While living in an area populated by people from the Basque region, some residents around the Reno/Lake Tahoe area will sometimes catch a glimpse of a sheepherder, his sheep and his home in the high desert: a small trailer or sheep wagon.

My post on the gypsy caravans was popular, so I thought I would do a post on the classic (and contemporary) sheep wagon.

Sheep wagons are usually about 7 to 8 feet wide and about 12 to 16 feet long. Inside the wagon is usually room for one bed or bunks, a small stove, sink and cooking area, storage for clothes and an eating area. Most sheep wagons do not have bathrooms or showers.

Old Western Wagons

Sheep wagons are more of an American West style and the gypsy caravan is more of a European style. The sheep wagon has a curved roof supported by hoops and looks more like a covered wagon. The roof can be made from heavy duty cloth or wood. I have even seen a few with tin or corregated metal roofs.

Several companies in the U.S. convert old wagons or build new wagons for vacation homes and retreats or backyard offices and country cabins. There are also a few books with great photos and information on sheep wagons including Portable Houses by Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel and Retreats by G. Lawson Drinkard III.

Old Western Wagons

Old Western Wagons

Old Western Wagons

Old Point Reyes Campground Shepherd's Wagon

Home on the Range Sheep Wagon

Anvil Wagonworks

Old Western Wagons

Visit a Montana 1880’s Ranch

Stay in a Shepherd’s Wagon in Point Reyes

Hanson Wheel & Wagon Shop

Story from Mother Earth News on living in a sheep wagon

Idaho Sheep Camp

Moore Ranch

Roadhouse Wagons

Woolywagons

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WoodManor Playhouses offers plans, pre-cut kits and fully built playhouses for about 13 different styles ranging from Queen Anne to Condo. The largest is around 23 ft wide, 13 feet long and 14 feet high. What I liked about these homes were the details that were put into the interior which includes inside walls and staircases.

I thought these were some of the most beautiful playhouses I have ever seen. Maybe a tiny house enthusiast can take one of these samples and make it just a little bit larger for an adult.

By Christina Nellemann

The Studio Shed by Modern-Shed was recently featured in Dwell magazine and I was impressed that these stylish dwellings with their clean lines and Japanese design do not look like your typical backyard shed.

Modern-Shed is simply about storage, fun, space, architecture in your backyard. It gives you the chance to have an office away from home, a small art studio, guest or rental quarters, or to free up room in the garage.

The Modern Shed buildings are available in five styles: Basic, Studio, Designer, Dwelling and Play. The goal for all Modern-Shed sheds is to be able to be assembled quickly and with few tools. All models are packed flat with all the panels pre-built and finished. The Studio Shed comes with pre-insulated walls and roof panels.

For tiny house lovers who want a little more space, the Dwelling Shed may be what you are looking for. The Dwelling Shed comes in multiple configurations, is shipped with pre-painted parts, insulation in the roof, walls and floor, tongue and groove wood ceiling, and a metal roof. However, the kitchen and bathroom fixtures are not included and the plumbing and electrical will need to be installed on site.

Modern-Shed builds their sheds under one roof, which cuts down on waste and travel time and fuel. The company purchases their supplies from local manufacturers in the Seattle area. They also offer a variety of exterior and interior materials and colors and some eco-friendly options such as:

• Denim wall insulation
• Cork floor tiles
• Linoleum Floor Tiles
• Tex Decking
• Structurally Insulated panels (SIPS)
• Sustainable wood
• Green roofs

The Dwelling Shed starts at $39,900 for the 475 square foot model and $69,900 for the 750 square foot model. Each model comes with exterior french doors and wall-mounted sliding interior doors.

Re-visit their site for upcoming photos and information on the very cool looking Designer Shed.

By Christina Nellemann

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In the middle of winter, I start dreaming about tropical locales. For people who are lucky enough to be able to let the outdoors into their homes almost all year long, the “Wee Hus” from Gado Gado International in Santa Rosa, Calif. might be the perfect tiny house for you.

These tiny teak homes with their exquisite details are designed from the original style found in Indonesia and are built in Java. Both the original traditional tiny houses and the newer ones are made from reclaimed teak using traditional mortise and tenon joinery.

Gado Gado uses nails and bolts sparingly where needed for structural strength and safety.The tiny houses are named after Gado Gado owner, David Sussman’s Irish Aunt Patsy.

