This is called the Squish Studio and is designed by Saunders Architecture. The building is 322 square feet and is a contemporary artist studio located on Fogo Island, which is in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The Squish Studio’s white angular form, situated on a rocky strip of coastline that could rival Italy’s western coast offers sharp contrast to the traditional vernacular architecture of the nearby picturesque community of Tilting. As its architect, Todd Saunders, has commented on the studio’s siting, “…it is out of sight, but close.” The approach to the front entry of the studio is dramatic, as the most southern end of the studio rises twenty feet above the ground, in sharp contrast to its most northern tip that measures only half that dimension.

Visit this website to get all the details, photos, floor plan, etc. http://www.homedsgn.com/2012/05/14/squish-studio-by-saunders-architecture/

Photo by: Bent René Synnevåg

The Bonsai has not been built yet, but there is a lot of interest and hopefully it will soon go from a concept to home. Rachel shared some information about it with me and I thought I would pass it on to you. Maybe you will be the first person to build this cool tiny house.

The Bonsai 104/150 square feet (with a loft). Though Manadala specializes in building round homes, they are excited about this design.  If the building is not used for a residence, but used for a studio, it may not require a building permit. We suggest you contact the building department for details. On many levels this home is more accessible to more people.

So if you would like to be the first and have the Bonsai built for you contact them via their website http://mandalahomes.com/.

We are ‘snowbirds’ from Canada, 60 something, who have always tried to have a small footprint. We were environmentalists and vegetarians long before it was the ‘in thing’. In our retirement we sold all the trappings of our old lives and travelled in a van and backpacking tent. That proved to be the most liberating experience of our lives! It came to be though, that we wanted a home base in Canada so we bought a bit of land and built…by ourselves…as small a cottage as the local bylaws would allow. Winters, however, have been spent in Texas pursuing our simple passion for birding. For this purpose we bought an 1983 Airstream Excella, that we named Rosie, to refurbish and be our winter home. We have been comfortably living in ROSIE’s 232 sq ft for 4 months a year. She has everything we need and more. We enjoyed the challenge of making her liveable and easy to maintain.

A change came over us this winter though. We decided that we needed less space! We would like to explore but do not own a tow vehicle for Rosie. We needed to think even smaller and lighter to make more travel affordable; we needed to think even simpler to make boondocking possible. So, to that end, we have purchased a used 17 ft Casita Spirit Deluxe, already named Megg (for the EGG that it is ), that our Toyota can easily tow. We will be downsizing to 102 sq ft! Our plans are to stay down south for even longer periods, maybe up to 6 months. We’ll have the option of summer trips up north too.

Here are photos of Rosie. She’s a nice blend of modern and vintage with lots of other interesting changes possible. There is so much storage for clothing, kitchen equipment, food bought in bulk, and tools. The rear frame was extended and an aluminum truck box added for extra outside storage. (We had planned to change the twin beds into a queen (and have the parts to do it) but we found we both got a better sleep in separate spaces. LOL) Rosie would make a comfortable tiny home, home away from home, studio, office, or bunkie for guests.

Photos of Megg will be forthcoming as soon as we get settled in her and ‘nest’. We look forward to enjoying our even tinier winter home. Less is more!

Thanks so much for listening to our tiny story.

Hazel & John

If you are interested in purchasing Rosie email bluebird@chickadees.ca ”All reasonable offers considered for a quick sale!”  ;-)

You have to wear a few hats to stay busy in a small town, but I’ve always managed to.

Thank you Dave. I plan to feature this cabin again when it is completed, so, readers stay tuned.

Photo Credits: Dave Stonehouse

When we tire of traveling, our plan is to set up our boutique guitar store in Vancouver BC, with the Boler in the showroom as a private space for people to try out guitars, as the acoustics in the Boler are amazing.

(Photo Credits Jenn and Paul)

Sleeping arrangements require the shuffling of a lot of the contents into our car, as we have modified the bed to become almost king-size with the use of two extra-large coolers, so the process makes it more of a camping lifestyle than your typical RV experience. We also have two rather large dogs, so a bivouac in a Walmart parking lot, in the rain, makes for some strategic planning.

Thanks,
Jenn & Paul

Burns Block is an innovative market rental housing project built by Vancouver companies Reliance Properties and ITC Construction Group. Located at the site of the historic Burns Block in the Gastown neighborhood of the Downtown Eastside, the building dates back 100 years and is on the Vancouver Heritage Register. The building features 30 self-contained affordable furnished market rental suites or “micro-lofts.” Suites range from 226 – 291 sq. ft., making them the smallest in Canada. The spatially-efficient design contains built-in, pull-down wall beds with integrated folding tables, flat screen televisions, compact appliances, ample storage and built-in safes for storing valuables. Typical rental value for each suite is $850 per month, including cable and Internet, and starts as low as $760 per month. The building is 18,000 sq. ft and has five floors. The majority of occupants are between the ages of 25 and 35 and include students and those working in the heart of the downtown area.

