Somewhere in a warehouse in the state of New York the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is working on a new product. Called the Tumbleweed Box Bungalow, Jay Shafer has been busy designing a new style of tiny house. Steve Weissmann, business partner of Jay Shafer and President of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, is sharing with Tiny House Blog readers a few pictures of the bungalows as they are being constructed and before they are officially launched.
The Box Bungalows are 7 foot by 14 foot in size, around 98 square feet. They are designed to be built on skids and will be available in a kit form so that anyone can easily assemble a bungalow in your back yard or on your property. Stay tuned as more pictures of the construction of the Box Bungalows will be forth coming. P.S. — Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is looking for dealers on the east coast. Click Here.
A kit sounds real interesting! It might be the last little nudge I need to get started building. Do you have any idea if and how the house could be picked up and put on a trailer for moving?
Any portable building mover would have a trailer equipped with a winch and a series of steel rollers built into the trailer. Wrap the ends of a chain around the skids, put the center of the chain onto the winch hook, and they pull the building up onto the trailer to just past center of gravity. Strap it down and they’re ready to roll. The 7′ width probably helps to avoid multi state highway permit issues while hauling it. If they’re putting an eave on their building, the eave width is the width of the building according to most state regs.
Very clever. This reminds of the Bungalow in a box company ( http://bungalowinabox.com/ ). With Tumbleweed’s good name I’m sure these will sell very well. Nice work.
I’m in NYS (near Syracuse) I only wish I could afford one of these. If you saw the trailer I live in, you’d understand. But, I have been pitching the micro house idea to my local city. Fulton NY.
Sounds really neat – looking forward to more details! Loving the kit idea, too. All of us aren’t ready to stare down a pile of lumber!
I’m sure if it’s on skids it can be moved – definitely much easier than a conventional house that’s larger and was never really planned on being portable.
Just curious, why 7ft?
Because 7 feet is the perfect width for a motorcycle/ATV/snowmobile garage. 7×14; that’s what these are for right? A tiny garage?
Bungalow. House. I wish they’d posted a completed one though with what the best set up would be. I’m guessing kitchen to one wall, sleeping area, but where’s the bathroom go or is this another break down extra bedroom.
The Toronto Tiny House is only 6′ wide. I’m unsure how long it is, but it really can’t be too much longer than this one http://www.thelittlehouse.ca/page1.aspx I’ve only seen the house from the outside, but there is a layout in that page someplace and it actually has 2 bedrooms, one upstairs over the main part of the house and a second back bedroom that is under the patio of the upstairs.
Movable like an ice fishing shanty.
Now that the pictures have finally downloaded, I see that they ARE putting an eave on these. According to most states, the eave width IS the building width and that’s how they determine what the permit fee is. Keeping the box size at 7′, the eave width should be 8′, therefore no permit.
I really enjoyed the videos on Jay’s web site. It was great to finally see some details on the shower and toilet, and where he located them. I would like to see the market really expand for these tiny homes. They may be tiny but they are on the large side of green. With property taxes going out of site, green homes mean more green in your pockets! I think he should offer kits that are not on wheels, mass produced and lower in price. If we ever decide to enter the market that is the way we are going. I’m an old fan of Henry Ford’s original marketing style. Anyway, we need affordable tiny homes to help solve the housing problem.
Dear Walt,
Please run for President and win, thanks!
🙂
A rather exciting development in this market and a good experiment to see just how much “DIY spirit” is needed for the market to grow even more…
I think this will be especially appreciated by people who’d like to quickly set up a small neighborhood of quality small living structures…hmmm…
–S
I am having great dificulty in building my 208 square foot tiny house….building code people do not like anything less than 400 sq ft. Zoning aside I like its style….but as a “Jay-Fan” I like all his designs, just wished city and county government was not so narrow minded!!!! Sorry I meant to say “Pig-Headed”
Bob
“They are designed to be built on skids and will be available in a kit form so that anyone can easily assemble a bungalow in your back yard or on your property.”
That does not sound like an actual house, that sounds like a shed.
(A kit built bath, kitchen, etc. included perhaps?)
This place is larger than Jay’s XS house. I’m not sure why everyone seems to have an idea that it isn’t a house but a shed. It is a bungalow aka a small house.
Is this what Jay has been working on in his backyard (sorry Jay)?
Yes Drew, though they have been very secretive and not allowed me to photograph or come view the construction. I have seen the building in it’s early stages.
Hey thats one helluva shop those buildings are being built in.LOL
That doesnt look like a “backyard” to me.
More like a real professional woodworking fascility.
Dont you agree.?