Indonesia is in earthquake country, and there are more >6.0 earthquakes in Java than in California. These little houses have stood up to large temblors precisely because of how they were constructed: the complex joinery system with through-going tenons through tenons in two directions gives the structure sufficient strength but allows enough flexibility to sway during earthquake movements without falling over.

The ceilings of some of the tiny houses range from simple teak lap-jointed planks to highly carved original “joglo” pieces. Gado Gado cuts the roof shingles by hand out of reclaimed teak boards.

Tumpang Sari Carved Ceiling

Joglo Painted Ceiling

The tiny houses range from 8×8 ft. up to 16×16 ft., and are priced at $10,000 up to about $30,000 based on size, complexity, and the amount of original or new carving requested by the customer. They are built for longevity, and can stand up to rain, snow and direct sun. Teak is more resistant to rot and bugs than any hardwood or softwood grown in the U.S. due to its high resin content and the presence of 1%-2% silica (basically like beach sand) taken up by the teak tree from the soil. These houses are not yet built to U.S. standards for year-round living, although such modifications are not difficult during installation. The original Indonesian teak homes were not built with wiring or plumbing, but this can be added later by the customer.

Gado Gado offers a CD-ROM that shows the step-by-step construction of a 16×12 ft Wee Hus. You can order the CD-ROM from the website.

The teak homes ship to the customer as “knock down” with each mortise and tenon marked to show where they will be put together. Scaled drawings of the pier foundation are also included. Gado Gado recommends that customers invite all their friends that are handy with tools and make a day of it (a 12×16 ft. tiny house takes about 1.5 days to set up with 8 people). However, it is worth the money to get the owner, David Sussman and one of his staff, out to the site to guide the installation.

By Christina Nellemann

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Summerwood Products in Toronto, Canada has a fantastic website that is very detailed, and provides some excellent foder for the tiny house enthusiast. Summerwood sells finely crafted outdoor products such as garden sheds, pool cabanas, gazebos, garages, playhouses, home studios and spa enclosures, but I really fell for their tiny backyard cabins which don’t have to stay in the backyard.

You can buy a pre-cut kit, a pre-assembled kit or the plans for the tiny cabins. The pre-assembled format is designed for quick, convenient assembly, with most of the components pre-assembled and ready for you to put together on site. The pre-cut format is ideal for the consummate do-it-yourselfer. Summerwood designs the product, purchases and cuts all the materials, builds the doors and windows and ships the pieces to the buyer. Pre-cut structures will likely require about 50% more assembly time, but they are also less expensive and may offer greater satisfaction once the job is done.

Canmore Cabin 16x16

The tiny cabins range in price from about $9,000 to $30,000 for pre-cut, to $10,000 to $34,000 for pre-assembled. The plans are about $160. Until December 31, 2008, they are offering free plans. The buyer can customize their own cabin on the website.

Canmore Cabin

I really fell in love with the Canmore cabins which come in both small and large sizes. Less than 144 square feet for the small and 145 and up for the large. The largest is 20×20 feet. The Canmore has about 16 styles to choose from. Some of the larger styles of cabins are the Cheyenne cabins which are from 168 to 540 square feet and the Mountain Brook cabins from 168 to 512 square feet. The Breckenridge cabins are 12×18 or 14×24 feet.

The Summerwood website also lists the tools you will need to build your own tiny cabin, your assembly time, types of foundations to use, a breakdown of the cabin dimensions and materials and cut-away views of the construction. They offer different floor plans, 3D tours of the structures and options for customization. The homes can be fitted with electrical, plumbing and insulation.

After purchasing the base model, materials upgrades are available, including:

• Cedar siding to beautifully finish interior walls and ceilings
• 2-sided partition walls to create separate rooms and more private spaces
• Steel doors for a modern and stylish look
• Insulation for warmth and protection
• An array of available cedar upgrades for rafters, trusses, studs, floor boards, and roof boards

Summerwood ships to anywhere in the world, but if you live in the U.S. shipping is included in your kit price.

By Christina Nellemann

Breckenridge Cabin

Canmore Cabin

Camore Cabin

Cheyenne Cabin

Cheyenne Cabin

Canmore Cabin 20x20

Telluride Cabin

Telluride Loft

Over the holiday weekend, I visited Portland and the tiny house of Walt Quade of Small Home Oregon. Walt builds and ships lovely 325 square foot homes anywhere within the state of Oregon. Walt has been a residential designer/builder since 1992 and is dedicated to building smaller homes. This tiny house is built on a foundation in his backyard.

