Tiny House Blog

by Dan

About 4 years ago, when our first born was only a year old, we caught the road tripping bug and decided to buy a small travel trailer. We began traveling locally in California and Arizona and fell in love with the lifestyle.

A year later, as we were expecting our second child, we upgraded to a 25-foot Airstream and began contemplating longer and more extensive road trips. Being self-employed in the software industry, we were able to work from anywhere. Even though our home in California was a small bungalow less than 1,000 square feet, we felt like it was a lot of space for our little family of 4.

When our second daughter was just 5-months old, we packed up and left our house for a cross country road trip. Unlike most other road trips, this one was not a vacation but rather a working, living, and learning experience on the road. For the next 4 months, we lived in our Airstream with less than 200 square feet of space. We learned to live small, conserve our resources and were surprised that we were happier than ever. Continue Reading »

Rosie has been SOLD!

We are ‘snowbirds’ from Canada, 60 something, who have always tried to have a small footprint. We were environmentalists and vegetarians long before it was the ‘in thing’. In our retirement we sold all the trappings of our old lives and travelled in a van and backpacking tent. That proved to be the most liberating experience of our lives! It came to be though, that we wanted a home base in Canada so we bought a bit of land and built…by ourselves…as small a cottage as the local bylaws would allow. Winters, however, have been spent in Texas pursuing our simple passion for birding. For this purpose we bought an 1983 Airstream Excella, that we named Rosie, to refurbish and be our winter home. We have been comfortably living in ROSIE’s 232 sq ft for 4 months a year. She has everything we need and more. We enjoyed the challenge of making her liveable and easy to maintain.

A change came over us this winter though. We decided that we needed less space! We would like to explore but do not own a tow vehicle for Rosie. We needed to think even smaller and lighter to make more travel affordable; we needed to think even simpler to make boondocking possible. So, to that end, we have purchased a used 17 ft Casita Spirit Deluxe, already named Megg (for the EGG that it is ), that our Toyota can easily tow. We will be downsizing to 102 sq ft! Our plans are to stay down south for even longer periods, maybe up to 6 months. We’ll have the option of summer trips up north too. Continue Reading »

It’s hard to believe this aging 1972 Airstream’s pushing 40. A midlife makeover has blessed this 27-foot Tradewind with an age-defying renovation. Compared to its thousands of other shiny riveted siblings criss-crossing the country it’s just a youngster. Airstream, still an all-American company, turns 80 next year.

Matthew Hofmann, a 28-year-old Central California Coast-based architect, is the master craftsman who’s turning back the clock. This is his second high-design Airstream project to be released this year. Hofmann Architecture (www. HofArc.com) is a a full-service Santa Barbara residential design and small space renovation firm.

Hofmann’s version 2.0 is truly better in several significant ways, offering more open space, a larger bathroom, and an office desk. There’s a lot that hasn’t changed inside and that’s good because so much of what he designed into the previous 25-foot 1978 Tradewind was quite simply solid design. Continue Reading »

For Sale 1976 – 25′ Airstream Tradewind

“Sold” The airstream could use refurbishing and some cosmetic work.  All systems operable. It is road worthy and can be taken on the road anywhere. The trailer is located 20 miles west of San Antonio, Texas in a small community of Boerne.

The owners are asking  $8,000. If interested please contact me at tinyhouseblog(at)gmail.com and I will pass on your email and contact info to them.

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Sharon Pieniak is living the ultimate road trip. In 2007, she realized that her work had become truly location-independent after having established a successful graphic design business and taken her work on many vacations. So, she purchased a new 20’ Airstream travel trailer and hit the road. She has been living, working and traveling in it since.

Her aim was to spend her free time satisfying her insatiable wanderlust and photographing the beauty of America. Initially an experiment in nomadic living, it has become a way of life for her now that she finds hard to beat. “I feel much more connected with the art of living now,” she says, “It’s nice, because wherever I go, I’m at home, and my neighbors are usually some of the nicest people around.” Her small home on wheels allows Sharon and her dog Harley to explore a continuous trail of new and beautiful places and brings a greater portion of the world into their everyday life.
Continue Reading »

Guest Post by Matthew Hofmann

10 advantages of living and working in tiny spaces (with wheels)

Hofmann kicked off his quest for inner peace at the most logical place – CraigsList. He found an Airstream in “fair condition.” A 4-digit deal was struck and one dark and rainy night he rescued the abandoned abode from behind a chain link fence guarded by a Pit Bull in Mira Loma.

“Crap! I’d just written a sizeable check for what looked like a glorified dog house. The trailer’s swaying back and forth along rain-soaked 101, like the pendulum of doubt pounding in my brain.”

The body was solid, but inside the trailer was a mess. “I’m fairly certain the last resident was the junkyard dog.”

• Step #1: Demo – Take everything out (which got the wet dog smell out).
• Step #2: Design – The creative process, Hofmann believes, isn’t accomplished by adding more, but by taking away what’s distracting. “The design questions were How much does one remove? How much does one keep?

“For me the solution was creating open space using honest materials. I wanted to bring a sense of outdoors in, so it needed to be bright and airy by nature, yet warm and multi-functional.” Continue Reading »