Tiny House Blog

It Was Once a Children’s Playhouse, and Is Not Much Bigger Now

The tiny hand-hewn log cabin not far from Deep Creek Lake looks like it’s always been perched on its windswept ridge above rolling fields and forests. As smoke pours out of the chimney and snowflakes swirl, it’s hard to imagine that the little house came within hours of being bulldozed into oblivion in a county nearly three hours away.

After being salvaged, moved and improved by Kelly and Rick Stieff, the cabin has a new lease on life as a weekend getaway. The Leesburg family, including four offspring ages 16 to 27 — two children are hers, two are his — gather there year-round to hike, kayak and fish. This time of year, the main attractions are skiing and snowboarding, starting right outside the cabin. Spruced up with radiant-heated chestnut floors, fieldstone fireplaces, a spa bath and built-in racks for Uggs and ski boots, the house — bigger now, but still compact — packs a lot in.

The cabin’s odyssey began six years ago when Kelly Stieff, who had long wanted a place in the country, dragged her husband to the Log & Timber Home Show in Chantilly. Wandering among the exhibitors selling newly built log homes and all the building materials and furniture to go in them, they got wind of the sad story of a one-room hand-hewn house of white pine and hemlock about to be demolished to make way for a housing development.

To read the rest of the story and see a neat slide show of the house click HERE.

Article written by Jura Koncius Washington Post Staff Writer

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Pre-fab Architecture in a box! House. Cabin. Office. Addition. Rooftops. Developments. weeHouses are sturdy enough to withstand the extremes of desert or tundra, and they may be placed anywhere that is accessible by truck.

Each weeHouse comes ready made: just add water (and a couple of other things). Base models include: windows and patio doors, Container siding (cement fiberboard with vertical battens), EPDM cold roof, tongue and groove bamboo flooring, white painted gypsum board ceilings and walls, and Ikea kitchens, cabinets, sinks.

weeHouses arrive on site ready to live in. The only things left up to you and contractor are the foundation, fitting & seaming of the modules, utility hookups, and in some cases cabinetry.

Bedroom

Kitchen

Construction

weeHouse Transport

Installing weeHouse

Photos by Alchemy Architects

Post information taken from another great site on small spaces, Little Diggs. To visit the Little Diggs site click here.

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I like the unusual which you may have noticed by some of the tiny houses represented in the tiny house blog.

I also would like to spread our wings and include tiny houses from around the world. The DomeSpace originates in France but also has an office in the U.S.

This is there smallest dome and they also make much larger sizes.

Domespace produce spruce, pine and oak wooden domes for tiny house living (above is their Transit 4,35 model) with the added bonus that it is largely hurricane resistant. According to the brochure, the whole thing is rotatable (using a remote control from inside, the movement is not noticeable), light, warm, has good humidity, and is spacious with cork insulation. Options include solar panels.

If your French is a bit rusty try the Solaleya site, the US distributor but the best photos are at the French site.

The above article was written by Alex of the ShedWorking site in the UK.

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Bigger is not always better, says Texas home builder
By John Moritz

Luling — To Brad Kittel’s way of thinking, everything should be tinier in Texas.Well, maybe some things.

Kittel builds and sells a line of undersized houses that can serve as anything from a backyard hideaway to an intimate bed-and-breakfast cottage to an artist’s loft and workshop.

His tiny houses are made from salvaged lumber and building materials, and even though the smallest ones are generally about 200 square feet, they come wired for electricity and outfitted for plumbing, including a shower and toilet and a loft for sleeping.

“One person could live comfortably here, maybe even two people,” the 52-year-old Kittel said while standing inside a modestly furnished model on his manufacturing site where Interstate 10 and Texas 80 meet south of Luling.

“It wouldn’t do for a family with kids, but these things are roomier than they might look.”

Kittel spun off his Tiny Texas Houses business from the more established Discovery Architectural Antiques that he and his wife, Suzanne, operate in nearby Gonzalez. He began working on his first model in April and began selling them in July.

Some look like barns, with the vintage fading red paint; some resemble 19th-century chapels and some are done in Victorian style.

No two are exactly alike, Kittel said, because the raw materials come from demolition projects from such disparate locations as Kansas City, New Braunfels and Buffalo, N.Y.And none of them is cheap, he added. Prices range from about $30,000 to near $60,000. They are built at the Luling facility and transported by truck and trailer to the customer.

