Tiny House in a Landscape
Update: More photos of interior added below. Thanks Louise! Also plans are now available, go to the “Plans” link above.
This is the tiny cabin built and owned by a friend of mine.
He is extremely private, so I can’t tell you where it is located other than the inter-mountain west. It has a lovely compact kitchen and sleeping loft, with hot tub out back. The entire front has a porch for sitting and shooting the breeze. When we visit in our RV, we stay up the road a piece on national forest land, and leave him to his private, peaceful hideaway. -Louise
Cabin In the
Winter
Cabin under Construction
Cabin under Construction #2
Kitchen
Bathroom
Living room from Loft
Completed Exterior
by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)
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Tiny Green Cabins
Inspired by David Thoreau and energized by the opportunity to live a more sustainable and simple life, Jim Wilkins of St. Paul, Minnesota, has designed and built several tiny green cabins available for sale.
Each of these cabins have been developed to be multi-purpose, eco-friendly, transportable and stylish.
Tiny Green Cabins are earth friendly cabins ranging in size from 48 square feet to 252 square feet.
The Wildflower cabin is 120 square feet and built with green certified materials and reclaimed products as well as recycled materials. The walls and the floor are insulated with Soft Touch Cotton insulation made from recycled blue jeans.
The 8×18 foot Wildflower cabin base price is $19,900. Several options are included such as pine or cedar paneling, a propane fireplace and solar tripod. An upgraded model is for sale for $23,500 which includes Trex decking and wavy edge cedar wainscotting (which I just love!).
Two other green cabins profiled on Jim’s website are the 6×8 foot Mini-Sota which starts at $8,358 or the 8×10 foot Sunflower Starting at $10,499.
Neither price includes cabinetry, appliances or shipping. A $2,000 deposit will reserve a production date for a Tiny Green Cabin. A 50 percent deposit is required two weeks prior to production, with the balance due upon completion and delivery of the home.
Standard Items in the Tiny Green Cabins:
- FSC Cert. Mixed * SW-COC-000669 Lumber
- Ultra Touch Cotton Ins 6X16 – Recycled Denim (cotton) Insulation – (Blue Jeans)
- Finger jointed 2 X 3’s and 2 X 4’s
- Recycled & Reclaimed Lumber
- Anderson Silverline Windows
- Pro-Rib Steel 29 gauge panel – Emerald Green
- Trex Decking (recycled plastic and wood fibers)
- Low VOC paints
- Acrylic caulks
- Energy Star Electrical Boxes
- CDX roof and exterior sheathing
- Tyvek Exterior building wrap
- Vertical OSB substrate “Smart Panel” exterior siding
- Rebond (recycled) carpet padding
- Insulated windows (low e on some models both in recyclable aluminum and vinyl)
- Type 6 nylon carpet from Shaw
Optional Items in the Tiny Green Cabins:
- Recycled tires and axles.
- I-beam manufactured from scrap, recycled steel
- OSB Floor, Wall, and Roof Decking
- “James Hardie” Cemplank exterior siding
- Title 24 interior lighting
- Insulated fiberglass (50 year warranty) exterior entry doors.
- “Rinnai” tankless gas water heater
- PEX water systems (recyclable with no solvent connections)
- DR 24 PVC and ABS drain lines, less materials with recycled contents
- Gypsum panels (recycled paper)
- Energy Star appliances (most standard models and all up grades)
- Programmable thermostat
- 2×6 S4S Cedar Porch Decking
- Spray foam exterior wall insulation
- Electric Fireplace
- Cordwood Simulated Siding/Wainscoat
- Wavy Edge Rough Sawn Cedar Siding
- Water saver toilets, tub and shower diverters
- Quick recovery water heaters
- Aluminum (recyclable) mini-blinds
Jim also offers custom services for those that desire new designs along with products that can be incorporated into the tiny cabins, such as denim/cotton insulation, recycled and reclaimed materials, FSC Certified lumber products, solar panels for power off the grid, homemade soaps, organic products and other earth friendly sustainable products.
By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)
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Living Large in our Little House
You Can Skimp on Looks, but not on Quality
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell
www.livinglargeinourlittlehouse.com
We drove down our long, winding driveway in anticipation of viewing the progress the builders made on our dream lake home the previous week.
