Rolling Huts
When I first saw these huts on wheels, they looked a bit like an alien vehicle from Star Wars. The more I looked at them though, the more I fell in love with these sleek little houses.
Designed as a modern alternative to camping by Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects in Seattle, the Rolling Huts are available for rent in the Methow Valley of Washington state. The huts are several steps above camping, while remaining low-tech and low-impact in their design.
The huts sit lightly on the site, a flood plain meadow in an alpine river valley. The owner purchased the site, formerly a RV campground, with the aim of allowing the landscape return to its natural state. The wheels lift the structures above the meadow, providing an unobstructed view into nature and the prospect of the surrounding mountains.
The huts are grouped as a herd: while each is sited towards a view of the mountains (and away from the other structures), their proximity unites them. They evoke Thoreau’s simple cabin in the woods; the structures take second place to nature.
Each hut comes equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, fireplace and Wi-Fi. A sleeping platform is perfect for two, and the modular furniture in the living area can be reconfigured to sleep two more. Each hut has an adjacent portable toilet, and full bathrooms and showers are housed in the centrally located barn a short distance away. There is a water faucet outside of each hut and a picnic table in front of each hut that seats 12. You can stay in one of these huts for about $80-$100 a night.
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Sonoma County Home and Garden Show
Friday afternoon my wife and I went to the Sonoma County Home and Garden Show located at the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California. Stephen Marshall from Little House on the Trailer was displaying three of his homes there and had sent me complimentary tickets. Thanks Stephen.
We took our time looking at many of the displays, which included solar and many other building material exhibits. They also had brought together the RV and Boat show, trying to save money with the down economy, as these are usually separate shows.
My wife had not seen Stephen’s work before so we toured his new little cottage, the art studio and his original tiny house on the trailer. My wife preferred the larger size of the little house on the trailer and thought it much more livable, but would like a separate bedroom. Anyway I have included a few pictures of our visit.
We stopped over in the RV section and looked at the one park model on display. Janelle thought that she could live in that just fine once we downsized a bit on the belongings. The loft design did not seem right but the rest of the floor plan was great. Anyway we had an enjoyable time at the Home and Garden Show and I would recommend you go to one in the future.
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GreenPod Homes
I live in Sonoma County in Northern California and it has kind of become a mecca for tiny house builders. There are three all within a 20 mile radius and I think there will be more in the future.
Another area in the Northwest seems to be taking on this same idea and it is Port Townsend Washington. There are several small or tiny house builders in that community and I recently discovered another one.
Ann Raab and Suzanne DeVall have recently started a company called GreenPodTM Development LLC which designs and builds custom, modular homes, which emphasize style, sustainability, and health. All products offered are chosen with concern for indoor air quality, durability and environmental responsibility.
Well-designed smaller spaces utilizing multi-purpose furnishings are the signature of GreenPodTM homes. Every Pod features low air infiltration design, aluminum clad wood windows, energy saving appliances, and LED lighting. The passive solar design of the homes saves energy naturally, while the interior glass doors and high windows create comfortable, naturally-lit living areas.
Every Pod contains low flow plumbing. Options include greywater recycling, rain water storage, roof gardens or living roofs. Pods can also be placed on Diamond Pin foundations, further reducing their ecological footprint.
Our attention to detail and sustainability also extends to the GreenPod’s interiors. Our exclusive textiles include linens and furnishings in four color palettes. The certified 100 percent organic cotton, bamboo, and hemp used in the interiors are biodegradable and completely sustainable.>
What makes GreenPodTM an Intelligent Environment?
- Respectful use of resources
- Environmentally smart design
- Concern for health, safety, and the future.
- Practices ‘closed loop cycle’
- Encourages local sustainability
- Savings in construction costs, maintenance, and utilities use
Pictured here are several of their designs and a couple interior pictures as well. If you are looking for a quality small home and are on the west coast be sure and check these out. Visit the GreenPod website to view the floor plans, pricing and more.
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Laurel Creek Park Models
Park models seem to be attracting a lot of attention lately and one that caught my eye recently was the Cedar Creek model by Laurel Creek Homes, and is sold near my home in Washoe Valley, NV by Clayton Homes. I stopped by one weekend to get a few photos since I really admired this park model’s use of space, spacious kitchen and front porch and the cozy feeling inside.
Laurel Creek offers 13 different floorplans for this cabin style park model, and each of their models comes with a 10 year warranty. Laurel Creek also offers several “green packages” to make your park model more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Prices of the models vary according to the size and amenities, but the park model that I toured was being sold for $59,900.
Laurel Creek’s website gives more details on their park models and their benefits including:
- Affordability. A park model typically costs less than a 5th wheel or motor home.
- Financing options are available.
- RV Zoning required (Private property accepted in some states and counties).
- Move-in ready in less than 30 days.
