Tiny House Blog

Named after a San Francisco sculptor who could not afford a permanent place to live in her expensive city, the Sarah House Project in Salt Lake City, Utah is one man’s attempt to build an affordable home out of castoff shipping containers.

Sara Putnam, (the “h” for the project had already been added to a banner advertising the building) who recently died from cancer was living at an artists’ colony at the Hunter Point Naval Shipyards — where she wasn’t supposed to be sleeping. Her friend, Jeffrey White is building a 672 square foot home out of two 8×40-foot shipping containers. While visiting the Naval shipyards one night, White noticed dock workers unloading containers and thought about turning the big metal boxes into homes. The Sarah House Project has been funded by grants, donations and money raised by Jeffrey’s custom made funeral urns. He said in a recent Salt Lake City news report that his small, custom urns take up less space below ground, just as he hopes his home will take up less ground — above the ground.

The home will have a combination living room, dining and kitchen, a bathroom and bedroom and a day room. Jeffrey had originally put a 40-foot container on his driveway and started converting it into a house, but ran into trouble with city officials. Now the home is being built on some land procured by a local nonprofit, the Crossroads Urban Center, and when completed, will be sold to a low income family or couple.

Jeffrey estimates the cost of the project, including the land, at $108,000 – $115,000. This, he says, is close to the cost of a conventional home and is higher than he expected, but White hopes he’ll be able to bring those numbers down in future.

“I would love this house to come somewhere in the $60,000 – $75,000 range,” White said.

Photos courtesy of the Sarah House Project

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

The Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont will be hosting the first ever Tiny House Fair June 14-16, 2013. The fair will include presentations on tiny houses from Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed and Four Lights Tiny House Company and Deek Diedrickson of Relaxshacks as well as workshops on how to design and build a tiny house, finish carpentry, using recycled materials, alternative power, composting toilets and creating a community.

Registration is open to the first 100 people who sign up and the $300 cost will include all workshops, presentations and meals. Cabin lodging on the Yestermorrow campus will also be available for $50 for two nights. Participants may also camp on-site for $20 for two nights and the lodging will be free if you bring your own tiny house or camper. Off-campus lodging includes a hostel and several hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Yestermorrow offers over 150 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft including a variety of courses concentrating in sustainable design and green building. Operating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization since 1980, Yestermorrow is one of the only design/build schools in the country, teaching both design and construction skills. Our 1-day to 3-week hands-on courses are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country.

Photos by Yestermorrow Design/Build School and George Soules with David Cain.

I recently featured a teardrop trailer builder in Eugene, Oregon on the Tiny Yellow Teardrop blog and was pleased to find out that the family-run Oregon Trail’R company is one of very few companies to offer teardrop trailer kits. These types of kits can be perfect for people who are interested in building or owning a teardrop trailer, but don’t possess the skills, time or tools to build one completely from scratch.

Jon and his brother Sawyer of Oregon Trail’R create and supply a solid foundation for their FronTear style trailer. This includes precut walls, a floor, doors, bulkheads, partitions and spars. The buyer can do all the assembly themselves or Oregon Trail’R will begin the build and the buyer can finish it themselves. The buyer supplies the frame and chassis, galley and interior cabinetry, lighting and any other finishing details. Oregon Trail’R can also supply a custom frame designed for a 5×8 foot trailer for $1,300. Continue Reading »

Austin Hay has grown just as much as his tiny house has. However, the semi-famous young man seemed unfazed by the attention his house was getting on this sunny day in October. Dozens of people visited his tiny build last Saturday, including the parents of Kirsten Dirksen, who filmed Austin when he was 16 years old.

Austin has already been living in his tiny house for the past year-and-a-half while finishing up the final details. He’s been cooking eggs on his stove and cookies in his camp oven, which he received as a Christmas gift. While some of his friends have questioned how he gets up into his sleeping loft on such a small ladder, he proves it to them by clambering monkey-like up into his bed. He did say that on hot nights the loft is pretty miserable and not much fun to sleep in, so in the summer he will most likely crash on the futon in his main room. Continue Reading »

Christopher Smith and his girlfriend Merete Mueller of the TINY movie project were recently profiled by Fox 31 Denver. Christopher and Merete have towed their 127 square foot house to their remote property in Park County, Colorado. Their tiny house is nearly finished, but according to the video, the build took them 8 months longer than they expected.

The video shows the couple towing their new home along freeways and high mountain passes and parking it on their new piece of land.

“To see that little, tiny house on this huge, beautiful landscape really feels like home,” said Merete.

Video courtesy of Fox 31 Denver

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Andrew Odom of Tiny r(E)volution who has guest posted here several times in the past has started building his own tiny home. Andrew, his wife Crystal, and new baby plan to live in their tiny home when it is completed.

Andrew has brought on five sponsor companies – EcoFoil, LP Building Materials, Ethel Gloves, Mechanix, and Gulf Coast Supply & Manufacturing.

They are also making videos, at the pace of about two a week. Andrew is a good communicator and I think you will learn a lot by following his tiny house build.

You can follow their progress several ways. Via his blog at
http://tinyrevolution.us/ via Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/tinyrev and on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/tinyrevolution2010

Thanks Andrew for sharing your learning process with us.