My husband stopped the truck and we just sat there, staring, not in awe, but in shock.
“What the *$!*?” my husband said. “The back is facing the driveway instead of the lake!”
Only the framing was up, but we could tell by the placement of the holes where doors and windows were to go that our 480-square foot dream was facing the wrong direction!
Like most working people going after their dreams, we were on a tight budget. Halting construction and starting over was possible – but would cost us.
When we did the math, we knew the cost wasn’t worth what we would have to give up – 2×6 construction, the highest rated insulation, energy efficient windows, doors and appliances.
When we built our Little House in the Big Woods, as my sister in law has dubbed it (can you tell she teaches Kindergarten?), we didn’t intend on living there full-time at first, but we knew we wanted a cozy, energy efficient cabin that would keep us cool in the summer and warm during winter retreats.
That decision almost cost us one of our little beloved dogs, Hershey. She was older when we built the cabin and during one of our many trips to the town hardware store when the cabin was first completed, we didn’t realize how airtight our place really was. Turns out, if you don’t shut a door all the way, when you open another, the trapped air will cause the improperly closed door to open. Poor Hershey, nearly blind, stepped out of the backdoor and dropped 4 feet to the ground. We came home and she was wandering around in circles in the yard. Thankfully, she hadn’t been eaten by coyotes and was otherwise all right. We learned our lesson about just how well our cabin was built – and our deck was completed soon after!
Not skimping on construction has also kept us warm and cozy in the winter now that we do live here full time. We only use a small wood burning stove for heat – and many times – we have had to turn it down, as it gets too hot in our little cabin. I would also recommend a wood-burning stove to anyone building any house in the country. We not only used the stove to heat our home during an 8-day power outage last winter caused by the great ice storm that hit several states, but we used it to cook our meals as well.
In the height of summer, we pay about $70 for electricity for the cabin – and that includes running a window air unit. In the winter, we often only have to pay the minimum our electric company requires.
We may have a house situated cockeyed to the lake below, but we have an energy efficient one – and besides, the strange way it’s positioned always makes for interesting conversational ice breakers with first time visitors to the Little House in the Big Woods!
Thank you Kerri for sharing your story. You can follow Kerri’s continuing story at the Living Large in our Little House blog.
by Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell for the (Tiny House Blog)
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Keith’s Tiny Log Cabin
Keith from Indiana sent me his story about his little log cabin that he built himself with no prior knowledge. Here is Keith’s story:
I built the cabin in 1990 with the help of a friend, both of us having zero prior knowledge or construction skills.
After reading three main books (Building a Log Cabin From Scratch by Ramsey, The Wilderness Cabin by Rutstrum and How to Build Your Home in the Woods by Angier) I decided the quickest and easiest would be a “trappers tilt” style, where the fat ends of the logs all put one way toward the front form the pitch for the roof as they go up higher.
These were considered temporary in their day and were built directly on the ground, but I used concrete piers and mine has an insulated floor.
I had purchased the wooded land a year before (50 acres) for a bargain price in southern Indiana and spent the year ‘90 working every single weekend and any vacation time felling trees, clearing the space and taking bark of of cedars and jack pines.
It was under roof by October 1st and I’ve been using spare time since to finish out the inside when the mood strikes. The first four courses of logs are cedar with the remainder in jack pine. We used spray foam between the logs and then put PermaChink on top of that.
The roof is very low, anyone over 5 foot 9 has problems with the middle log rafter! Since I’m only 5 foot 6, I don’t worry about it. I had a shed roof on it but it started to deteriorate and about 9 years ago I put a galvanized steel roof over that. It’s never leaked and the only problem I have is mice once in a while.
The stove was the smallest I could find but it sweats you out pretty quick if a window is not left open. However, one occasion it was 30 below and it took nearly 4 hours for the place to get up to only 50 degrees, even the oil lamp fuel was frozen!
The floor is parquet oak over standard subfloor plywood. It’s a pretty cozy place as long as it’s just me or one additional person. Any more than that and it’s crowded! Storage is at a minimum, so we pack light.
