canada

X-Permit Cabin

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by David Lacey

The X-Permit Cabin is an exercise to create a livable space that will be built on a salvaged travel trailer frame. It will be self sustainable, off grid, and will be built without building permits because it is a “travel trailer” and will be registered as such. The site is beside the ocean in Canada. The actual location will be revealed as time goes on. The point of this is to circumvent onerous permits and inspections that come with “permanent” structures. XPC will be an exercise in civics, construction, and innovation. I hope you follow us as we move forward.

x-permit cabin

Certainly, “tiny homes” have been built before and many are like the one we are building, on a trailer, for various reasons. This one is a personal experiment in building a livable space in a maximum of 135 square feet. There probably won’t be “grand innovation” involved, but the completed cabin on wheels must have the charm and friendly atmosphere of an old seaside cottage distilled into the space allocated.

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My Adventure In a Tiny House

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Last January I covered Zack Griffin and the beginning of his tiny house adventure visiting the great ski areas with several friends across North America. Here is the link. Zack recently contacted me and here is what he had to say: Last year I built a Tiny House in order … Read more

Banff Log Cabin Guesthouse

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guest cabin entry

If you are looking for an opportunity to try out tiny house living, staying in a small or tiny cabin for a vacation is an option. Clifford Trend spotted this one and wanted to share it with us. It is called the Banff Log Cabin Guesthouse. Here is what the … Read more

Kootenay Lake Gypsy Wagon

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Inhabitat (one of my favorite sites) recently featured this rustic, but beautiful gypsy wagon (one of my favorite tiny houses) which sits in the forest near Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. The 8 foot by 20 foot wagon was built on a $100 salvaged 5 ton chassis, with 2×4 construction and curved rafters. It cost about $8,000 to build and took several years.

Most of the building materials for the wagon were recycled. The floor is locally milled hemlock tongue and groove and the windows were second hand finds from the local classifieds. The exterior shingles were cedar “seconds” split with a hatchet. The round window was ingeniously made from a 1970’s picnic table and is framed with rope for a natty, nautical style. The curved roof is covered with flexible metal sheeting and has two, curved Lexan skylights. The interior of the wagon is covered with stretched canvas, stapled into place and painted with white wash. Under the wagon is space for the storage of supplies and firewood.

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True North Log Homes Pictou

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log cabin

True North Log Homes designs this log cabin for a secluded hideaway and for hunting and fishing weekends. It’s small stature provides a down-to-earth respite for the whole family. From sports adventures to quiet soul-searching to intimate weekends away, the cabin helps to keep life simple. There are two bedrooms … Read more

Mandala’s Tiny Bonsai

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Bonsai rendering

I recently became acquainted with the Mandala Custom Homes company located in Nelson, B.C., Canada when they featured a small round cottage home on Facebook. I got in touch with Rachel and discovered that along with the cottage they also had a tiny house design. One had even won a design contest recently.

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.

Bonsai rendering

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.

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Rosie our Airstream Home

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Rosie has been SOLD!

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.

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Tiny House in a Landscape

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This week’s Tiny House in a Landscape is a little different. It is a tiny house under construction in a landscape. The photograph was taken by Dave Stonehouse of StoneHouse Woodworks in the Rockies of British Columbia, Canaada. Dave says: I live in Golden, British Columbia in the Rocky Mountains. The picture of the cabin under construction is actually in my back yard. We have a couple of acres. My company is Stonehouse Woodworks. I build log and timber cabins, do finishing carpentry, and build furniture (pretty much anything with wood).

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

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Bluedog Guitars Tiny Live/Work Boler

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This is our 13 foot 1974 Boler we have been traveling in around Western Canada, the US, and Mexico since August. We can pull up anywhere, unload our cactus display stand and start selling our handmade guitar straps! We also have an online store at www.bluedogguitars.com.

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.

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Canada’s Smallest Rental

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Micro-lofts and Housing Affordability

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.

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Tiny House in a Landscape

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This weeks Tiny House in a Landscape was taken by Emily, a geology student from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The picture was taken somewhere in the Yukon and I discovered her blog by accident looking for tiny cabins in the mountains. It is a random photo of a log cabin she … Read more

Small House on Prince Edward Island

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My name is Grant Kennedy and I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada. I have been following the Tiny House Blog for more than a year when I decided to build my own small house. The outside of the house is finished now and I thought you would be interested … Read more