Tiny House in a Landscape

This weeks Tiny House in a Landscape is a photo I discovered of a small off-the-grid farm for rent in the wilds of British Columbia, Canada. It has a 450 square foot cabin and is located on 160 acres. It is about 20 minutes to a general store and a … Read more

Our ALiner Restoration

Guest Post by JoAnne Leonard

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.

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Smallworks

Smallworks Studios/Laneway Housing Inc. is a design and building company based in Vancouver, Canada. They specialize in small homes and laneway houses which are small cottages or homes that are built on the rear of a property lot, usually behind another house. Their designs range from around 100 square feet to 750 square feet.

Smallworks takes an active role in the entire process of building a small home including site inspection, custom design, permit applications, in house millwork, pre-fab and flat pack material delivery and on site construction management. The company uses LEED accredited designers and will walk a customer through various sustainability and green building options. Premium upgrades for each project include lifetime warranty metal roofing, upgraded siding, millwork and furniture packages and bamboo flooring.

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Quarters: Prefabricated Housing

Bowen Island seems to be an attraction for tiny houses. It’s home to the Eco-Shed by James Glave and is now home to the Quarters house by industrial designer Amanda Huynh in collaboration with Anna Gukov, Lydia Cambron and Emilie Madill. Following nearly a semester of intense research in materials, compact housing and the homelessness epidemic in Vancouver, a full-scale, timber-framed unit was built to house 1-2 residents in need of a simple shelter.

The 8 foot by 8 foot structure has a built-in sleeping loft, a readily available 5-gallon bucket wash basin, a City of Vancouver rain water barrel and modular furniture, which could be easily configured to create a second sleeping space. Because the individual unit does not provide running water or electricity to reduce cost, it would function best in a community of such dwellings with central kitchen/washroom facilities.

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Shobac Cottages

I saw these interesting cottages on Boutique Homes and thought that together they made a beautiful, little vernacular village. Individually, they would make a great tiny house. The Shobac Cottages of Nova Scotia were designed and built by Brian MacKay-Lyons on historic land settled by the Acadians during the 1600’s. The four identical cottages, large studio and octagonal barn are used for rentals, private events and a design/build internship program called the GHOST lab.

Each 800 square foot cottage has 7-foot tall windows that frame the ocean view of the Atlantic. They each contain two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, one bathroom, two decks, a wood stove, dining area, living bay and custom tile and maple floors. They rent for between CAN$1,500-$1,995 a week. The entire site, along with the studio and the historic octagonal barn can also be rented for events and are ideal for art workshops, weddings, equestrian vacations, family reunions or corporate retreats.

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Hornby Island Caravans

Michelle Wilson contacted me recently about a new business she started called Hornby Island Caravans located in Canada. She recently delivered her first caravan to a customer and wanted me to share with you her project. Here is a little about Michelle and her business goals.

I aim to create spaces that have a sense of warmth and character. It is very important to me that my caravans are built with natural, healthy materials and that they are designed in such a way that is mindful of the client’s needs. I spend a great deal of time in the planning stage thinking about how the space will be used and, with that in mind, how to use every bit of space in the best possible way.

I certainly want the caravans that I build to be beautiful but I think even more importantly I want that certain magical quality that you find in buildings which are made with creativity, attention to detail and an appreciation for the materials being used. My aim is for the customer to feel a sense of wellness and comfort in my buildings. If they do then I’ve accomplished my goal.

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Craig’s Ontario Cabin

Craig from Ontario, Canada shares his story with us today.

I bought the place 3 years ago. Originally I was just looking just for land with the mind to build a 10 x 10 cabin. But I got lucky the real estate add was for 19.89 acres with a dilapitated 14 x 16 cabin. There was also an out house, shed and 12 x 8 sauna which were not mentioned.  All the buildings  did need re shingling some paint and a good sweeping. But otherwise everything was fine. It just goes to show ya that some peoples lack of vision is some else treasure trove.

This all cost me less than $20 000 Canadian. I turned the out house into a composting toilet, which by the way has no smell what so ever when used properly which cannot be said of the majority of traditional out houses. It is located in northern Ontario west of Sudbury. There was hydro but I haven’t bothered to hook it back up. It’s more fun without it.

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Pocket Suites in Winnipeg

Amanda brought to my attention the Pocket Suites in Winnipeg. The Pocket House model is a recent development aimed at alleviating one segment of the affordable housing need in Manitoba.

The study concluded that construction of new buildings on scattered narrow infill lots would fit well with the City of Winnipeg’s inventory of vacant lots in residential neighbourhoods.

Each building is two storeys high and has 8 units each with separate entrances, private washrooms, and separate ventilation systems. Each Pocket House features three barrier-free suites and one fully accessible suite on the main floor, with four other suites on the second level accessible by two outside staircases.

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Four People Living in 180 Square Feet

Kay alerted me to this neat article about four people living in 180 square feet mostly on weekends that she discovered over at apartment therapy.

Tammy, John, Sam, Will, and their dog Dobbs from Gambier Island, British Columbia, Canada, armed with a hacked $25 shed plan and an incredibly generous friend with actual skills, constructed this cute little cabin.

Their cabin is a work in progress and probably always will be.

Photo Credits: Tammy Everts

The footprint is 10 by 12 feet. That’s right: 120 square feet. The sleeping loft is 6 by 12, making the grand total 180 square feet. The deck, which was added this past spring, is 10 by 10, and boy, does it make a difference. With both doors open, it feels luxuriously spacious, believe it or not. The materials cost – including salvaged windows and doors – was about $7,000.

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Shipping Container makes All-Season Suite

Tara discovered this article in the Winnipeg Free Press and noted that a city spokesperson claims it could probably be a legal residence within city limits. She says, we appear to not have the same minimum-size restrictions that afflict so many places!

“There is some interest out there,” said Vern Hiebert, a Winkler area man who is selling a refurbished, made-to-live-in container on the Kijiji website. “We have had interest from people wanting to build homes out of the containers with multiple units.”

Hiebert is selling one cube, 14.6 by 2.6 metres which provides about 37 square metres of living space. Split into three rooms — bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/den — the recycled container has all the modern necessities of a typical dwelling.

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Gingerbread Style Cottage

Vicky from British Columbia, Canada spotted this on a local KiJiJi Free Classified Ads in her area and thought you would enjoy seeing it.

Gingerbread Style Cottage

Cute and rustic 8ft x 24ft portable gingerbread style cottage for sale. It’s plumbed, wired and insulated. Open kitchen living area with loft that fits a queen size mattress. Bathroom has toilet, shower and pedestal sink. Built on a trailer frame on wheels for easy transport. Located in Comox-Strathcona, BC. Listed for $18,000 CDN.

Here is the KiJiJi listing.

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Will’s Tarleton Trans-Canada Move

A little over a year ago I covered Will Pedersen’s build of his Tumbleweed Tarleton you can view the post here and check out all the photos of his build at the Tiny House Journal.

In October, Will drove from Abbotsford, British Columbia to McKees Mills, New Brunswick. Will drove a used 1999 Dodge diesel truck and it worked out great to tow the house.

Will and Alyson created a small blog called Alyson and Will’s Adventure to cover their move and life at their new farm home and you can view it here.

After so many months and so much planning, I drove away with the tiny house and most of our possessions in tow. Left just around lunchtime with everyone on the farm hugging me and saying goodbye. I’ve got my Ipod loaded with songs and we’ll see how far I get today. — Will

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