I knew that I wanted to move into that round cabin in a field from the moment I saw the ad on Craigslist.

At 500 square feet, it was the smallest place I had ever lived in. It was round, like a yurt, but built like a house, with windows all around and two sets of doors to the outside. A big skylight dominated the ceiling. The cabin had a colorful past, having been used not only for housing, but also as a recording studio and at one point, for professionally-run seances. I hadn’t a clue how to furnish this round room so I went on the web and researched “yurts.”

I decided that I liked the way the Mongolians handled the situation. In those yurts, the middle of the room was taken up by a big stove and all the furniture was pushed against the edges of the room with the beds doubling as seating during the day. I didn’t have a big stove in the middle of the room, but I liked the idea of being efficient with whatever I did bring to the yurt, so I immediately sold my sofa and arranged the rest of my furniture around the perimeter, Mongolian-style, leaving an open space in the middle. That area under the skylight ended up doubling as a personal yoga studio, a guest room where I could put the blow up mattress, a larger space to move the dining table out when I had people over to eat or as a place to put extra chairs when friends were hanging out. The middle space with nothing in it became the most used and most useful area in the cabin.

The tiny bathroom was the only private room. It looked out on a field and had a Lilliputian shower tucked into one corner. The kitchen was built against one of the walls and consisted of several cabinets, a miniature counter top and refrigerator and stove. I did my laundry in a shed across a small field where an ancient washer and dryer were located. My bike and a couple of extra plastic containers were stashed in a barn at the back of the property. The electricity, plumbing and internet access came with the property and was included in the rent. Heating for the yurt, the cook stove, and the water were my responsibility and came from propane tanks.

My one job on the property was to pull the garbage and recycling bins down the long driveway to the road once a week. My first time was a Monday night, a few days after I moved in. It was a moonless night in January and by the time I got home from work, it was very, very dark. I grabbed my camera and took some spooky shots with my flash and posted them on Facebook. The very next morning, a friend of mine arrived at my office with the flashlight and strict instructions to use it for future night-time garbage runs!

The view to the barn

A week after moving in, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with 4th stage cancer. As I stumbled through months of diagnosis, of chemo and of recovery, I ended up wandering the fields daily and ultimately taking almost 2,000 photos of the land, the flowers, the birds and animals, the sky. Most of the photos are not much good. I was on drugs, after all! But the act of photography kept me sane.

Sunrise from my window

The round cabin in the field was a beautiful, remarkable place to live during that time of my life. I spent a fair amount of time in bed and from the window by my head I could see the sun rise and from the window across the room I could see the sun set. On full moon nights, the moonbeams would shine onto my face and wake me up when it passed over the skylight. During the day, I could watch birds fly overhead and chase acorns around the skylight’s edge. When it stormed, the rain, the wind, and the flying tree branches would crash against the walls, the windows and roof, but I was safe inside this little pod. Where else but in that round house in the field could all those miracles be possible?

At one point during chemo, I became so ill that I had to leave the country for two months and be taken care of in the city. I tried not to think about my round cabin too much during that time. When I was finally able to come back – cured for now – I decided to return alone. I walked back into the cabin and immediately opened all the doors and windows. I turned off my phone and spent that first night back listening only to the wind in the trees.

Long driveway to the road

Even then, I knew that this new, post-cancer life of mine would probably require leaving the cabin in the field. During my last few months of recovery, I memorized the views outside of every window, especially the one by the head of my bed, where I would watch the sunrise, the wild turkeys, the deer, the squirrels, the birds, and the branch of the oak tree that overhung the roof. I wanted to make sure that every time I closed my eyes, I would be able to re-create that view for the rest of my life. At the end of my lease in December of 2011, I did move out and came back to live in town. On the rare occasions that I return to visit, my feet navigate the fields with more confidence than my eyes. Will I ever come back there to live? Probably not to that place, but most likely to a place much like it.

Jon’s cabin is built by an Amish company called Cabins to Go and he had this 12 x 20 cabin constructed for around $18,000. You can view the previous post Jon’s Cabin in Wisconsin to learn more about it and see interior photos.

Thanks Jon for the update.

*New Photos added

The house began with ordering 60 logs from the forest service, which they delivered to the site. Common Fir. Some of these I used to build a small hut, which were all hand-hewn, along with some Birch logs taken from my forest. I lived in this small 12 X 16 ft hut the entire time I was building the house.

The foundation was dug by hand, and filled the same… this was one of the three procedures on the house I had help with – the other two were installing the metal roof, and hanging the drywall – besides these all work was completed by me. In my shed there was no electricity or water – the water I brought in containers in a wheel barrow, or on a sled in the winter – from a nearby farmers well, the old kind, drawing the water with a bucket on a chain and dumping into the old milk containers I used for storage. My light was from headlamps, and kerosene lanterns. I had a propane stove, an outhouse, and an outside bathing shelter.

When I had completed my lumber take-off I sent the logs to a mill and had them sawn. Then, I commenced building. I was alone almost every day, this is a very remote spot, it is very quiet. Sometimes the loudest sound above that of my tools was the flap of a bird’s wings overhead. Did you know crows are very noisy fliers?

