Tiny House Blog

“Learn by doing” isn’t that what education is all about and wouldn’t you think so in the field of architecture.

The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University whose goal is to teach students both social responsibility while also providing safe, fine constructed homes with inspirational design for poor communities in rural west Alabama.

The project known as the 20K project is an ongoing project now into it 6th year. The project is based on trying to design and build and create alternative forms of housing on an extremely tight budget.

The project is based on the 20K limit to design and build a house for $10,000 for materials and with a proposed labor cost of $10,000, therefore not exceeding $20,000. Continue Reading »

Kent, I continually check into Tiny House Blog because it is about so much more than small buildings. For me, the tiny house movement has led to a much greater awareness of community development, sustainability, our environment, local food initiatives, and my child’s future. Is this what was supposed to happen? Recently, I saw your note asking for updates on past feature posts so I thought I would send ours in.

Since our post on Tiny House Blog last spring we have had over 150 people tour Camp Coyote and Farmhouse Life. I am often surprised by people’s positive reaction to our little buildings. Most comment that Camp Coyote is the ideal place to “get away.” Continue Reading »

Phil was one of the first people to buy the Sonoma Shanty plans. He has been building a shanty as a way to learn basic construction skills.

This first Sonoma Shanty is a simple shed, Phil’s next one will be more detailed. This one was built in Southern California.

For his second shanty, Phil plans to build on the Northern California coast in the Shelter Cove region.

Continue Reading »

Shelley recently sent me this link about Rima and her horse truck hermitage. I really like the rustic look of this home and you could spend hours just viewing everything in Rima’s blog.

Rima is a traveling artist who with Tui her partner have built this unique home to travel around the country selling her artwork.

These pictures will just wet your appetite for what Rima has on her blog.

Rima’s curiosity leads her through the many worlds of words, languages and lettering, books and stories, puppetry, nature and interesting people, music, superstitions, folklore and fairytales, and most of all the otherness that can be found on the periphery of our lives, the strange and grotesque, the absurd and unnerving … that topsy turvy in between place where things are not quite what they seem… Continue Reading »

I wanted to give you an update on Bill’s Solar Tiny House. You can view the first post here. Bill is constructing Michael Janzen’s free plans of the Solar Tiny House pretty much by himself.

Bill just completed installing the windows with some help from his father. He was able to complete the installation one day. Below are some updated pictures of the house with the sheathing completed. The house wrap in place and the roof installed.

Windows Installed

If I have done a post on your tiny house that you have started and you have an update for me, please let me know. I get rather back logged with all the great ideas and projects coming in and I am unable to stay on top of all the projects at times. Please send me an email with pictures and I will do an update on your project too. Continue Reading »

Mike and Christy Irish sent me these pictures of their recent project the “Wee Irish Cottage.” Here is what Mike has to say about the cottage.

The cottage is 18′x8′, built on a tandem axel trailer.  It has a sleeping loft, undercounter fridge, small bathroom with shower and composting toilet.  Shower is rudimentary; toilet is brand new.

The interior is finished in pine with bamboo flooring, therompane windows. The floor, walls and ceiling are well insulated.  4′x4′ opening Velux skylight makes for light filled interior. High ceiling (with ceiling fan) gives the cozy cottage a spacious feeling. Continue Reading »

One of my most popular posts was the Carre D’etoiles French Cube. Now for the exciting news… the CUBE is coming to the USA/CANADA in 2010!

Daniel Jean-Jacques Inversin from Carre D’etoiles French Cube emailed me yesterday to tell us the following:

We are currently planning on manufacturing the CUBES on the west coast (by the same “manufacturing team” that we have in Europe) and after the exact location has been finalized I will be able to send you an anticipated cost of units to be purchased and installed in the USA/CANADA.

Yes, “Seeing is believing” and that is why we will be installing one in the Lake Tahoe area for your inspection. View our first post with all the pictures of the Carre D’etoiles French Cube.

by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)

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Tim Kasten wrote to me recently about his Meditation Retreat Gypsy Wagon, so I asked him to send me some pictures and tell us his story. I’ll let Tim take over from here:

I dreamed for a number of years of building a gypsy-style caravan on a 4-wheel 14-foot-long wagon chassis that I bought from Shiloh Wagon Works in Minnesota. Health problems eventually forced me to concede that I wasn’t strong enough to build it alone and that I would have to scale back the design considerably if I wanted to be able to tow it with a small car and maneuver it by myself.

The result was this little wagon built on a 4×8 utility trailer from Tractor Supply. I don’t know its exact weight, but I’m pretty sure it’s under 600 pounds. I tow it easily with a Toyota Matrix. Continue Reading »

John Labovitz contacted me the other day to tell me about his tiny housetruck project that he is working on. The minute I saw the frame it reminded me of the Cable Car Trolleys that I worked on for a couple of years as they were built using the same steel tubing and looked very similar before being skinned and completed.

I’ll let John tell you more about his plans and his philosophy behind his choice of design and materials.

My overall values in designing the housetruck were simplicity, durability, sustainability, and mobility, which combine to liveability. Although I’ve been inspired by the tiny house movement, the biggest breakthrough was discovering the long tradition of gypsy caravans and British ‘living wagons.’ Continue Reading »

Guest Post by Tammy Strobel

I’ve been obsessed with these tiny Portland Cottages ever since I read about Jeff and Brad’s building techniques on OregonLive.com last year.

Fantastic Tiny Home Tour

I was lucky enough to tour these tiny cottages during my mini-vacation a few months ago. When I arrived in Portland, I sent Jeff and Brad a quick email on the off chance that they might be around and let me tour their beautiful little homes. To my surprise Jeff emailed me back and said yes!

Jeff and Brad are the cottage designers and builders. The couple created these beautiful spaces using salvaged and recycled materials. Brad has been building in Oregon for over 30 years and Jeff has an incredible amount of experience in gardening and masonry. Continue Reading »