Architecture

Tumbleweed Box Bungalow Open House

by Kent Griswold on June 5th, 2011. 29 Comments

*I’ve added a few pictures from the 2nd Open House. The bungalow was not competed so I will do a post later when Jay has finished it.

Last month I had the privilege to visit Jay Shafer and company at Tumbleweed’s monthly open house. Jay allowed me to take a few pictures of the forthcoming Box Bungalow a new design that he has been working on.

How would you like to be the first to see one in person? In fact you are seeing pictures here on the Tiny House Blog before they are announced on the Tumbleweed Tiny House website.

The Box Bungalow will be coming in five different styles and range from 99 to120 square feet, and can be built in most places without a permit. The exterior of each design is inspired by the American Craftsman style architecture and stems from an era of quality hand-craftsmanship, that is both simple and elegant. Can you imagine a spare bedroom, office, or a yoga studio in your back yard?

This month, on Saturday June 11th from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is having another open house and for the first time will be showing off the Box Bungalow. They are in the process of completing the interior. The interior may not be complete 100%, but it will probably look great anyway. Please sign up here.
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Posted June 5th, 2011 by Kent Griswold and filed in Announcement

Tags: architecture, Box Bungalow, Craftsman, Jay Shafer, Open House, Tumbleweed Tiny Houses

29 Comments

Rintala Eggertsson Architects

by Christina Nellemann on January 24th, 2011. 9 Comments

This architectural and design firm in Oslo, Norway has designed everything from bridges to nature observation towers, from swinging platforms to art pieces that release wooden birds or are set on fire. However, Rintala Eggertsson Architects have also designed a few tiny houses…or potential tiny houses.

Sami Rintala and Dagur Eggertsson’s work has been featured all over the world and they pride themselves on designing with a balance between man and nature. Many of their designs incorporate nature as a major element, but also have a modern, industrial feel to them. Their tiny homes in Norway, Italy and Thailand use nature as part of the design. Continue Reading »

Posted January 24th, 2011 by Christina Nellemann and filed in Floating Homes, Humanitarian, Pre-fab, Stick Built, Tiny House Concept

Tags: architect, architecture, concepts, design, Europe, Pre-fab, prefab

9 Comments

Ross Chapin and Tiny House Communities

by Christina Nellemann on September 29th, 2008. 21 Comments

A few years ago I was given the chance to visit the Third Street Cottages on Whidbey Island and the opening of the Greenwood Avenue Cottages in Seattle. These communities, by renowned architect Ross Chapin and developer Jim Soules, have become famous for being small, sustainable and community oriented. Chapin calls them pocket neighborhoods.

I think my first exposure to small and tiny houses was Chapin’s Third Street Cottages, which were featured in Sarah Susanka’s book, Creating the Not So Big House. They were so well designed and so space efficient and sufficient that it has not occurred to me since that I would need anything bigger. The Third Street Cottages are about 600-650 square feet and have a great room with living, cooking and dining areas, a downstairs bathroom with laundry facilities and a downstairs bedroom. Each house also has a full size loft that is accessed by a ship’s ladder. The owners personalize each cottage by naming their homes. I visited a cottage in the Third Street community named Plum Corner for the plum trees that were left behind during construction.

Third Street Cottages. Photo by Christina Nellemann.

The typical cottage community by Chapin includes 8 cottages on a 2/3 acre plot that usually holds one or two larger homes. The cottages surround a “green” area that holds seating, grass and trees and a place to grow community vegetables. A parking lot is off to the side of each community, hidden from view by a fence or bushes. Each cottage has its own small garden area surrounded by a low fence and each community has a shared tool shed and meeting room. Each small house is sold as a condominium and a monthly fee helps to maintain the garden and outlying areas.

To create a balance between the public and private areas, Chapin uses the concept of “layering”. The entryway into the main garden is the first layer, moving from public to more private. Anyone who does not belong in this area is noticed right away from each of the cottages. This way, neighbors can keep an eye on each other’s homes. The layering concept continues with the main garden area leading into the more private cottage gardens through the small fences and then each house is entered by first going up several stairs to the open front porches. The porches bring to mind the charming bungalows of the Arts & Crafts movement of the early 1900’s. The porches extend the living area of the small homes as well as offering a convenient area for neighborly chats.

Greenwood Avenue Cottages. Photo from Ross Chapin.com

I was able to view the Greenwood Avenue cottages during an open house tour and I was impressed by how the little details in the homes gave them each a different personality. Each tiny home uses architectural tricks to create a larger space: built-in bookshelves, alcoves, delineated ceiling heights between living and eating areas, ample windows and skylights. Each home is personalized with special details such as trim, woodwork (the walls of the Third Street Cottages are paneled in reclaimed spruce saved from destruction by a piano company) and cubby areas holding shelves, window seats or dining nooks.

Greenwood Avenue Cottages. Photo by Christina Nellemann.

Chapin believes in not only designing and building to save space and money, but to promote sustainability. The low garden fences are recycled fencing, the cottage’s siding is cement fiber board rather than wood, and the garden pathways were laid with crushed hazelnut shells from a local nut company.

Ross Chapin Architects also sell cottage home and small home plans. The three smallest are the Blue Sky Cabin at 307 square ft. the Backyard Cottage at 449 square ft. and the Lizzie Cottage at 540 square ft.