Many of these camps had their own versions of tiny houses, and like last year’s post, I thought I would feature a few of my favorites.

This year, our neighborhood of 3:30 and Istanbul (see the Black Rock City map) was lucky to have the Neverwas Haul as a corner beacon. This “mutant vehicle” is styled as a steampunk Victorian house that you could actually live in. In Black Rock City, it’s helpful to camp near a larger structure so you can find your way back to your little home in the dark.

Next door to the Neverwas Haul was Michel Olson and Christy Horne with their handbuilt “turret” gypsy wagon named Sir James. This year, they created a shade shelter out of Sir James and their van with a tent on top for their teenage kids to sleep in. They spend most of their time as traveling storytellers, artists and metalworkers. They live for about 8 months out of the year in a “castle truck” they named Florence.

Last year, this gypsy wagon was unfinished. Now it has beautiful detailing and interior seating and sleeping areas.

Vintage trailers of all shapes, colors and sizes are very popular at Burning Man.

Elegant tents make wonderful shade shelters that stay nearly dust-free.

Domes are also successful shade structures, and many Burners love to pay homage to their mother country.

The group that sets up the raves every year, at the far end of the city, creates their own tipi village.

The Red Rooster Ranch might be a fun place to hang out during the heat.

How about staying for a week in a pink, metal tipi structure with a disco ball? (notice the “For Rent” sign?)

Or a tiny pink house on a big, blue truck?

Or a spaceship complete with a little, celestial visitor?

Black Rock City “houses” are created for maximum shade, comfort, humor and beauty. However, what impresses me most about these tiny shelters is the amount of work and ingenuity that goes into a design that really only lasts for a week. Each little home has to survive the city’s dust storms, brutal heat and 40 mph plus winds, but in addition to that they are also a welcoming sight in the otherwise inhospitable desert.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

2 More on Watt Farmhouse

Kelly and Pam have been redeveloping properties since 1998 and are most well known for their 8 on Center project, but their most recent projects are getting some attention for their tiny size, aesthetics and green design. They have won local awards for historic preservation, environmental design and community improvement.

“Just because a place is small does not mean it should be lacking in style, quality and affordability,” Kelly said.

They were kind enough to take me on a tour of their wonderful little projects which are all within a few miles of each other.

2 on Watt

2 on Watt

One of their designs is the 2 on Watt project. These little twin houses stand side by side down a back alley in the Old Southwest part of downtown Reno. They are cottage style, with private back yards and public front porches. Both homes have washer/dryer combos, custom tile, beautiful mahogany floors and an abundance of light.

2 More on Watt Front Cottage

The 2 More on Watt project is down the street and contains two farmhouses from the early 1900s. When Kelly and Pam purchased the property and began to tear down the walls of the smaller farmhouse, the newspapers used for insulation had the date 1915 on them. Some of the newspapers were also in Italian and contained want ads from New York City. Kelly and Pam figured that the houses once belonged to members of a group of Italian immigrants who came to the Reno area during that time.

The smaller farmhouse at the 2 More on Watt location is 160 square feet with a full bath and a studio living and sleeping space. A one piece kitchen unit from A.J. Madison forms the tiny kitchen. The larger house in front is 450 square feet.

HabeRae strives to keep their designs looking like the local aesthetic, but prefer the modern, clean look. They also strive to reuse and recycle everything on their sites including old building materials and rocks and stumps used in landscaping. They even turned a large, discarded satellite dish into a beautiful planter.

SoDo 4

SoDo 4 Interior

SoDo 4 Interior

One of their other designs, the SoDo 4 (SoDo means South of Downtown in Reno-speak) consists of four brick cottages that were once used to house train engineers who worked on the old Virginia & Truckee Railroad that ran through Reno in the early 1900s. The three studios are 276 square feet with a sleeping loft and the one bedroom house in the back is 350 square feet. They are used now as rentals, but with each project HabeRae designs and builds in private outdoor spaces and gardening areas.

Their latest project has been converting a firehouse from 1953 from a run-down homeless shelter into an urban living and working space that is truly redefining this part of downtown Reno. The 11 at the Firehouse has nine studio units that are 350 square feet with a sleeping loft, full bath and kitchen and stackable washer and dryer. They have attempted to keep as much of the original Art Deco structure as possible, and the original tile floors are still being used. The tenants are a professional group ranging from college professors to attorneys. The bottom floor of the 11 at the Firehouse project is filled in with a funky beauty salon and a deli and coffee shop.

Pam told me that they really want to create another living unit from the hose tower of the firehouse. It would be a single unit with stacked rooms and windows looking out onto downtown and the mountains.

11 at the Firehouse Apartment Interior

“Our belief is that small, meaningful, well thought out urban infill can infuse a blighted area with wonderful energy. Small places to live and work on a small footprint leave a small impact on this precious earth.”

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

For only a week out of each year, Black Rock City, the home of Burning Man, is the fourth largest city in the state of Nevada. While the festival participants’ camps are only temporary, a lot of work goes into creating a comfortable, beautiful tiny shelter. These tiny “houses” have to be able to withstand up to 80 mile an hour winds, have to protect their inhabitants from the desert heat and cold, and the notorious dust storms of the Black Rock Desert. It also helps if they are colorful and attract attention. It makes them easier to find in the mass creativity that is Black Rock City.

Our neighborhood of 3:15 and Inherit in Black Rock City, NV

While at Burning Man, you “live” in the city. When someone asks you where you live, you say something like, “On the corner of 7:00 and Chaos, right next to the giant spaceship.” (referring to the horizontal “C” street and vertical number street of the Black Rock City map). This year’s city was 9,460 feet in diameter and included 44 miles of streets. It helps to know exactly where your tiny house is located.

To the un-Burned eye, Black Rock City looks a little beat up and run down, but when you are in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, any little bit of comfort is appreciated. The inhabitants of Black Rock City are an amazing group of people with extremely creative ideas and skills who create little laps of luxury in the desert.

These are some of my favorite tiny houses of Black Rock City:

Hexayurts were quite popular this year

So were tipis

I even found a half-finished gypsy wagon down the street

A very well insulated yurt

This structure has a central living area and a loft for sleeping

A beautiful, handmade truck trailer

This geodome uses solar panels for power

The Oliver trailer owned by Chris and Cherie from Technomadia

These tiny houses were built for storage and sleeping

The trailer of the Hollywood Death Squad

Our neighbor converted a toy hauler into a tiny shelter with French doors

This dome was used as a steam room

A lovely pink setup at the entrance to Kidsville

This mutant vehicle, also a shelter, was towed by a tractor

The inhabitants of the VW Bus Camp travel in groups

You can even have a white picket fence in Black Rock City

And my all-time favorite…

The Neverwas Haul, one of the best known mutant vehicles on the Playa