Tiny House Blog

The Tiny House Blog is proud to introduce “Henry’s Place” ”you would’ve made Henry proud” (Henry David Thoreau) a 10 foot by 12 foot, 120 square foot flat panel kit, produced by Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Homes in partnership with the Tiny House Blog.

Easy to assemble panel construction. The kit is ready to assemble with the help of a couple of friends or a local handyman.

The kit includes: a steel door and two 3‘x3’ double pane windows and a steel roof and texture 111 vertical siding and is ready for you to finish off the interior and paint or stain the exterior however you choose.

Henry’s Place is great for a shed, spare room, home office, tiny house or a getaway.

Special introductory pricing of $4,800 which includes Free shipping within 400 miles of Santa Rosa, California. Shipped as a flat pack plus the option of assembly on delivery for an additional fee. Only 4 are available with this introductory option. Get your order in Now!

Call Kent Griswold at the Tiny House Blog at 707-799-6891 today and place your order. A 50% deposit is required to begin construction and full payment due on completion.

*Shipping Extra depending on location
*Shipping further distances is also available.
*Deck in illustration not included

Basic Kit Floor Plan

Suggested Tiny House Floor Plan not included in Basic Kit

Ryo contacted me about his project in Northern California. Ryo has put together a shelter for a very small amount of cash and I think we can all learn from his experience.

Ryo has a very interesting blog and you will enjoy reading it. It is a journal of his experiences in building his hut, so make sure you go and visit it here. I’m going to let Ryo tell his story now.

This past summer, I bought 60 acres of vacant land in northern California, and have been living there part time since August. Sleeping in a tent was fine while it was warm, but as the weather turned colder and wetter, I decided I needed something bigger, warmer, and dryer. I knew I didn’t need or want much; just something big enough for me to relax, cook, and sleep in comfortably. Continue Reading »

For anyone with vision, a few building skills and a great set of tools, several of these portable buildings by Dix Enterprises in Wichita, Kansas can become a personalized tiny house. Better Built Portable Storage Buildings by Dix are outdoor storage sheds, barns, garages, cabins and offices that are built onsite in Kansas and then delivered by truck. At that point they can be customized by the customer. Dix claims all of their portable barns, sheds, cabins and garages are built to hold up under heavy use and provide a lifetime of service. Most of the buildings are for storage, livestock and gardening, but three of their designs may make a great tiny house: the Lofted Porch, the Portable Casita and the Mini Cottage.

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I always enjoy finding someone new building a house and especially locally where I can go an observe. I was talking with my neighbor a few houses down who is planning on constructing one himself and he told me that he was helping Jenine Alexander build one in downtown Healdsburg and invited me to come meet her. Jenine has had quite the experiences in her life and I would encourage you to explore her blog and find out more about her travels. Right now though I want her to share her story about the house she is building.

I’m building this enormous tiny house, more accurately, it’s building me. I began with wood from a barn a friend and I took down in Cotati and a 7′ x 16′ utility/ flatbed/ car hauler/ trailer. With each decision, my approach has been to imagine a million other people making the same choice I’m considering. Continue Reading »

“These “bunkies” are in the Thousand Islands area that forms the border between south-eastern Ontario and New York State. The area has been mainly farmland since it was first settled during the mid-1800’s.

The bunkies face south across the lake. Because of the setting, with open fields, limestone shelves along the shoreline and open water, there is a very east-coast feel to the land.”

Karen is planning on building a bunkie on her property on  Simcoe Island shown in the last picture but she has some concerns. Continue Reading »

Denny Henke wrote me and told me about his cabin/eco village in Missouri. I have posted a few of his photographs but you can view the rest on flickr and visit his ongoing blog called Our Tomorrow. I’ll let Denny tell his story.

I’ve been living full time in my 12×16 cabin since May of 2008. The cabin was built by myself and my brother-in-law, Greg. He’s the carpenter and I the assistant though after building 4 structures I’ve accumulated a good bit of knowledge and skill. I’m on land left to our family by my grandfather.

The property had been a campground of sorts from the 1970’s to the early 90’s so has the somewhat functional remains of an electrical infrastructure and several wells. The area we are using had a well and an old but structurally sound pole-barn style shed. It’s a mix of woodland and meadow with an 18 acre lake on the west side. We’d often talked of building a couple cabins but we never seemed to get started which proved lucky as a tornado hit the far side of the property in 2006. Continue Reading »

“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.

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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 »