Tiny House Blog

Tortoise Shell Homes and Bill Kastrinos just introduced their latest model called the Box Turtle. Also known as Model 1 on their website. The shed style roof has the unique capacity to be “cynched” together using two units to give a conventional looking roof line and 260 square feet. The finished home would be 8′ x 32′.

The “Box Turtle” can be bought as a do-it-yourself unit for $7,500 or complete with fully insulated, vinyl double-pane windows, French front door, 1/4″ fir wood-paneled walls, vinyl flooring. The bathroom has four foot shower, toilet and wet sink and an energy-efficient tank-less hot water heater.

This model is designed for optimum efficiency and economy. Permanently mounted on a trailer, so you can take your tortoise shell with you wherever you go. The completed price is $17,500.

Tortoise Shell Homes now offers three distinct models. Model 1 “The Box Turtle,” Model 2 “The Desert Turtle,” and Model 3 “The Galapagos.” Quality built tiny houses either complete or a choice with Model 1 and Model 3 as a do-it-yourself project.

Box Turtle Floor Plan

Completed Desert Turtle

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One of our readers named Lyle has a question for those of you knowledgeable in covenants. Here it is:

I keep running into this small problem in the town I’m living in. I look at a piece of land I like then find out that the covenants for the area require a min. sq footage of at least 1,000 square feet.

I would like to build a house that is about 600-700 square feet.

Is there any good way about trying to purpose this size house without (hopefully!) being turned down? Has anyone else run into this problem and succeeded in building their small home because they could persuade the powers that be that a smaller house is more earth friendly?

Any ideas or thoughts about this would be great!

Thanks,
Lyle

If you have any ideas or suggestions please comment below.

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Miguel McKelvey of Generation Design Studio designed and built this cool tiny house in the hills of Portland Oregon.

The 9 foot by 22 foot house was designed and built from an old green house foundation. The 198 square foot home has a peak height of 12 foot 6 inches. The siding is made from galvalume.

GALVALUME sheet steel is a 55% Al-Zn coated sheet steel product that is ideally suited for most types of roofing and siding applications.

Miguel built custom windows and doors out of cedar. All the glass and most of the lumber was recycled and purchased from the ReBuilding Center in Portland, OR.

Shortly after the construction Miguel relocated to New York so he is unable to show pictures of the finished home on the inside at this time.

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In a tiny house or small space it is very important that the furniture fits and is sized
correctly for the space. Living in a small space forces you to re-evaluate your needs
and to de-clutter your belongings.

Wooden Beds should not be oversized or overwhelming to the room.
The use of small lumber is the best way to fit into the downsized room.
Bulky heavy timbers should be avoided, as they will dominate and overwhelm the space.

Dining Tables also go along these same lines of thought. If your table is huge and
overwhelming it will dominate the room and make it feel smaller than it is.
A small extendable dining table makes the room feel larger and can be expanded
when guests are visiting and reduced to the smallest size for every day living.

Book Cases are also a big issue. If you are a collector of books, what is the best
way to store them. Small cases or built in book cases are the best way to go in a
small space. Here again make sure you design or buy the book case to fit the size
of the room.

These are just a couple of pieces of furniture to consider. In your quest to live
light and small you will need to evaluate each room and it’s furnishings.

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by Christina Nellemann

On the way up to my favorite hiking and kayaking spots in Northern California, I always stop at the loveliest little group of cabins I have ever seen. Sorensen’s is a historic resort in the Sierra Nevada which has been offering their mountain retreat to travelers since 1926.

Sorensen’s is at an elevation of 7,000 ft and is located in California’s serene Hope Valley, 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe. The resort lies one mile east of the intersection of Highways 88 and 89. They are approximately 4 hours from San Francisco, 2 hours from Sacramento and 1-1/4 hours from Reno, Nevada.

The resort has 28 tiny cabins for nightly rental that each have a name, including Foxtail, Redwood, Homestead, Wagon Wheel and Snowshoe Thompson. They are tucked into the hillside surrounded by evergreens, aspen and a gurgling stream. Most of the cabins have a private deck with wooden lounge chairs. Several cabins have nearby hammocks strung up between the trees.

Several of the tiny cabins are from the former Santa’s Village near Santa Cruz, CA. They were taken apart, shipped up to Hope Valley and rebuilt at Sorensen’s.

I’ve seen many people stop by the resort just to walk around the cabins and exclaim over their tiny size and wonderful location. It is really tempting to peak in through the windows, or take a seat on one of the porches.

Visiting Sorenson’s or staying in one of the cabins is perfect year round. They are open all winter and offer snowshoeing tours and sledding for both children and adults. The spring and summer have an abundance of flowers spilling out of the cabin flower boxes. In October the aspens begin to change color and the place looks like it has caught on fire. The hiking during this time is spectacular.

If you can, plan your trip to the resort during the week. Unfortunately, several of the cabins are very close to the highway and on busy summer and fall weekends the traffic noise can be annoying.

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Michael Janzen has started to cut up pallets and build wall panels as of Friday, it’s very exciting. Thursday night Michael stayed up late and made some important changes to the floor plan of his tiny free house. he moved the door to the side, moved the pitch horizontally, and pretty much changed the whole thing so he could fit two beds and create more open space. The ceiling will also be a bit taller adding to the feeling of more space on the inside. He has posted more photos of his progress at TinyFreeHouse.com.

David Fernandez of Timberlast who builds timberframes on the east coast wants to let you know that he is now offering new kits.

David says our Timberframe kits come complete for a weather tight shell that’s easy to build and ready for you to do as little or as much as you like with the interior. We have designed them for unmatched strength, beauty and affordability. All components are pre cut and ready to go. Kit can be completed in as little as 2-3 days with minimal tools.

Whether you want a simple summer cottage, a studio, a workshop or a year round small residence at an amazing price, with the beauty and strength of a traditionally crafted timberframe then our kits are for you.

These are affordable, sustainable, beautiful, inviting and energy efficient small Structures. Go visit Timberlast and see for yourself.

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