While the former use of Burns Block was for a Single Room Occupancy hotel (SRO) with shared facilities, suites in the redeveloped building each contain a “wet” bathroom and full kitchen. The building also features a rooftop garden, basement gym, bicycle storage and several environmentally-friendly elements. The Bitter Tasting Room, owned by Heather Hospitality Group, is conveniently located on the ground floor of the building, which also includes 1,421 sq. ft. of future retail space.

The social entrepreneur partnership between Reliance and ITC is an effort to restore the building and to pay tribute to its history. Reliance purchased the building in 2007 after the former SRO was closed by fire officials in 2006. The unprecedented development model was negotiated with Vancouver City Council to provide heritage incentives and vary the minimum apartment size to enhance affordability. ITC joined the project in 2009 to complete the construction work and find cost savings in the complex heritage reconstruction. The project was completed in late August 2011 and all suites were rented and occupied by September 2011.

For more information visit: http://www.microlofts.ca/

Here are some facts: Designed by myself, built on pressure treated posts, 2″x10″ floors with R-30, 2″x6″ walls with R-20, and roof with R-30, open concept with just a bathroom.

I was originally looking at plans with lofts but with old age creeping up (I’m 45 now) and a bad knee, I thought that a one floor house would be more feasible. I will have an on-demand hot water heater, five small convection heaters and LED lights throughout. I am hoping to have less than a $200 electricity bill even in the winter where we get -40 celsius weather with 7-8 ft of snow.

I have only spent about $10,000 (Canadian) right now for all the building materials which also includes my windows and door, the front entrance set, a one-piece bath/shower combo and my light fixtures.

Thank you Grant for sharing your project with us. We will look forward to an update when you complete the interior.

It has a 450 square foot cabin and is located on 160 acres. It is about 20 minutes to a general store and a gas station, and the person wishing to rent it must be accustom to living off the grid. If you would like to learn more you can visit the kijiji site where it is listed.

Our story about our little 1998 Aliner camper started two years ago when my husband and I brought home a funny camper with a rotted floor and got the evil eye from our neighbors. We salvaged it from its destiny of the dump from a couple camping friends of ours. They were getting older and had given up on most camping and didn’t have the time, energy or desire to fix the rotting floor, a known problem for this model and year. They had offered it to us a couple years prior, but we didn’t really have the means to deal with it. We were very happy camping in tents as we were lifelong campers ourselves and wanted to keep it simple. But this camper was different, it was simple, a basic popup but without the hassle of canvas, a unique triangle profile and a small foot print (6’3”x12’).

We’d bring the subject up to each other every once in a while until we decided to just go get it. It sat in the furthest corner from their house, the tires sat almost half way to the ground from sitting for so long, a branch had pierced a hole in one of the vents from a bad ice storm the year before and the floor was now growing things under the linoleum that was keeping it together. Looking back now I am not sure how it made it through the 30 mile trip back to our house.

We spent all summer working on it. We took everything out and saved what we could. We worked on the floor a bit at a time until it was completely replaced. While working on the floor we scoured the city looking for deals and we found them, we found the flooring as an end piece at a high end flooring store that wasn’t going to be able to sell it as it was so small.

The cabinets were found at a local contractor store, we paid $120 for solid oak and maple cabinets with built in drawers worth over $1400 but were ordered wrong and the store didn’t feel like shipping them back so they sold us them at what it would have cost to ship them back. Penny cabinet handles off the clearance rack at Lowes and so on. We spent a lot more time than money, but it was all worth it. Even after adding an actual mattress, new logos (designed online and ordered from Canada for a fraction of what US sellers quoted us), solar panel, LEDs our cost is around $1,000. Because of the high demand of these campers they can cost well over 14k new.

We also saved a lot because we were able to clean up and reuse a lot of the items in the camper such as the heater, water heater and pump, power convertor and so on. We replaced the wiring, battery (it didn’t have one), faucet ($7 Lowes contractor special bathroom fixture), water lines with PEX and gas lines for safety.

Now we camp in it all the time. We enjoy camping at a local state park
often and took the camper out of state in April from MA to SC. We replaced the tires prior to that trip! Where ever we go people always are amazed how big it is on the inside. We have everything we need to camp happily in there!

http://alinerproject.blogspot.com/

JoAnne and Micheal Leonard