Someone who doesn’t know Mike, the Vice-President of Movable Roots, would assume him to be a reserved person who prefers to remain in his own space. And Alexander, the Production Director of Movable Roots, will be looked at entirely differently. They would be seen as individuals who can not possibly have anything in common. And so, if they weren’t acquainted and found themselves in the same room, they would likely abstain from sharing a conversation.
Mike is up in years and Alexander is coming of age. Mike is a firefighter paramedic, Alexander is a UCF graduate and an ex-corporate employee. Mike wears a baseball hat like an experienced veteran. Alexander flaunts his hair similar to a rookie. Mike’s smile is jolly and gleeful. Alexander beams in a very gracious manner. Despite the age gap and cultural divide, there is something that connects Mike and Alexander like no other. It’s the Cheatham blood that runs in their veins.
Chuck Cheatham, father to three sons, Mike, Jonathan and Paul, (the latter of whom passed away in 2009) sowed the seeds of Movable Roots years back. A skilled general contractor, Chuck started building and remodeling houses and started the business ‘Cheatham and Sons.’ “He was not just our dad but our mentor. We grew up watching, learning, and gradually participating in the world of construction,” Mike informs in an interview with Homecrux.
Among the three brothers, late Paul was the first to take up the hammer. He started working full-time with his father, meanwhile, the younger siblings followed suit later. “These early experiences weren’t just about building structures; they were about building character, skills, and deep understanding of treating customers with respect and integrity,” mentions Mike.
In 2016, fueled by a fascination with the tiny house movement, Mike and his wife envisioned a unique approach. They sought to bring a fresh perspective to the tiny house market by creating main floor master bedroom units; a departure from the prevailing trend of smaller, compact designs in the 20-24 footage. “We weren’t seeing anybody that was building main floor master bedroom units; everything was kind of smaller. We were going to build one for ourselves, and we wanted a main floor master bedroom,” Mike notes.
And this is how the journey of Movable Roots kickstarted. A journey that is as much about family, heritage, and lifelong learning as it is about building homes. Today, Movable Roots stands out in the tiny house industry for several compelling reasons, foremost being their commitment to full customization, ensuring each tiny home is tailored to the unique preferences and needs of its owner.
“Coming from our building background, we were kind of wondering if people only have six or seven feet of kitchen countertop space, why aren’t they putting in high-end finishes into these units? This is what we would want in our home, and it wasn’t available at that time in the marketplace. So that was where we started. So we built our first unit and we went to a couple of tiny home events and just blew it out of the water,” states Mike.
The company’s first build in the tiny house domain was the Henderson tiny house on wheels, which they completed in 2017. “Henderson tiny house holds a special place in my heart because we built it in loving memory of Paul Henderson Cheatham; our eldest brother who we lost in 2009. We took it to like three or four different home shows, and even won a couple of them.”
“People loved what they were seeing. It was 34 feet long. It had the deck on the side. It had beautiful bright blue cabinets with really high-end countertops. At that point in time, nobody was really tackling that customization side. There were companies with maybe four or five models and they would customize colors or they would customize little things here, but they wouldn’t completely design something from the ground up for you. So, when we came into the space, our idea was let’s go completely custom,” Mike shares. This approach set Movable Roots apart from competitors who offered a limited selection of pre-designed models.
Mike and Jonathan then went to Dallas, Texas for a home show and sold Henderson to a customer. With over 60 unique custom builds under their belt today, Movable Roots is poised to expand its horizons. Mike alongside his brother has been building tiny houses for seven years now, and now it’s a family-run business, with third-generation involved.
“When we first started, it was just me and my brother, and then a couple of years in, we brought my wife (Nikki) on full-time. She has a marketing and sales background. So we brought her on about two years, kind of into the business full-time. And then last year we brought my son (Alexander) on as a full-time project manager,” he states.
Another aspect that separates the Melbourne, Florida-based builders apart from their competitors is the transparency they offer to clients. “We use construction build software that enables a customer may be in California that’s purchasing from us from Florida, to track the progress of his/her tiny house.” This technological integration has played a crucial role in Movable Roots’ success and fostered transparency and trust among users.
Just like Wind River Tiny Homes, the future for Movable Roots holds a strategic shift towards Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and modular homes. Mike envisions this direction as the evolution of the tiny home movement, providing a more permanent housing solution without sacrificing the principles of minimalism and thoughtful design.
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