Recreational park trailers or “park models” are 400-square foot cottages with peaked roofs that sit on a chassis and are typically placed on rented, leased or purchased sites in campgrounds or RV resorts and used as weekend retreats or vacation cottages. Park models can also be placed on private property and used as a part-time residence, subject to local zoning ordinances.
Typically upscale in appearance, Laurel Creek park models are available in many styles, from cedar cabins more suburban style homes with vinyl siding. The Laurel Creek park models feature solid frame construction, residential cabinets and full size appliances as well as optional bay windows and lofts. Interiors feature either a wood or tape and texture finish.
Laurel Creek was the first of 46 companies in the park model business to offer overhead heating and cooling systems. They have also introduced 9-foot flat coffered ceilings, tiled kitchen and bathroom flooring and marble lavies in our highline models.
All Laurel Creek park models are built to the ANSI 119.5 building code, which is administered and enforced by the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA). The code requires that park models meet or exceed more than 500 building and safety standards. Respected park model manufacturers build to this code yet it is not a requirement.
Photos by Harry Thomas
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Gratitude Millworks, LLC
Last week Ivan one of our readers sent me an email telling me about Kent McCaffrey’s tiny house company called Gratitude Millworks, LLC located on the east coast in the heart of Dixie in the state of Alabama.
I communicated with Kent McCaffrey and he told me to share his work with you.
With a 12/12 roof and a 180 square feet, with an interior dimension of 10 by 18. The roof footprint is 12 by 24 and extends over the 5 by 11 porch.
If you are an author, artist, or professional looking for a studio retreat, or tele-commuting home office? Or are you simply looking for a quiet place for reflection, contemplation or meditation and prayer? If you desire and appreciate beauty, and a handcrafted furniture quality cottage, this limited offering portable chalet is what you have been looking for.
The objective of a quiet, secure, substantial retreat is achieved by full insulation, digital climate controlled electric AC/Heater, highest quality materials and positive screw and glue construction, all built on solid 6×6 treated full length timbers. The wind may blow outside, but the experience inside is quite akin to the feel of a Lord of the Rings, Rivendell cottage.
Please go to the Gratitude Millworks, LLC site to view more pictures and learn more about Kent’s craftsmanship.
Michael at the Tiny House Design blog has a nice writeup on this as well.
Side View
View through the Door
Interior View
Transporting the Cottage
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Superior Park Models
A few weeks ago I was visiting the small town of Virginia City near my home in Washoe Valley, NV and I came across a few small park models that I had never seen before. The models were available for short or long term rental in a small trailer park above the famous Virginia City cemetery.
The Sportsman Series from Superior Park Model Homes were smaller than other park models I have seen, but still had everything you need in a tiny home.
The one I visited had a main room with a ladder to a small loft, a back bedroom and a small RV style bathroom. The walls were paneled in warm cedar and it had the most recent appliances. On that gray, rainy day, it was very cozy.
Superior has four different model homes to choose from and about 23 different floorplans. Each model is about 11 feet wide and range in length from about 16 feet to about 40 feet long.
The Sportsman Series also offers:
- 10? Detachable Hitch
- Triple Axles, 2 Brake W/ 1 Idle and New Tires
- 2 X 6 Floor Joists 16? O.C.
- 3/4? Tongue & Groove Sub-Floor with a 50 year Limited Warranty
- Insulated Heat Duct In Floor
- 2 X 4 Exterior Walls 16? O.C.
- 2 X 4 Interior Walls 16? O.C.
- Windzone III, Tie Down Brackets Welded to the Frame
- 29 Gauge Colored Metal Roof or 20-Year Architectural Shingles
- R-22 Insulation in Floors, R-13 in Walls, R-22 in Roof
- Real Wood Log Exterior Stained, Sealed and Caulked
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Sing RV the Affordable Tiny House
There has been a lot of discussion on the Small House Society Yahoo list lately about the Sing RV Rent to Own mini park model built in McCleary, Washington. I decided to get in touch with Sing RV and learn more about this product. I have been talking to Peter Sing and his Sales Director Jason Vaughn and have discovered a very affordable option for a tiny home.
The Sing RV is built using the Sing honeycomb product designed by Sing. The Sing honeycomb panels are made with patented Sing honeycomb core which is a low cost, high strength, lightweight panel. These panels can be made into any type of structure you can imagine.
Sing sells the mini park models assembled and as a panel kit. Assembled, the 8 x 14 foot mini park model is $7,000.00, on wheels it is $8,500.00. The kit is about a third of the cost. They also offer a Rent to Own option, but you need to discuss this with them to get the full details.
Sing also has another option of building with their special logs. I will share this option with you in another post.
Go to the Sing RV website to see these homes under construction and how easy it is to build a unique home with them.
Sing RV Interior Windows
Sing RV Interior View
Sing RV on the Road
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Off Grid Solar Cavco Park Model
I have been communicating with Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s Specialty Division about the company’s new off-grid solar park model home. Tim has shared with me the following information from his press release regarding this new home.
