Kent Griswold - Tiny House Blog

Kathi’s Doll House

Kathi Emery who lives on Sand Mountain in North West Georgia, decided to design and build her own tiny home. Kathi calls her home the “Doll House.” I’ll let Kathi tell you more about it.

I had followed the beginning of the tiny house movement but was appalled at the cost of the structures in the articles. I set about to create the most efficient use of space in a 12’x20′ structure sized to maximize typical building supply dimensions. Originally, I planned to use 12′ t-111 siding but ended up with 1.5 sheets on the side instead. The cabin has a 5′ x 7′ bathroom w/ tub/shower, etc.

The kitchen is slightly wider and I used a 20″ stove and a 24″ wide refrigerator to save space. The area under the stairs is completely open and forms pantry and storage. The upstairs has 2 identical 7′ x 12′ bedrooms separated by the stair landing and a large (6’x4′) closet. One bedroom has 2 twin beds and the other a double. The ceiling height downstairs is 7′ which is plenty for me – being a short person – and upstairs it is around 8′ in the center tapering down to 4′ on the sides. The couch in the living room folds out so it sleeps 6 if need be. The side of the cabin faces due south and the roof pitch is 8/12 for solar down the road.

Old Fashion Gypsy Cabin

by Kent Griswold

Aria spotted this cabin on wheels and thought you might find it interesting. It’s listed for sale on Craigslist in Cottage Grove, Oregon. It seems like a great price. There are no interior pictures but I’m sure if you gave them a call you can find out all the details. … Read more

Paul’s Guest House

by Kent Griswold

I’ve done a previous post of Paul McMullin from Ennis, Montana cabin and told you I would be sharing more of his small houses. Here is a guest house he recently remodeled that I thought would be great inspiration to our readers. I’ll turn over the description to Paul.

This is a small house I built and lived in back in 1980. It measures 18 X 24. Small bath, kitchen, loft for sleeping. In 1986 the owners wanted me to add a small bedroom, which I did. The bedroom was larger than I thought it should be for the size of the existing house; but I wasn’t footing the bill.

Then, last fall they asked me to do a complete remodel. The photo’s are after the remodel. I took out some built- ins to make the bathroom a little larger; took out a built- in corner seat; and built a daybed, new windows, siding and kitchen. Before, the kitchen was on one wall only.

If you would like to contact Paul you can email him at paulmcmullin@hotmail.com.

ProtoStoga Update

by Kent Griswold

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to Ann Holley’s ProtoStoga, which was still under construction. It is now complete and Ann just gave me an update with photos of the completed ProtoStoga. Here is Ann to tell you the rest of the story.

The ProtoStoga is complete! Last Saturday was my graduate thesis exhibition and Darren and I set ProtoStoga up in downtown Alfred. We had a few hundred visitors despite the cold weather. It snowed outside but the ProtoStoga was warm and toasty inside. There were as many as 10 adults inside at a time.

ProtoStoga is meant to be an addition to ProtoHaus. It will function as a flex space. It can be a guesthouse, vacation cottage, dining room, mobile studio, escape pod, reading room and much more. Everyone who visited ProtoStoga had their own idea of what they would use the space for. One visitor said he would turn it into a card playing room, another said it would be a perfect place to pray, and still another said it would be her writing retreat. Hearing other people’s ideas about how they would use the space was very gratifying.

Garage Conversion into Tiny Home

by Kent Griswold

Andrea Lippke from the New York Times writes an article about a Seattle women named Michelle de la Vega who takes on the conversion of a 250 square foot garage into a tiny home after a divorce. To save money she takes on the job as the contractor and with lots of reclaimed materials converts this old garage into a beautiful home.

“At that time I was coming out of the ashes,” she said, “and knew I needed to come up with a good survival strategy for starting over as a single person.”

Read Converting a Seattle Garage Into a Tiny Home at the New York Times website.
Photos: Ira Lippke for The New York Times

house1 — Michelle de la Vega, a visual and performance artist, turned her garage into a 250-square-foot house for $32,000.

Scott’s Park Model for Sale

by Kent Griswold

Scott Stewart has shown and sold a previous home here on the Tiny House Blog and even though he has a buyer for this one he has time to construct another for the buyer and wanted to make this one available to you if you are in the market for a Park Model home. The home is located in Arkansas. Note: On Sale This Week Only!