I used a modified timber frame system of my own design. The windows and doors were produced by local craftsmen. All hand made.

Winters are long and dark here which slowed me down, but after three summers the house was complete(enough to live in), and had electricity connected. Under such conditions one becomes very intimate with a sharp hand saw. I had them, but still remember counting strokes on the rafters… 144 strokes on the 45 degree cuts….

The principle of the house is very simple. The exterior is light and insulated, the interior walls are all brick, and the floors are insulated concrete. So when this house is warm it stays warm a long time, and in the summer it never needs air conditioning. There is just too much thermal mass for quick temperature fluctuations. The brick stove, which is also the heat source was adapted from an old book lent by a friend called “How to Build a Country House” written in Russian, but with good enough illustrations I could follow it. It is amazing, in that the smoke leaves the stove lower than the fire, but it does not end there. Behind it is a thick brick wall where there is a serpentine chimney. The smoke passes through this chimney heating up, literally, a ton of bricks. In warmer weather there is a damper to open, to allow smoke to go straight up and out. I was very skeptical of this as I was building it, coming from an American background and knowing how they vent fireplaces…. but it works, and works very well. There is never a scent of smoke in the house. Indeed, you will find most country homes here have variations of this same technology, hundreds of years old. And my chimney had added one luxury. On one side of this “warm wall” is the shower, so when you are in the shower there is wonderful radiant heat.

So there it is. The lower level is about 500 sq ft, and the upper level less than 300. It is very comfortable for two people, but a family of four would do well.

I have just recently bought another property here in Lithuania and am hoping to repeat this process soon.

Small hut I built and lived in while I was building the house

I am sending you a picture of the stair, the posts for which were made from a single birch tree that was carefully skinned. Behind it, as in more plain in the second picture, is the warm wall with the serpentine chimney inside. In this one the direction is side to side, but often they are made with the channels going up and down.

Schematic of the "warm wall"

Dan building the stove

I bought the Little Cabin in 2003. It was a one room 20 x 30 ft. hunting cabin without indoor plumbing or electric and I paid $95,000. Utilities existed at the road about 100 feet from the cabin. My son and I used it as a summer camp cabin and each year I added an upgrade. One year water to a hydrant out back, another year electric to a power pole, another year a septic system. When visiting we would run a 100 ft electric cord to the interior to run a small electric heater (the wood stove was unsafe) and a small refrigerator. The homeowner’s association would not allow a compost toilet system because of my close proximity to the adjacent stream.

When I first bought the cabin, it contained old sleeping mattresses and had a broken window. Mice had moved in and it required deep cleaning to be habitable as a camp cabin. The cabin is situated on nearly 4.5 acres surrounded by National Forest, has year round access and is 3 minutes from a small Western town with amenities. Occasionally, the town runs horses and cattle down main street changing pastures! There is even a local rodeo every weekend in the summer as well as packhorse races for entertainment. Winter brings cross country skiing and animal watching.

In 2008, I added on a 20 x 30 ft addition to include indoor plumbing, a kitchen, a washer-dryer, and a sleeping loft. The contractor chopped down local logs, dried them at the local mill, and hand tied them into the original cabin to make a seamless addition. We refinished the original logs to ease the outside appearance and make it seamless. The addition of a new metal roof improved the fire resistance. We also cleared some adjacent trees and ground fuel. The property is part of the National Forest Firewise program where we manage the trees at the people wilderness interface.

The interior was done with liquidation materials and reused materials from a ReStore. The cabin is heated by a wood burning fireplace with a blower and ceiling fans are utilized to distribute the heat throughout the cabin. The contractor collected branches from the property to create the banister lining the bedroom loft. The ladder leading to the loft serves as a bookshelf as well. Furnishings were obtained from yard sales, Craigslist, and thrift stores. An original TieHack table and chairs that were in the cabin at time of purchase and were refurbished by a local artisan. The addition and improvements cost about $50,000.

Living in the forest brings its own challenges. Mice and rodents are constantly a challenge to keep from invading a property and destroying an interior. Large animals are a challenge to prevent feeding on trash or breaking into the cabin. This is a horse property and there is a corral to keep my horse and ride through the mountains. Plans are to move to the property as a primary residence in retirement.

This picture was photographed by Bob Winsett. I love the way the cabin fits into the scenery and blends into the mountain side.

I bought my property in early May 2011. One third of an acre in a town in Pend Oreille County https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pend_Oreille_County, Washington for $13,000. I am only about 500 yards away from the beautiful Pend Oreille River, but do not have a view of the river.

I had my cabin bulit in May/June of 2011 while I was clearing the property which had an old and dirty shed on it. My builder was Joseph Birky of Birky’s Better Built Barns LLC based in Clayton, WA. Here his website: http://local.yahoo.com/info-63959343-birky-s-better-built-barns-llc-clayton I highly recommed him and his work.