The solar home has a $47,000 starting price, and this home shown here has options that top it out around $70,000.
Options like Bamboo flooring, upgrade slate tile backsplashes, upgrade kitchen cabinets, 12’ sliding glass doors etc. If you are in the Pomona, California area, you can view this model at the California RV Show through October 19, 2008. Be sure and page down to view all the pictures and a floor plan of the solar powered park model.
Cavco becomes nation’s first company in the RV Business to produce factory delivered, Solar-Powered Park Models.
Cavco’s park models, which are used as vacation cottages at campgrounds and RV resorts across the country, are now being equipped with solar panels and batteries provided through an exclusive arrangement with Ready Solar Inc. of Redwood City, Calif.
The recreational park trailer or “park model” industry is gaining notoriety as growing numbers of consumers discover that the 400-square foot cottage-like units can be permanently placed in campgrounds and RV resorts and used as low cost vacation cabins.
But thanks to Phoenix-based Cavco Industries, consumers who purchase these units will not only obtaining a vacation cottage at a fraction of the price of a site built home or condo. They’re also doing something positive for the environment.
Cavco has become the first park model manufacturer in the country to produce solar powered park models.
“We believe we are the first company in the RV business to produce a trailer product that can produce its own electrical power,” said Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s Specialty Division, which produces park model cabins. He added that demand for the 400-square foot cabins has been “off the charts” since the company introduced the product in June.
Still relatively unknown to most consumers, recreational park trailers or “park models” are 400-square foot movable resort cottages that are designed exclusively for part-time recreational use. Typically upscale in appearance, they often include hardwood floors, bay windows and lofts as well as cherry, oak or maple cabinetry.
And because park models are technically classified as recreational vehicles, they can be set up on leased or purchased sites in campgrounds and RV parks and used as weekend retreats or seasonal vacation dwellings.
But unlike most trailer products, which have to be hooked up to electrical utilities, Cavco’s solar powered park models have enough panels to generate their own power. The units come equipped with energy efficient light bulbs and kitchen appliances, including tankless water heaters, as well as maintenance free batteries that are designed to store enough power to last for two days. Gasoline-powered generators are also provided as an emergency backup system. But Gage said he anticipates that most of Cavco’s solar powered park models will be sold to consumers in Southwestern, Rocky Mountain and Sunbelt states, where there is plenty of sunshine to keep the batteries charged.
Cavco is providing the solar technology through an exclusive arrangement with Redwood City, Calif.-based Ready Solar, Inc. He said the solar packages, which include panels and batteries, add about $5,000 to $7,000 to the price of a park model, depending on the park model’s solar energy requirements. The typical park model sells for about $40,000 without the solar power capability.
“Our adoption of solar energy systems is the first chapter of our efforts to develop green park models,” Gage said, adding, “There will likely be 10 more chapters as we get further into this.”
For more information on Cavco’s park models or its solar energy systems, please contact Tim Gage at (602) 763-5488 or Meredith McClintock at Ready Solar Inc. at (650) 255-1828 and visit their respective websites at www.cavcoparkhomes.com and www.readysolar.com.
Cavco Kitchen
Cavco Living Room
Cavco Bathroom
Cavco Bedroom
Ready Solar Instruments
Cavco Freedom-6 Floor Plan
Cavco Off Grid at RV Show in Pomona, CA
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Park Model Options
I’ve discussed Park Model Homes in several other posts on the Tiny House Blog as an option for tiny house living. See the Cavco Cabins, the Cottages to Go, and the Park Model Resorts articles. I wanted to bring them up again as several people have brought a couple of things to my attention in the last few days.
Yvette McGuire of Coast Homes in Fort Bragg California emailed me recently to let me know that she had a couple of Covelo’s listed at closeout prices of $34,000 and $35,000 and that prices were heading up as the demand is high for Park Model Homes and the price of constructing them has gone up as well. Pictured above are the Covelo ($34k) and Covelo II ($35k, with porch), these are available to be placed where you would like.
Yvette also noted that she had another available in Casper, located just out of Mendocino. Listed for $80,000 plus a month rental fee for the land. This one is shown below and I have attached a pdf file, Casper RV Space, if you would like the full details. Please feel free to contact Yvette at 707-964-1201 if any of these interest you. Let her know you learned about them at the Tiny House Blog.
My friend and I were up in the Sierra’s a couple of weekends ago and discovered a remote piece of land, that is off the grid that I would love to own. Cavco located in Phoenix Arizona has recently come out with an off the grid Park Model Home, and I will be covering that home in the next post. So if you are looking for off the grid options, stay tuned.
My friend also pointed out another Park Model for sale in Lake County, situated on the Lake for $49,200. This price is for the home and it than has a $525 a month rental fee for the placement of the home. Go to the Heron Oaks Waterfront Resort to learn more.
I realize that these are all based in Northern California, but I think if you look in the area you live you will find some of these same options available to you.
Casper Park Model
Heron Oaks Waterfront Resort
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