We only used cedars (which are plentiful and grow like weeds) or man-planted jack pines and used every bit of them that we could. I also later built an outhouse by my self. No pictures of it, but it’s not much to look at, regular stick-style and has a 5 foot deep shaft. It was built before they changed the laws against them and is now grandfathered in. It’s located as to not interfere with any water source and we use hydrated lime when we visit. It has a steel roof as well. It never smells very bad, even in the summer.
My only regret is not putting a few more courses of logs or not simply making a 12/12 pitch roof with a sleeping/storage loft. But I was a lot younger and wasn’t thinking as long term as I should have. Now, at 50, I can see more clearly what should have been done. However, we were lucky to get it as finished as we did because it’s three hours away from where I live and very remote with no power or running water. Ask me how much I like tent camping – I still am not fond of it after doing it every weekend for nearly a year. And this is coming from a guy who used to love camping more than anything!
Here is an entertaining video Keith put together that shows the interior. Thanks Keith for sharing your story with us.
by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)
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Vintage Tourist Cabin
A vintage tourist cabin finds new life—and love—in the Wisconsin woods
The Chicago Home and Garden had a neat article about this vintage tourist cabin. Here is what Gina Bazar has to say about this cool little cabin:
Talk about a labor of love. The resurrection from near-collapse of this modest one-room cottage is a perfect example of such a labor. The last remnant of a 1920s Beardstown, Illinois, “cabin court” composed of multiple tiny frame houses just like it, it is a relic of an era when middle Americans vacationed by giddily road-trippin’ with their new automobiles.
Tereasa Surratt, a creative director and partner at Ogilvy & Mather, whose grandmother lived next door to the broken-down, abandoned cabin, was hell-bent on saving it. “History has value,” says Surratt, who researched the property for years, with the goal of restoring the cabin to its original state. Over its lifetime, the 11-by-11-foot house had served as everything from a pit stop for weary travelers to an illicit gathering place to a hunt club’s cabin to the office of a trucking company. The owner of that company sold it to her in 2006 for $500. Read the complete article here.
Photo Credit: Aimee Herring
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Tiny House in a Landscape
John Chapman from New Zealand made a neat suggestion for a weekly post here on the Tiny House Blog.
Photo Credit: HB – click on picture to see full size
The idea is to show a tiny house, cabin, or hut in a landscape. It may be a meadow, a snowscape, a cityscape or any other setting.
With this first one I am showing a log cabin in a perfect setting. I am a big fan of log cabins and this is my choice for this week. This cabin is located in Montana and I like the setting with the clouds in the background.
Saturday will become know as “Tiny House in a Landscape day” and I want to encourage you to submit your favorite photo that you find in your search for a perfect tiny house for yourself.
You can email your photo to tinyhouseblog(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.
The picture should be as large as possible and if you can get permission from the photographer please do. If you are not able to communicate with the photographer, at least get their name so they can have the photo credit.
A description of the location would be nice also and why you chose this setting or what your dream is for your tiny house.
I hope this will become a popular post. Please comment below if you have any suggestions or other ideas.
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Alaskan Log Cabin
Aaron and Jill Bork have done what many of us dream of, running off to the wilds of Alaska and building a log cabin.
The couple fell in love with each other and the state and decided to build their own home. Armed with only a book and no prior knowledge of log cabin building, they purchased five acres of land with a spectacular view in their favorite area of Alaska and began to build a log cabin by hand with trees from their property. They built the cabin over the course of one summer, and spent the next year finishing up the inside.
Just about everything in the cabin came from the land: the countertops were built with rocks from a local creek, the deck from local saplings, the spiral staircase going to the loft is made of local timber and even the toilet seat is made of a tree trunk.
In order to simplify their lives and live in the area they loved so much, they decided to do without some of the luxuries. They built an outhouse, do their laundry in a Wonderwash, and warm the cabin with a donated woodstove. They don’t have running water and use a cooler and dry ice to keep their food cold. They also cook on a Coleman stove and use a generator for their electricity.
The cabin is furnished with furniture the couple built themselves and decorated with found objects. They own a small company called Alaska Antler Works where they create furniture and home accessories out of antlers.
