Saturday I had the privilege of visiting Jay Shafer (Tumbleweed Tiny House Company) at one of his free open house days at his home in Sebastopol, California.
I wanted to experience first hand his craftsmanship and see the actual house he lives in and meet him in person.
Jay had just completed a Vardo, which is a very small space. Which consists mainly of a bed in a very attractive cover. It would be great for camping and weekend excursions.
Jay is very friendly and easy to talk to and I enjoyed a personal tour of his home. It is very small, but for a single person a perfect size if you believe in a simple life and want to live in it full time.
It would also make a great weekend vacation home for a couple, with the ease to move it from place to place.
His work is of the highest quality and I would consider him both an artist and a craftsman.
I live about 15 miles from Jay’s home and have requested to come watch and shoot a few photos of his next project. So stay tuned!
Jay offers a Building and Design Workshop in several cities across the country. If you are interested in building one of his homes, I would highly recommend that you attend one of these workshops.
I am so completely, and utterly in love with the whole idea of a tiny house. I’ve been looking over the Tumbleweeds website all day, and am seriously considering buying a tiny house after I finish school in a couple of years. I *love* this.
Me too. I have been looking at the Tumbleweed tiny house website for about 6 years now and I am now setting an obtainable 10 year goal plan for myself to : Buy a nice quiet piece of land in Northern New England to biuld one of Jay Schafers houses on. I want to hopefully drill a small well for fresh water and eventually a ground mounted solar system enebling me to be off the local pwer grid. Maybe a small windmill fro electricity as well. My dream to live simple!!
Why not try Alaska? Land is cheap & abundant here. It’s easy to get land either already with a well, or an easily dug one, you could even get land near totally clean streams. Further south east in AK you go the more milder and “washington like” the weather is. I think Alaska is a great and affordable option!
I love them too. Next year….when hopefully my townhouse goes back up in value, I’m planing on contacting Jay to build me a Lusby Home.
I have already downsized my living space to one room and have gotten rid of tons of STUFF that I’ve been holding on to since 1998. This was easier than I thought.
I’ve set my heart on the lusby and though I may have to modify the designs slightly to be able to suitably handle English road laws I hope to make this after I finish university.
Any other UK tiny house builders around?
Seems to be quite a few people who like the Lusby. It’s my favorite too. I think my wife and I could get along quite well in it. I’ve only seen Jays Epu and it was great but this is a little larger and I feel two people would be more comfortable in it.
Yes, the Lusby will be my choice too. I’m looking for land now, and hopefully can save for the Lusby within a year. Time to start paring down. 🙂
I am just back from day two of the Tumbleweed House tour in Seattle. Wow. So many people with so many great ideas. Jay is so good at sharing his knowledge in a friendly and accessible way. No pretense. Total openess to hear the ideas of others.
We had people come from the Seattle area, of course, but we also had people from Canada, Montana, even someone in Seattle on leave from working in Qatar in the Middle East.
And thanks to Habitat for Humanity, as they let us use their wonderful facility in Seattle.
Thanks Jay and all the classmates.
Bryan
Hey Brian,
Thanks for the report from Seattle. I will be attending Jay’s workshop next weekend in the San Francisco area and am really looking forward to it also. Glad to hear about such a great turnout up north.
Kent
@Baggers. I’m in the UK, and seriously considering building my own version, a cross between the lusby and the Weebee. The problem is finding somewhere you can park them for extended periods. I’m living in central london now, but possibly moving nearer to kingston, still difficult to find a place. I’d plan to use a composting toilet, rainwater capture and solar panel for power, staying completely off grid so wouldn’t need hookups anywhere, just a place to park.
Currently looking into the laws here and cost of suitable trailers. I’d be doing it on a budget and with as much recycled materials as possible.
J.
I think this is an awesome idea. My husband and I love the Lusby!
why would you want to live in a wendy house?
I love this too. Just saw a story aol did on it, and now his website is “suspended.” Wondering how to find out prices, et cetera and what happened to his online site. Weird.
Please fix your web sight so i can get more info i have family that i can set up on land with this. It would be great for my mom who does not need alot of space and my brother and his wife. love those little houses.
I hope Tumbleweed survives the current economic condition. I hope to live in one of these houses when i move out of my parents house to attend grad school in 2011. I think these homes provide the perfect housing solution for someone like me, who will be moving from school to school and job to job for the foreseeable future. the moving process would be so much easier. it would be great to minimize the cost of rent and utilities. plus i spend so little time at home, it seems like a waste to occupy an entire apartment, just to sleep and store my clothes and make pasta-roni.
Hi,
I understand that you will be stopping in New York City. What is the date and where will you be? I am very interested in living in one of these homes.
Emma Olson
Hi Emma,
The workshop will be held at the Hampton Inn 144-10 135th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, 11436 on June 13 and 14 see details here: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/workshops/ the open house will also be held there on the 13th at 5:30 PM.
The Coast to Coast Tour information is located here: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/touring-the-us/coast-to-coast-tour/
Hope that helps…Kent
@Baggers. I’m in the UK, and seriously considering building my own version, a cross between the lusby and the Weebee. The problem is finding somewhere you can park them for extended periods. I’m living in central london now, but possibly moving nearer to kingston, still difficult to find a place. I’d plan to use a composting toilet, rainwater capture and solar panel for power, staying completely off grid so wouldn’t need hookups anywhere, just a place to park.
Currently looking into the laws here and cost of suitable trailers. I’d be doing it on a budget and with as much recycled materials as possible.
J.
y love these house, come live here em Brasil,ples
Mr. Jay.
I am a college student who still lives at home, and after seeing these amazing houses, affording to move out doesn’t seem to far away. My parents even offered to split the costs! I am in loveee with the B-53 design! (:
Hi, my husband and I have built a big house and our daughter and her family of 5 have moved back in, so we built a small house for us. It is 432 square ft. We love living in it but we are currently using a hot plate. I would love to buy a stove top like the one you have in the video. Could you tell me where I could buy one please
Thank you
Hello, I’m not of age yet, but when I am I plan to move into a tiny home. I absolutely adore the idea of small houses and have always wanted one. My main concern is where I could put it. Any solution?
Thanks a bunch
i love those little tiny house trailers and i think my parents would love them too i wish i could have came up with that idea
Thanks for an amazing workshop and concert
WOW! I feel like I live in a giant house compared to the 100 square feet in the tiny house. I love the concept and I would love to test it out for a month of living to see if it’s for me. My friend started living in an RV for mobility and because she didn’t want to pay $1,500 for a small apt/studio in San Diego, California, but she couldn’t fit her loads of “stuff” so she moved back home. Mind you, her RV is triple the size of the tiny house in your YouTube video… So I completely admire anybody that is able to live in an environmentally friendly home like that. And it’s so cozy!
Thanks for sharing tiny homes with us!
Great! Gives me hope…I may become homeless, again, very worried…Can people park these anywhere? Jill
Just watching show on tv here in New Zealand. love the look and concept to add to our cedar holiday house. Do you sell plans?? Too far to ship to NZ.
what is the tongue weight on this house to pull it