This Park Model is 10′ wide and just over 40′ long including a 6′ front covered porch and a 3′ back deck (stoop). The porch has white vinyl posts and railing, treated 5/4 decking and treated 2×8 floor joists, the unit has 2×8 floor joists 16″ o.c, full 2×4 framing 16″o.c. fully insulated with fiberglass in floor, walls and ceiling, painted siding, metal roof, two 36″ entry doors, one on front and one in back, unit has one window in kitchen area over where the sink will be, one in living area, two small windows in loft.

Floor plan of unit has living/kitchen area at the front running the 10′ width and 14′ long, bathroom area runs just over 9′ long and has fixtures on left as you enter with a framed closet/changing area on the right that has access to the sleeping loft above. There is another loft above the porch that is accessed from inside and can be used for storage or additional sleeping area. As you go through the bathroom you enter the bedroom which has its own closet and an exterior entry door, the living/kitchen and bedroom have vaulted ceilings.

Homeless in a Boom State

by Kent Griswold

WILLISTON, N.D. — When Joey Scott arrived here recently from Montana, he had no trouble finding work — he signed almost immediately with a company working to drill in the oil fields. But finding housing was another matter. Mobile homes and so-called skid shacks line up in a mobile home … Read more

Paul’s Montana Cabin

by Kent Griswold

I spotted Paul McMullin from Ennis, Montana when he posted a picture of his cabin on the Tiny House Blog Facebook Fan Page. He has built several cabins and I will be sharing them with you, this is the first one. I’ll let Paul tell you about it.

I built in 2004 for the many guests we were having that summer. Our house is small by today’s standards; around 2000 sq. ft., which sounds large but my wife and I raised 4 kids in it. It is to large now, but, not then.

We looked at Wall tents first and then thought of building a platform for it to stand on and then I figured that I have enough old wood and things from past projects that I would just build the whole thing. I’m a carpenter by trade. It was 14 x 14 with a 14 x 4 deck on it. Cost was under $2200. Two operative windows; and barn sash windows married together and a old door I had. No plumbing or electrical. My wife’s twin uses it every summer, now.

Kenwood Guestroom/Cottage for Sale

by Kent Griswold

Todd West of Kenwood California has what he calls the “Kenwood Guestroom/Cottage” up for sale. Here is Todd’s description.

The framing was done with dry sound reclaimed fir. I use two layers of 5/8″ plywood for the sub floor. the exterior and interior walls are also 5/8″ plywood. I textured the interior to look exactly like drywall. the ceiling is drywall. the floor is reclaimed refinished oak. All it needs is a bit of siding and some exterior trim.

The interior ceiling height is 8.5″ at the walls and 9’3″ in the center. The big window is 4’x5′, the dutch door is 36″, and the french doors are 8′ tall x 5′ wide. the interior is painted and trimmed with reclaimed painted redwood 1×4. It is wired for 4 duplex outlets and one porch light. The total height is 10′ 5″. The attached redwood deck is 4′ x 10’3″ it is also reclaimed wood. Over all it is a nice cozy space.

Shipping Container makes All-Season Suite

by Kent Griswold

Tara discovered this article in the Winnipeg Free Press and noted that a city spokesperson claims it could probably be a legal residence within city limits. She says, we appear to not have the same minimum-size restrictions that afflict so many places!

“There is some interest out there,” said Vern Hiebert, a Winkler area man who is selling a refurbished, made-to-live-in container on the Kijiji website. “We have had interest from people wanting to build homes out of the containers with multiple units.”

Hiebert is selling one cube, 14.6 by 2.6 metres which provides about 37 square metres of living space. Split into three rooms — bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/den — the recycled container has all the modern necessities of a typical dwelling.

Tiny House in a Landscape

by Kent Griswold

This stone cottage is nestled into the side of a hillside. With lush green grass and an old stone wall running beside the cottage. I like the huge rock sitting beside the house as it is like a buffer zone to what could be a windy hillside. This is another … Read more

Small Cabin for Sale in Texas

by Kent Griswold

***Sold*** Cathy Warren contacted me recently and wanted to let me know that she needs to sell a small cabin in Zavalla, Texas (eastern Texas, zip 75980) as soon as possible and is willing to part with it at a bargain price.

The cabin is not tiny but is small at 1000 square feet. A 3 bedroom, 2 story built in 2006. Located on 15 beautiful acres. Cathy also says the land has a creek next to this parcel.

Located in Angelina National Forest and eight miles to a lake. It is private and convenient. 2 and 1/2 miles from city limits. The cabin needs septic put in, also needs some paint on the porch and deck and some TLC.