“Salvage lumber is way more expensive than new,” he said, extolling the virtues of old-growth timber and the process used to preserve exterior wood when Texas and other Western states were being settled. “It’s labor-intensive to make ready for reuse, but these houses could last for another 100 years.”

Tara Weaver, an Austin-area artist who purchased one of Kittel’s first little houses, said she was attracted by their aesthetic charm and their functionality.

“I love it,” said Weaver, a painter, who nestled her split-level ranch-style house with a rusted corrugated metal roof near a wooded creek on her 20 acres southwest of Austin. “It gives me a nice view of the land while I do my painting. And because it’s made from recycled material, it looks like it’s been here forever.”

Kittel said the vintage look is something he and his crew of about six strive to attain. The assembly area just a few hundred yards from the San Marcos River looks something like a museum for discarded building material. Doors and windows that date back to the 1880s, many containing original glass and hardware, are stacked inside a warehouse.

Old nails have been pulled from weathered framing lumber waiting to be resized to make the wall studs for one of the three tiny houses under construction or on order. Kittel appears particularly proud of a collection of aging 40-foot timbers reclaimed from a demolished warehouse in Kansas City.”We’re pretty much seeing the last of lumber like this,” he said. “The old-growth forests are pretty much all gone, and trees never get this tall in what we’re replacing them with.”

Kittel said that his model homes attract considerable attention from motorists on I-10, and he’s hoping to capitalize on the visibility. Visit Tiny Texas Houses.

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24′x24′ Hennin Post & Beam Cottage Plans by Shelter Institute.

Perfect for a vacation cottage or for the full timer living the small house and less is more life style. If your considering a super-insulated timberframe that reflects your lifestyle and goals.

Shelter Institute is an ideal place to start planning for a new timber frame. Pricing for the 24′x24′ Hennin Post & Beam Cottage starts at:

24′x24′pre-cut kit
$15,985
kit raising
$3,065
SIP** Enclosure
$19,895
Install SIPs
$7,510
metal roofing
$2,100
Install Roofing
$1,800
24′x24′ Subtotal
$50,355
Plus your foundation, permit costs, etc. as of January 18, 2008.

Living Room

Dining Room

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Yurts are a good place to to try out tiny house living as we’ve stated before. Here’s a nice design from The Bakery Group called the Yurta.

They’re built in the Lanark Highlands area of Canada using local and sustainable materials, including white ash and cedar.

Yurta’s structure is made of wood with the outer covers marine canvas or polyesters.

I like the yurta structure because the usual lattice is minimized and the windows are more open than in other yurt structures. This yurt is also easily moved because the weight is less than 300 lbs. and fits in a 4 x 8 foot trailer. Yurta states that 2 people can assemble the yurt in 45 minutes. Here is what they have to say about there yurta:

“The circular space is simply beautiful; combining the finest elements of traditional and modern designs. The structure of the wall, or lattice, is minimized to not only make transport and setup easier, but to add a lighter look and feel to the space. With less structure in the way, windows are accessible and airy…making the indoors of the Yurta feel like an extension of its natural surroundings. The canvas shell allows for a gentle glow with little to obstruct the sounds of its outdoor environment.”

General Pricing

Yurta Model 17.72 (6′ Wall) Entry PackageWood frame, Door assembly, Sky dome, Outer covers with 3 windows.CA $7, 700

Yurta Model 17.72 (6′ Wall) 4 Season PackageWood frame, Door assembly, Sky dome, Outer covers with 3 windows, Fullinsulation (wool felt), Wall liner.CA $11,150

The models above are standard packages, which can be customized byselecting additional windows and fabric colours.

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Think Small
by Betheny Lyttle

A marvellous slideshow from the New York Times on the subject of increasing interest in pre-fab tiny buildings in the US. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did.

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Over the past few years, the log and timber home industry has taken a new turn. Today the industry sees more and more homes combining log elements with timber frame components and conventional framing. Employing a combination of materials and building styles is referred to as “hybrid” and is often done to achieve a particular design look. Many clients enjoy the flexibility in design that a hybrid style home allows. Below are a few examples illustrating how a combination of different materials can come together to create a truly amazing home:

Crested Butte – A hybrid log home design of large stone, milled log walls, and customized timber frame trusses.Eagle’s Nest – A hybrid log & timber home; square milled log walls with dovetail corners and custom timber frame trusses.

Upland Retreat – A handcrafted log & timber hybrid home; handcrafted wall logs and timber frame trusses, posts & roof.

