Tiny House Blog

Today’s Tiny House in a Landscape was submitted by Steven over at Tiny House Swoon. Entitled the Beach Hut. Here is what the owner has to say about the place.

Stay in this unique self-catering beach hut in North Cornwall and discover the simplicity of living in an area of outstanding natural beauty in a Cornish beach shack. Built in the 1920s, the Beach Hut exudes simple seaside chic; clapperboard exteriors and wooden floors combine in this characterful and cosy hideaway. Click here to learn more.

by Andrew Odom

So much time is spent thinking about the exterior build of tiny houses – the trailer, the framework, the weight, the roof, etc – that the interior is often overlooked. But is that wise? Isn’t the interior what transforms an otherwise stark and impersonal trailer or foundation into a home? It is if you ask Stacey Pridgen of Rooms and Spaces and tiny places.

“The interior is what turns a trailer into a home. It is where a person lays their head at night and you want that person to feel like they are in a palace and not an outhouse,” says Pridgen.

A contractor, creator, builder, craftsman, artist, and innovator for over 25 years Pridgen has been putting hammer to nail since he was just 16 years old. “I started when I was 16 years old or so. I got a job with a construction outfit as a framing assistant. I spent a lot of time helping, lugging material, and trying to learn the trade.”

Stacey never remembers wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer or any sort of corporate tycoon. He craved the dirt and the outdoors. College never even appeared on his radar as he went directly from high school onto the job site. Continue Reading »

I am looking for other co-owners or investors for a perfect property for a tiny house eco village on Vancouver Island. This would be a permaculture site for tiny homes with organic gardens, chickens, rainwater collection, and greywater recycling.

The property I am looking into is 5.5 acres and has one conventional house, three mobile home pads – ideal for parking Tiny Homes, and an RV pad (which could also be used for a Tiny Home that uses less electricity). There is also a workshop on the land, where you could work on building your home!

The mobile home pads have 70 or 100 amps and a fresh water hook-up. This is the ideal set up for a Tiny House ecovillage! It is very difficult to get zoning for this kind of set-up, and on top of that it can be expensive to set up this type of infrastructure. This property is very unusual in it’s zoning and is a perfect opportunity. I am currently looking for other co-owners or investors for this property.

The property does have a septic system but I am interested in sustainable permaculture systems that save money, recycle wastes and turn them into resources. To his end, our grey water would drain through an outdoor filter system and the water would be reintegrated to treed parts of the land. The toilets in the Tiny Homes will be composting toilets, eliminating the blackwater issue.

The conventional house can be used as a shared building with a communal kitchen and dining space as well as shared laundry. It could house wwoofers or other volunteers to help with the garden. We will save money by pooling our resources, buying food stuffs in bulk, and cooking en masse. You could have your own kitchen as well in your Tiny Home, or choose not to!

The tiny homes can be DIY or built by one of the many budding Tiny House companies. They would be made of salvage or other green materials. I am currently building a Leaf House, pictured above, with totally chemical-free materials, as I suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Therefore this community would be ideal for others looking for a scent-free and chemical-free environment or simply those interested in sustainable living systems and leaving a smaller footprint.

There could be room for more houses if others are interested in living off the grid. Especially for seasonal visitors or for houses not containing plumbing (to get around zoning laws).

If this property sells, I will be looking at other options on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. For a link to the property and other options that could be considered please see my blog: http://mychemicalfreehouse.blogspot.ca/p/tiny-house-eco-village-bc.html.

I write about how to build a chemical-free house for anyone interested in exploring that further.

Please feel free to contact me at corinne_segura(at)hotmail(dot)com

I see a lot of “new build” stories lately, and I wanted to share our small house with your readers, since we took a different path.

Our municipality has a minimum size requirement for new houses. At 44 square metres (roughly 475 square feet) it is not too bad compared to some places, but it still scuttled our plans to buy a lot and build a Tumbleweed New Vesica (289 square feet) on it. Homes on trailers and RVs are also specifically mentioned in the Property Standards and not allowed. Instead we bought a two-story 1907 farmhouse in the cute “Ontario cottage” style that is prevalent on the Island.

However, this old house has some important benefits that we’ve found. It’s two stories, but the upstairs is closed off with a door at the foot of the stairs, which we keep closed. There is a bedroom on the main floor which we also keep closed off and don’t use, meaning that we’re living in just 325 square feet after all! The main room is 14′ by 14′, and contains our bed/couch, the woodstove, table and dining chairs, a comfy chair, and a wardrobe for storage. The kitchen is bigger than I need at 9′ x 9′, but does provide lots of extra storage. We do go upstairs to use the existing bathroom, which is 6′ x 8′. Continue Reading »

Trekker Trailers in central Florida has been building vintage and retro style teardrop trailers for over four years, but the company’s owner, Andrew, wanted to take his love of simple, tiny living to the next level and built a 70 square foot house on wheels that was recently sold to a 17-year-old student. His mother is also thinking of getting a tiny house.

“I have always loved campers and simple tiny living,” Andrew said. “I’ve been building teardrop campers for 4 years now, have restored many historic homes in my area, and have a love for form, function, and art. It seemed like a good fit for my talents to build a tiny house. Though my wife and I intend to retire in a tiny house, this one was built to sell so I tried to appeal to the lovers of the craft.

Watch a walk-through of the Trekker Trailer tiny house on the company’s Facebook page.

The Tiffany blue house is built with high quality materials like Galvalume roofing, cypress interior and exterior trim and some interesting and unique storage and space-saving details. The small living room couch (with a lovely skylight above it) has storage behind and underneath the seat and what Andrew calls a “hybrid Murphy bed” folds down from the back wall. The bed can be adjusted to sleep one or two people. The kitchen contains a sink, refrigerator, microwave and a slide-out pantry. The wet bath has fiberglass flooring and a composting toilet that can use BioBags. The water heater is a propane powered heater that is mounted on an exterior wall near the deck. Continue Reading »

I receive many emails regarding tiny houses and building codes. This is a very difficult subject because every location is different. However, up to this point there has not been a good resource to send people to show them how to go about the process of getting answers in their local area.

Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life blog has recently published a book to help you find these answers. I have had a chance to look at the book and would highly recommend it if you are doing this kind of research.

Here is Ryan’s description of his his book and what it will help you accomplish:

This guide is designed to help you navigate all the red tape when it comes to tiny housing. I have designed this manual to help you quickly familiarize yourself with some of the key bureaucratic road blocks, suggest possible pathways to building your home from the legal perspective, and several strategies to make it a success. If you are hoping to build a tiny house, this is information that you will need. For those who purchase this they will also get and additional 180 pages of reference materials and free updates on future versions!

Thanks Ryan for this great resource. To learn more and to purchase the book click here.

Click here to purchase the book.