The cabin is 10ft wide and 20ft long, has a 6ft porch, a 10 X 14 ft living space and two 10 X 6 ft sleeping lofts reached by custom built wood ladder. The cabin is a 2 X 6 construction, is R-21 insulated in the walls and ceilings, and is finished with cedar inside with a 3/4 inch redwood laminate flooring. The floor is insulated as well.

The little green shed next to the cabin is an 8 X 10 ft storage shed with a 8 X 4 ft lofted storage space that houses mainly my Loveable Loo compost toilet, miscellaneous supplies, and garden tools. The shed was also built by Joseph Birky. Both buildings turn key with delivery and set up costs at approximately $12,000. The cabin about $10,500 and the little green shed about $1,100.

So in total my two building tiny house project, including land, clearing the land, and gravel foundations for both buildings had a price tag of about $27,000.

The cabin is my holiday and meditation retreat about 25 miles north of my home in Eastern Washington State, North of Spokane, WA.

I am off the grid, collect rain water, have a compost toilet, and have a kerosene heater if I visit my cabin in the winter to stay warm.

I use candles and wind up LED flash lights for light and reading and a wind up radio for entertainment.

In the summer, I use a camping shower to shower or I take my car or bike, which I keep in my storage shed, to go to a very nice nearby community center which has showers, a swimming pool, saunas, and steam rooms. It is called the Camas Center for Community Wellness and is run by the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, here the link to their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/kalispelwellness

I would love to connect with other Tiny House Lovers from the area and show and share my place with them and visit at their places if they have tiny houses themselves.

I love tiny cozy houses and I love this blog. I have been a follower and reader for many years and you inspired me to finally go tiny myself after many years of just day dreaming about it

The following song “You” by Gold Panda represents the energy that I personally associate with my tiny house and tiny living.

Thanks!

Max

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Williams lives in a teepee and a floating teepee at that. Will says “It’s deliciously hippyish.”

Will decided to leave campus life after accidentally setting off a fire alarm and then being fined $350. At first, Will lived in the back of his car, he than decided to build a raft and looked at what options he would have for shelter. He looked at cabin-type tents and finally his uncle suggested a teepee.

Will says he found out that a teepee design and ergonomics allow for it to stay quite warm. With its cone shape it is very stable even when the wind gets quite strong. He says that storms have not been a problems with the teepee.

Unfortunately Will says the ACT Government has been in contact with him and wants him to move along. He may have to move out by the end of this week. Will seems completely calm with this grim fact, but knows he will have to do something soon.

I hope all goes well for William and I appreciate his inspiration for living tiny and self-sufficiently.

Photographs by John Griffiths

Manifest Destiny by Jenny Chapmand and Mark A. Reigelman 11 is an art installation. The wooden cabin is affixed precariously to the side of a building in downtown San Francisco. The cabin will be displayed until October 31, 2012 and is located at 446 Bush Street. You can learn more by following a couple of these links.

• http://laughingsquid.com/manifest-destiny-a-cabin-hanging-off-the-side-of-a-building-in-san-francisco/
• http://soex.org/Exhibit/104.html
• http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2012/03/rustic-cabin-mounted-on-side-of.html

Photo via Chapman/Reigelman

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The main cabin is very spacious and has a propane system for cooking and lighting. It also has an efficient wood stove to keep it cozy and warm. You can learn more about the facility here: http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/ep.html

Thank you Robert for sharing these wonderful photos. It looks like a great place to visit and stay.

Photo Credits Robert VanderLee

The “Wedge” design features an angled roof, which starts low above the bedroom and builds to 17 feet in the living room. Trapezoidal windows grow similarly from back to front, offering natural light while maintaining privacy. The front of the cabin is almost entirely glass. A large sliding glass door opens to a private deck.

Each cabin has one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen/living room and a private deck. The ceilings and exterior are covered with reclaimed Wyoming snow fencing.

The bedrooms are sized to fit a king size bed with two side tables and linen sconces. A set of four drawers and an under-counter hanging closet support a butcher-block counter top, which also serves as a desk. A 42-inch Internet accessible HD flat screen television is mounted above the desk. Track lighting is available for properly lighting art work.

The kitchen/living room was designed to offer both comfort and functionality. The mini-kitchen features a two-burner cook top, an under counter refrigerator, a microwave, a dishwasher, a sink, concrete countertops and modern rustic cabinetry. A large bomber leather sofa, two cowhide ottomans, two barn wood side tables, custom made wrought iron lamps and railroad cart coffee tables make up living room furnishings. A mini-high efficiency gas burning fireplace warms the room. Above the fireplace is another 42 inch HD flat-screen television.

The bathrooms are small, but functional. Heavy duty glass showers, Kohler toilets and custom vanities with concrete countertops/sinks and quartzite floors combine to produce very well appointed facilities.

So if you are looking for a modern, ready made small home, this may be one to add to your list. Learn more by visiting the WheelHaus website http://www.wheelhaus.com/. Jamie just gave me the pricing for the Wedge, it is $75,000.

Moving the Wedge