THERE are a few things you can expect to find in the woods.
Plenty of wildlife, trees, and enticing trails to enjoy are the norm.
But how about an abandoned, 84-year-old tiny home holiday park?
It may sound utterly bizarre but that's what Eric Hawkins and his wife found when they were traveling around their Chesapeake Bay hometown of Cape Charles, Virginia.
Eric and Sylvia had already changed their lives by renting out their 3,000 square-foot house and living in an RV they bought as a three-pack from a government auction for just $4,500.
The transition to tiny living blew Eric away, and the 53-year-old admitted it was so successful that he became "addicted" to the burgeoning industry.
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Yet nothing prepared him for this.
What the Hawkins' discovered was a disused motor court from 1939.
Motor courts were a common form of lodging for travelers from the 1930s up through the 1950s. In their early days, they consisted of standalone structures that looked like small houses, with an adjacent carport connecting to the next unit.
Their startling discovery came with 10 tiny homes - four foundations were discovered after they saw a postcard of the place in its former glory - a gas station and a restaurant.
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The area was popular with hunters back then but had fallen on hard times and was eventually abandoned and left to rot in 1978.
There was faint hope of restoring the area - but it never happened.
"The place was just sitting there," Eric told The U.S. Sun about his Cape Charles Tiny Livin project.
"We'd always had this picture on our wall of a tiny village that we always wanted at one point, so we identified with it immediately."
Eric snapped up the four-acre plot, which included a four-bedroom brick ranch - where they now live - and four barns, for $230,000.
He then got to work renovating the tiny homes - all of them came in at between 170 to 270 square feet - and started to breathe some new life into the old place.
Eric says the little lodges he found could be built today for around $50,000.
Fast-forward to today, eight of the tiny homes can be rented and more will be available soon while a renovated tool shed is available for micro-weddings and private events.
Their purchase has already begun to pay dividends with healthy bookings all-year round including a boom time in the summer months.
"We have a high amount of traffic because we are different," Eric said.
With the money rolling in from the holiday park, the Hawkins' are also cleverly utilizing Airbnb, renting out their home in Virginia Beach, a place in the Wintergreen ski resort, and the RVs.
They have 10 at the moment, and as the holiday homes are built on foundations rather than wheels, they begin to acquire some healthy equity.
So, not only do they have income from holidaymakers or locals renting out their other assets, the value of their findings in the wood continues to appreciate in value.
"I'm building equity and have passive income too," added Eric.
The average home in Cape Charles costs around $500,000, so living tiny in the area is a real, cost-cutting move, especially for first-time homeowners who are struggling to get onto the property ladder.
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"Once people come over, they start to understand what we've done," said Eric.
"They're like: ' Wow, this is cool.' "
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