Many designers will use timber and log elements in combination with conventional framing. Of course, the log & timber home purist prefers a more authentic log and timber style construction. But, decorative log and timber elements added to conventional framing can achieve a mountain flavor and sometimes save costs. This hybrid method is seen regularly in multi-unit condominiums and resort townhouses. Framing side wings in combination with a timber frame or log great room makes sense and can save in construction costs.

Log construction, however, can be very difficult to combine with other types of construction if the log home company doesn’t utilize a non-settling system. If your goal is to decrease the cost to build your log home by mixing logs with framing or post & beam construction, remember to check out the company’s non-settling system.With any home design, the creativity of the designer will dictate the materials to be used. Find a company that is flexible in their manufacturing so as to accommodate the creativity of your design. Providing your designer with a broad palette of materials including log, timber, framing, glass, stone, steel and other materials creates more opportunity for a unique and creative custom home. The design must come first and the materials must then be able to accommodate.

Get more log home information by visiting PrecisionCraft Log Homes or learn more about the log home industry at The Log Home Blog.

Jim Young is the president of PrecisionCraft Log Homes and presides over the Log Homes Council for the National Homebuilders Association. Jim set the stage for a full service approach to designing, producing, and building log homes with the industry’s first Total Log Home Solution, which is a PrecisionCraft hallmark.

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Small cabin homes

Small cabin homes are easier then ever to build today. You can find simple plans on many different web sites… You can also purchase complete kits that include not only the plans but all the materials required to build the cabin.

The first thing to think about is the number of sq. feet you want the cabin to be. This can give you an idea of price of materials. You can go online to various websites and find blueprints that you can use to start your project.If you choose a kit, you’ll find that some of the kits come partially assembled to make it easier for the builder to complete construction. Most kits have interlocking notched corners to insure stability and strength.

Select the right wood Some of the elements you should take into consideration are the type of wood you are using. You want to use a wood that will be easily waterproofed and also one that will not become to moist in the heat. You want your cabin to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Your primary materials cost will be the cost of the wood so it’s important to determine in advance which wood you will use. You should also decide on what style windows you want, since these will not only give you a good view of your surroundings, but also bring in your fresh air and keep out the cold.

Small cabin homes usually have one entrance and that is the front door. The door can be wood to match the cabin or you could look into purchasing something more durable like a steel weatherized door. Normally, a small cabin home will have one bedroom, a small cooking area and a living room. None of these rooms will be very large but can be designed to be comfortable for one to four people. Many people find the luxury of small cabin homes to be a great primary residence; others use them as get-a-way homes in which they can just stay for a week or two for some piece and quiet.

Where to find small cabin plans

My favorite web sites for small cabin homes are townandcountryplans and cabinkit.

As an example of what you might have to pay for a small cabin plan, townandcountryplans has plans for 168 sq. ft. cabin with a nice porch at $24.95 a set. It also offers plans for a two-story cabin with 378 sq. ft. at the same price.

As an alternative, Cabinkit represents a turnkey solution, as that it offers both plans and all the materials you will need to build your small cabin home. Two examples of these kits are the two bedroom Betony with 884 sq. ft. priced from $43,950 to $50,500; and the two-level, Lupine with 725 sq.ft. at $36,950 to $42,500.

If you are interested in a small cabin or a small home, amazon.com has a book that you might find interesting. It is called More Small Houses (Great Houses)

Douglas Hanna lives in a suburb of Denver. He and his wife have bought and sold many houses throughout the years – to live in, as rental unit and to “fix and flip.” He is also the publisher of a popular blog on small house plans, http://smallhouseplansadvisor.blogspot.com

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In my search for more information on building tiny houses I stumbled across Mark van Roojen, a professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska and his project and construction of a small 10 x 14 timber frame cabin in the back woods of Wyoming. His information will give you first hand experience on what is involved in this type of construction. Following are a couple of pictures of his cabin and a link to his site.

Mark van Roojen

Timber frame construction

Further progress.

The Timber-Framed Cabin Project

Mark says: I’ve started on a timberframed cabin project and I have been chronicling it here on my website. There are now too many images to put all on one page. So I have now divided it into five pages covering the following time frames. You can reach them by clicking on the link above or click Here.

Update October 2008 Jenny on Porch

If you know of other tiny house projects or have one of your own and would like to share it please post it in the comment section. Thank you!

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