. The Buyer had no-showed.

We wrote the owners Jess & Ryan Thomas and they liked the wildflower garden as the next home for the ‘gnome house’, but “we’ll be in touch - the kids are in charge, they’re using this sale to purchase their new bikes'“. A few days later - we heard back. “The kids talked about it, and they agreed their little house should come to a garden in Kensington, provided they can visit anytime.” A week later a trailer come down from Lancaster with a funny shaped house.

Jess and her husband came together. They stepped out of the truck and said “We’re sorry, the chimney blew off on the turnpike!”

A Visionary in Housing Justice, Ed Guion built these masterful little houses just for passion and generosity. He made over a dozen to give away to area organizations and spaces so they could fundraise with them through silent auctions with donors.

The bigger news: Ed is also a celebrated pioneer of the Granny Suite / Elder Cottage / ECHO* Housing movement in the United States. (*Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity). 89 now - and “Retired - Sort Of”., Ed and the company he started, Colony Coastal, spent 40 years growing the movement for housing justice solutions via tiny houses - what he called “Elder Cottages”, “Transition Cottages”, and “Sheltainers”. Not just designing and building, he’s been interviewed and consulted on housing solutions across the nation for decades. His work and solutions are referenced by academics, and he’s lobbied for new housing and planning policy.

What began for Ed as a business building masterful sheds, turned into a lifetime mission to provide small housing structures - Elder Cottages - that would allow family members to age in place, adding a private space onto a families existing property.

Life challenges, roots of compassion: Ed’s heart is immense, and very quickly on the phone we started to learn where some of that comes from. Ed lost his wife in her late 30’s, and so had to raise his four children on his own. Starting the business building small structures was a solution to stay afloat, and have more control of his schedule. Then building his own house was a necessity to keep costs down in the tough years.

Leading with the heart, Ed took the Elder Cottage model further after helping a mother and children move in his community, and noticing terrible housing conditions they were moving into. “I said to myself there has to be a better way”, he wrote. He then felt called to create small houses for people in transition - going through divorce, losing a partner, or coming out of addiction or abuse.

On the Elder Cottages website, Ed writes, “I was able to place over one hundred and fifty units in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland. I also helped a small manufacturer in Nebraska set up an operation to produce the cottages for several states in the northern Midwest.I thought with my retirement that I had left the field, but somehow people and organizations still found out about my past work and continue to contact me requesting information and availability of these cottages” Ed inspired an ECHO Village in Texas which won an award. Zoning codes and local politics continue to frustrate the movement but units continue to go out.

Ed contacted “a respected modular manufacturer who had produced modular units for a number of years, with extraordinary attention to quality and service, to see if they would produce this product in their factory. They indicated that they would, and continue to turn out cottages for families in need of this type of housing for their aging parents.'‘

We reached out to Ed - he picked up the phone - ready to talk about it all. 89 years old and always careful to to say “Retired - Sort of “, Ed started laughing and said - Ed GUY-YON, ok, not GEE-YON and not GWEE-YIN. Ed gets serious again quicky - completely passionate about housing options for the elderly and people in transition. He’s still in the mix - 40 years in - his product was profiled in an article just this month. He’s still in the loop helping families connect with cottages, and being a messenger for the movement.

“I am pleased that it still fills a viable need for an ever-increasing senior population in search of affordable housing options.”, Ed wrote. “You may feel free to call, write or email me for any additional information that I could provide on the subject. I'm just glad to see that the concept is still alive and kicking. Come to think of it, I'm sort of glad that I am too...”

Ed is thrilled that the little houses are here in the garden. We’re so honored to have them, and to know you Ed Guion.

-EWG

p.s. If you have a little Ed Guion magic house, talk to us!