This is our 13 foot 1974 Boler we have been traveling in around Western Canada, the US, and Mexico since August. We can pull up anywhere, unload our cactus display stand and start selling our handmade guitar straps! We also have an online store at www.bluedogguitars.com.

When we tire of traveling, our plan is to set up our boutique guitar store in Vancouver BC, with the Boler in the showroom as a private space for people to try out guitars, as the acoustics in the Boler are amazing.

(Photo Credits Jenn and Paul)

Sleeping arrangements require the shuffling of a lot of the contents into our car, as we have modified the bed to become almost king-size with the use of two extra-large coolers, so the process makes it more of a camping lifestyle than your typical RV experience. We also have two rather large dogs, so a bivouac in a Walmart parking lot, in the rain, makes for some strategic planning. Continue Reading »

Today’s Tiny House in a Landscape was taken in Switzerland. Could this be the highest, strangest house in the world? Jerome sent me one of the photos and I found the other one via a google search.

The Solvay hutte is a “security house” where people can stay for one or two days when it becomes impossible to come down from the Cervin summit in Switzerland. It is located at 4003 meters on the middle height of the edge of the Cervin (we know it as the Matterhorn here in the U.S).

Photo Credit http://www.yeticlub.org/cervin.f.htm

My name is John Warren. I met Andrea Tremols and Cedric Baele at an oyster roast last night in Charleston. They told me about their project and I told them about a series of photos I took of small dwellings out on Block Island, Rhode Island. They are mostly highly efficient summer homes that are are all uniquely designed to withstand sustained winds of over 100 miles per hour.

I photographed about 20 of them, but there are many more. I became interested in small dwellings when I went to Whidbey Island, Washington. Continue Reading »

Kevin Coy recently sent me a video on how to save thousands on your micro house project. In the video Kevin explains that buy buying a used RV, for a small sum, and then removing the important internals such as: heating, air conditioning, kitchen appliances, propane bottles, shower, toilet, and hot water heater can save you a ton of money. Keep in mind, it is important that you are careful when removing these items, but think of how much you can save by repurposing instead of buying new!

You can subscribe to Kevin’s series of videos on his channel here and follow him on his blog at http://kevinsmicrohomestead.wordpress.com/

Thanks Kevin for sharing your knowledge on the renewable way of buildin g a tiny house.

Sold!

Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Home is selling his 8′ x 24′ prototype. Bill is selling a partially completed prototype at a reduced price until January 27. The house though unfinished includes a separate bedroom, living area, kitchen and a bathroom with a built in shower. It is fully insulated and has dual pane windows. It just needs your own special touch to complete it and to make it you own.

Bill is asking an incredibly low price of just $5,800 but you need to jump on it quickly as it is only available through January 27 at this low price. Give Bill a call at 707-486-4320 and let him know you heard about it on the Tiny House blog.

by Matthew Wolpe

So, I’m designing and building a tiny house. Last year one of my students showed me a picture of the Tumbleweed houses and said she wanted to build one and wanted me to help out. I laughed and thought it was funny and intriguing, but inside I was like “Are you serious, you’re gonna move into one of those?” Okay, so fast forward six months, and the New Yorker article came out and I was reading it in bed. It was a rare moment of epiphany, aided by some lovely company.

It was the ideal next step for me.

There were a few considerations:

1. I loved my housemates to death but don’t love my basement room, particularly in the winter
2. I’d been building chicken coops for the past year, something I’m a little tired of, so it was like a giant chicken coop with new challenges
3. I had been trying to buy a house with friends in oakland for over a year and am convinced this is my only way towards home ownership in the bay area, and
4. After finishing the manuscript and seeing my sweetheart leave the country for a long while I had the compulsion to throw myself into a giant project. Continue Reading »

The T@B is back! Dutchmen, the original manufacturers of the T@B, discontinued the production and support of the colorful, stylish little trailer in 2009, much to the chagrin of die-hard T@B owners and fans. One reason for this might have been because of the high cost of the various parts of the trailer that came from Europe. The rights to the popular trailer has now been acquired by Little Guy Worldwide, a company that makes teardrop trailers. Little Guy has partnered with Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers (the people who built my teardrop) to build the T@Bs. The Ohio-based company was also considering acquiring the T@B name and business at the same time as Little Guy, but instead decided to partner with Little Guy and their large fan-base.

The new 15-foot long T@B has the same smart and sassy design, options and details as the original, but is still in the initial floor plan phase. Little Guy has added some additional amenities such as an outdoor shower with a 2.5 gallon heated tank, a 3-way refrigerator that can run off 12 volt, 110 or propane and a detachable screen door. The trailer is about 1,500 pounds fully loaded, contains a sink and a 2-burner LP stove, a propane tank and battery attached to the front and has a 5 gallon fresh water tank. The interior has birch cabinetry, storage under and over the seating/Queen bed combo, a small closet, a Port-a-Potty, an LP furnace/CoolCat air conditioner and several upholstery designs.

Continue Reading »