As part of the tiny house village at the Sonoma County Home Show, Big Red, one of the designs by Thimble Homes attracted a lot of attention. The custom tiny house, built on a Trailer Made trailer has a Volstrukt steel frame. Thimble Homes can both build you a custom tiny house or send you the parts needed to build your own.
Luke Nodine, the owner of Thimble Homes, was kind to answer a few questions about the company’s designs and the building and delivery process.
How and why did Thimble Homes get started with building tiny houses?
Thimble Homes came about because we wanted to keep our excellent team of builders busy through the slow season of construction in Oregon. We built a large shop and brought the guys inside. With the ability to build several tiny houses at the same time, our crew can stay busy year around rather than riding the roller coaster of construction in the Pacific Northwest.
What are the specifications of Thimble Homes?
The beauty of what we do is that we can design a home according to your specifications. If you want a complete home with all appliances, we can make that happen. If you are a DIY-er, we can build the shell of your home so that you can finish out to your liking. The sizes of houses on trailers can vary from 100 square feet to 500 square feet. The beauty of Thimble Homes is that we have Trailer Made custom trailers in stock so that we are ready to build your home on site.
What are the benefits of Thimble Homes for tiny house buyers?
Tiny houses are not RVs, generally remaining in the same location for a longer period of time, but they are transported similarly. Often built on trailers, a tiny house like the one Thimble Homes completed last year weighs roughly 11,000 pounds and can easily be towed behind a three-quarter-ton pickup truck.
When a tiny house is being transported on the freeway, it’s important that it remain intact – and therefore, that it’s built well. You are going to need a little bit of skill, but what I’m trying to bring to the market and grow with Thimble Homes is, is that we can help a DIY-er by giving them the proper pieces to do it right. If we can be part of the movement and make it safe without being over regulated, then that’s what we’re all about.
Can buyers have custom homes built? What’s the cost of a typical Thimble Home?
Customers can have custom homes built. We want to be available to help all types of markets from mobile wine tasting rooms to hunting “lodges” to off-grid getaways. Another area of interest is working with governmental agencies to provide temporary housing for displaced people after storms like Hurricane Katrina.
Regarding cost, a tiny home can be built within your budget, just like a “regular” home.
Do you deliver and what is the cost?
Yes, we do deliver and the cost varies based on location and what you want. If you’d like to start with just the trailer base, we deliver those as well.
Photos courtesy of Thimble Homes
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]