Tiny house community: Look inside the tiny home hotels in Rocky Mount Mills

Less than an hour away from the Triangle area is a tiny house community on the site of a historic mill village. Built on the shores of the Tar River, the Rocky Mount Mills have long been a center for culture and commerce.

Posted 6:23 p.m. Jul 3, 2021 — Updated 11:21 a.m. Jul 6, 2021

Heather Leah

, WRAL multiplatform producer

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Less than an hour away from the Triangle area is a tiny house community on the site of a historic mill village. Built on the shores of the Tar River, the Rocky Mount Mills have long been a center for culture and commerce.

Today, the historic campus has been refurbished with breweries, trendy restaurants, grassy picnic spots and a hotel of tiny homes available for overnight rentals.

The tiny house hotel is on a historic mill site.

Sleeping overnight in a revitalized historic mill village on the Tar River

There was a time when mills and mill villages dotted North Carolina's rivers. But after decades of floods, fires and wars, it's rare to see a fully functional mill community still standing.

Much like the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, Capitol Broadcasting Company revitalized the vacant Rocky Mount Mills, aiming to create a mixed-use destination to keep the mills alive and help inspire tourism to the Tar River and Rocky Mount.

"They purchased the mill in 2007, and started work in 2013. The first brewery opened in 2014," said Evan Covington Chavez, the development manager for Rocky Mount Mills.

To date, the scenic campus has five restaurants, seven breweries, a bottle shop, an event venue, 67 apartments, 120,000 feet of office space, 55 restored mill village homes – and a tiny home hotel of 20 tiny houses.

They also have a beer garden, a coffee shop, multiple fields with sports equipment – and a scenic spot overlooking the very spot on the Tar River for which Rocky Mount gets its name.

Inside a Tiny Home at Rocky Mount Mills.

Experiencing sleep in a tiny home hotel

The community of brightly-colored tiny homes provides a unique accommodation for people visiting the historic campus.

As tiny homes have grown in popularity, many people simply want the experience of staying in one – to see if they like it.

Cozy bed in the loft of a tiny home in Rocky Mount Mills.

Although cozy, each tiny home feels surprisingly spacious. They feature sleep accommodations for four people, including a bed in an upstairs loft, and a couch that converts into a double bed downstairs.

There's a flat-screen TV mounted overhead, and a kitchen with a coffee maker, mini-fridge and microwave. The bathroom is hidden behind a sliding door.

The tiny house village on the Rocky Mount Mills campus is a hotel for guests.

Just outside, a circle of colorful chairs surround a fire pit, making the tiny home hotel a truly social experience.

Several of the homes are pet-friendly, and almost all of the breweries and restaurants also allow pets.

The Rocky Mount Mills campus has modern breweries and restaurants built into a historic mill village.

The nearby breweries, restaurants and river are about a two-minute walk.

In the early 2000s, the Rocky Mount Mills were on the brink of fading away. Now, thanks to the revitalization work being done, the flourishing complex offers a walkable nightlife scene and a unique mixed-use destination encouraging tourism in Rocky Mount.

Capitol Broadcasting Company, the parent company of WRAL, bought the Rocky Mount Mills property in 2007 to develop into offices and homes and to attract craft beer brewers.