After failed tiny home auction, the Prince George’s County executive raised her hand

The auctioneer called out for $55,000.

“Going once. Going twice. Anybody in?” he asked, scanning the small crowd gathered Sunday in Upper Marlboro. He was looking for someone — anyone — willing to buy the first tiny home built by Prince George’s County Public Schools students.

No hands went up.

“No sale,” the auctioneer announced, moving on to sports memorabilia and travel packages.

As the auction appeared to end in disappointment, County Executive Aisha Braveboy asked for a second chance at the microphone.

“What we’re going to do between myself and, of course, Jonathan Butler, we will pay at minimum $55,000,” she said, referring to the county’s housing director.

The crowd erupted in applause.

The unexpected pledge of taxpayer funds offered a lifeline for an auction that drew roughly 30 to 40 attendees but no bids — on the tiny home, nor the other memorabilia and travel packages — despite a DJ blaring R&B music and two food vendors serving fried salmon and mac and cheese.

The 280-square-foot home, dubbed Homestead 24, was built by roughly 150 students, primarily from Crossland and Bladensburg high schools. It features a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping loft, washer, dryer, heating and air conditioning.

It’s the 49th house completed through the school system’s student-built housing program since 1981, but its first tiny home.

The nonprofit Foundation of Applied Technology for Students, or FACTS, had hoped the auction would raise money for future student construction projects. The home cost approximately $62,000 to build. Organizers had planned to list it online if it failed to sell.

Instead, Braveboy said the county would work through its Department of Housing and Community Development to acquire the house and find someone to rent or purchase it.

“We want the first tiny house built by our students to go to really great use here in Prince George’s County,” she told attendees. “This is the start of a movement.”

County leaders also cast the project as a potential model for expanding affordable housing.

Before the auction, Butler said the Department of Housing and Community Development is currently studying potential sites for new developments at different price points, including communities of about 20 compact homes.

The department is assessing whether land is available and could eventually help finance construction by providing funding to developers to close financing gaps, Butler said, suggesting the department could also offer down payment and closing cost assistance to eligible first-time homebuyers.

Pamela Smith, the school system’s director of career and technical education, welcomed the possibility of expanding the partnership.

“Now that I know that we have 20 more tiny homes or more coming, I look forward to partnering with the county government,” Smith said.

Still, significant questions remain about how that vision would become reality.

Under current Prince George’s County zoning rules, homes on wheels, such as Homestead 24, cannot serve as permanent primary residences. It’s unclear how the county plans to accommodate the student-built structure under those restrictions or what regulatory changes might be needed to make such homes a viable housing option.

Braveboy told The Banner after the auction that the county would find a temporary location for the house while identifying a permanent site and future occupant. But the administration has not explained how it would select a resident, what eligibility requirements might apply or whether the home would be rented or sold.

Asked whether the home would remain in Prince George’s County, Braveboy replied, “Oh, of course.” She added that she hopes to develop housing communities at different price points across the county, including some compact homes, with Homestead 24 serving as an example of what’s possible.

The announcement stunned Patricia Long, a longtime FACTS board member and broker-owner of Keller Williams Preferred Properties, which hosted the auction.

Long, who had previously worried the home would leave the county, hurried toward Braveboy. The two embraced as Long wiped away tears.

“I’m feeling so full,” Long told The Banner afterward.

For Long, the moment was a public affirmation of the students’ work, though none of the students who built the home attended Sunday’s event.

“I think that also shows the kids that they’re not invisible,” she said. “You have a community that really cares.”