This beautiful, hand crafted home is an impressive example of what can be done with determination, a few friends and love and knowledge of the outdoors.
Photos by Aaron and Jill Bork, Alaska Antler Works
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Laurel Creek Park Models
Park models seem to be attracting a lot of attention lately and one that caught my eye recently was the Cedar Creek model by Laurel Creek Homes, and is sold near my home in Washoe Valley, NV by Clayton Homes. I stopped by one weekend to get a few photos since I really admired this park model’s use of space, spacious kitchen and front porch and the cozy feeling inside.
Laurel Creek offers 13 different floorplans for this cabin style park model, and each of their models comes with a 10 year warranty. Laurel Creek also offers several “green packages” to make your park model more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Prices of the models vary according to the size and amenities, but the park model that I toured was being sold for $59,900.
Laurel Creek’s website gives more details on their park models and their benefits including:
- Affordability. A park model typically costs less than a 5th wheel or motor home.
- Financing options are available.
- RV Zoning required (Private property accepted in some states and counties).
- Move-in ready in less than 30 days.
Recreational park trailers or “park models” are 400-square foot cottages with peaked roofs that sit on a chassis and are typically placed on rented, leased or purchased sites in campgrounds or RV resorts and used as weekend retreats or vacation cottages. Park models can also be placed on private property and used as a part-time residence, subject to local zoning ordinances.
Typically upscale in appearance, Laurel Creek park models are available in many styles, from cedar cabins more suburban style homes with vinyl siding. The Laurel Creek park models feature solid frame construction, residential cabinets and full size appliances as well as optional bay windows and lofts. Interiors feature either a wood or tape and texture finish.
Laurel Creek was the first of 46 companies in the park model business to offer overhead heating and cooling systems. They have also introduced 9-foot flat coffered ceilings, tiled kitchen and bathroom flooring and marble lavies in our highline models.
All Laurel Creek park models are built to the ANSI 119.5 building code, which is administered and enforced by the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA). The code requires that park models meet or exceed more than 500 building and safety standards. Respected park model manufacturers build to this code yet it is not a requirement.
Photos by Harry Thomas
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Cherokee Cabin Company
The Cherokee Cabin Company has been selling their tiny house plans for the last 12 years. Their traditional designs and options for customization really caught my eye.
Cherokee sells about 18 different plans. The smallest is 144 square feet and the largest is 720 square feet, but each house can be added on to. Plans are $24.95 a set plus $3.50 shipping and handling. Additional sets are $6.00 a set.
Whitehorse II
The tiny cabins are 2×4/2×6 wall frame designs and the plans consist of:
- 1/4″ Foundation/Footing Plan
- 1/4″ Floor Plan
- 1/4″ Front Elevation
- 1/4″ Right Side Elevation
- 1/4″ Rear Elevation
- 1/4″ Left Side Elevation
- Scaled Building or Wall Section with Electric noted on Floor Plan
The plans come complete and are suitable for submitting to your local building department. Due to the many possible framing and finish options available, a materials list is not included with the plans.
Saskatoon
Trapper
Trapper Floor Plan
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The Small Cabin
Alexander of the Small Cabin website has created a nice little community of cabin lovers and builders. His tiny cabin in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada is the quintessential getaway. It is efficient and utilizes the outdoors as much as possible. The cabin is 8×12 feet with large windows for extra light. The total cost of the cabin came to around $1,200 and took about two weeks to build.
Alexander goes over the step-by step process of building your own tiny cabin in a remote area.
He discusses electrical issues and being off the grid. He talks about how to keep down your building costs as well as how to protect items in your cabin from the outdoors. Alexander also brings up good points about site selection, planning, water issues, street or highway noise and how to run power tools without conventional utility hookups.
The Small Cabin interior
The website also includes a discussion forum frequented by cabin builders and dreamers. On the forum, I came across the blog of Wayne and Margy Lutz who live most of their time in a floating cabin in coastal B.C.
If a tiny house is still your dream home but you are only able to live in it part time, this website contains a helpful bit of information if you want to build your own little retreat away the everyday world.
The Lutz's Floating Cabin
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