“With a small home, you have to take the extra effort to create an efficient space,” he said.

His tiny house feels a lot larger than 325 square feet and contains all the amenities of a larger home including a full bath and bedroom. I was impressed with the architectural details of the curved ceiling, the beautiful lighting and the use of a Murphy-style bed in the bedroom. The small home can be built with a loft or just a ceiling storage area.

Walt has built two tiny houses for other people who use them as recreation homes. He offers five floorplans and several configurations, and he can customize the space to whatever the buyer wants. Each house can also be placed on any type of foundation, has a 55 lb snow load and can withstand 110 mile an hour winds.

“You can put them on the beach or in the desert. Basically, they can go anywhere.” he said.

Walt is an advocate for off-the-grid living as well, and encourages buyers of his homes and plans that they look into several off-grid options for power, sewer, water and heat. His tiny house now is heated by small wall heaters, but he said that they can be built to use radiant heat.

The buildings come with a 1 year warranty and have been inspected and approved by the state of Oregon. Right now, Walt is only shipping within Oregon. Each tiny house costs around $40,000 and will cost around $4,000 to ship. Plans cost $265 per set. Walt also builds custom teardrop trailers if you feel the need to travel away from your tiny house.

By Christina Nellemann

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I recently came across these two companies who design and build small, whimsical backyard and garden

cottages for a very affordable price. EcoScape Outdoors in San Diego, Calif. and Zoe Outdoors in Salem, Ore. are both run by different members of the same family and offer a wide array of unique customizable garden cottage studios and outdoor living products. Their tiny cottages are made with prefabricated wall panels, a roof truss system and floor system that a certified installer can complete in about three or four days.

Both EcoScape Outdoors and Zoe Outdoors are factory direct manufacturing companies which can save the buyer about 50 percent of the construction cost of one of these homes. They offer three sizes: a 10 x 12 cottage for $7,450, a 10 x 16 cottage for $8,450 and a 10 x 20 cottage for $9,450. These tiny homes also offer the following:

• High quality northwest building materials
• Insulated vinyl windows
• Low E glass insulated windows
• Steel insulated entrance door
• Natural, oiled cedar finish
• Architectural roof shingles with a 25-year warranty
• One year manufacturer’s warranty

Neither company provides wiring or plumbing, but a heavy duty commercial grade extension cord for electrical power is provided with each cottage. Having a contractor or electrician wire your cottage is an option after the cottage is built.

Zoe Outdoors also works with churches, shelters and other community organizations to provide cottages for the homeless and families who need emergency shelter. Zoe Outdoors will soon be offering a cottage on wheels.

They also offer distributorship opportunities for someone who would like their own tiny cottage business. They have showrooms in several areas of the country including Seattle, Boise, Tulsa and Las Vegas.

By Christina Nellemann

Trailer Version

Trailer Version

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Lori Marie is an artist/craftista who works out of a tiny house in her backyard in Oakland. She fills it with her crafting supplies, sewing machine and computer, her French bulldog Matilda, and lots of color. Her pretty little studio has a tiny deck and even a tiny garden. She said the prior owners of her house built the studio over an old foundation and fireplace, which no longer works.

“My favorite time of year is when the roses are in bloom on the hillside and the hummigbirds are buzzing around the passion flower vine,” she said. It really feels like a wonderland and is the perfect little place to bring all of my ideas to life.”

Artists’ retreats have been around as far back as Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond. The common theme of each seems to be a tiny space, usually one room, just for writing, poetry, painting and other creative skills.

Pollan's Writing Cabin

Pollan's Writing Cabin

Michael Pollan’s desire for his own getaway was so strong that he spent two years building his tiny writer’s cabin and wrote about his triumphs and frustrations in his book, A Place of My Own.

Kristina Lindbergh, the granddaughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh also had a 12-ft. by 12-ft. writer’s retreat built for her by her brother and sister-in-law. The tiny cabin has space for writing, a few shelves for books and a sleeping loft. You can see her tiny cabin in the book, The Cabin: Inspiration for the Classic American Getaway

One of the nice things about a tiny artist retreat is that it can be built in a backyard or close enough to a house to take advantage of the convenience, but still feel like an escape from the big house world.

Ideas for Great Backyard Cottages

By Christina Nellemann

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