Tiny House Blog

The Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont will be hosting the first ever Tiny House Fair June 14-16, 2013. The fair will include presentations on tiny houses from Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed and Four Lights Tiny House Company and Deek Diedrickson of Relaxshacks as well as workshops on how to design and build a tiny house, finish carpentry, using recycled materials, alternative power, composting toilets and creating a community.

Registration is open to the first 100 people who sign up and the $300 cost will include all workshops, presentations and meals. Cabin lodging on the Yestermorrow campus will also be available for $50 for two nights. Participants may also camp on-site for $20 for two nights and the lodging will be free if you bring your own tiny house or camper. Off-campus lodging includes a hostel and several hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Yestermorrow offers over 150 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft including a variety of courses concentrating in sustainable design and green building. Operating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization since 1980, Yestermorrow is one of the only design/build schools in the country, teaching both design and construction skills. Our 1-day to 3-week hands-on courses are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country.

Photos by Yestermorrow Design/Build School and George Soules with David Cain.

Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont is hosting a building class focused on building a tiny house on wheels.

They’re hoping to find a client who would like to offer their little house as the subject of the class — significantly jump-starting the construction process! Essentially, the client would dictate the design and offer the materials, including the trailer, and the folks at Yestermorrow would begin the construction process as part of the class. http://www.yestermorrow.org/workshops/detail/tiny-house-design-build

If anyone is interested in getting more information about the class or how their project could be used in the class, please contact Paul Hanke of Yestermorrow. He can provide information about how the class went last year. I’ve attached a photo of the little house they started last year. The porch and other aspects of the house weren’t complete, but the walls and roof were on and the project well underway by the end of the class. Paul’s e-mail is jphanke@gmavt.net.

Nineteen students at Green Mountain College in Vermont have recently built a tiny 8 by 12 foot house (97 square feet) as part of an environmental studies course. The tiny home was built almost entirely from reclaimed materials and cost only $1,927.The students helped pay for it with a $100 per student course fee – and only went over their budget by a few dollars.

The students visited the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vt. for inspiration and ideas for their tiny house and they decided to design a rectangular building with one low corner to create a curved roof that rainwater can pour off of and be collected. A loft, furnishings and lighting fixtures were also designed and constructed by the students. Sheep wool was added for insulation into the window casing, the hardware and metal roofing was purchased from local building supply companies and the threshold to the front door is slate from a local quarry. The house will have a solar powered electrical system installed as well as the rainwater catchment system. The house will then be sold by the students to recoup the costs of the build.

The tiny house represents an excellent learning opportunity for students in the College’s REED (Renewable Energy and EcoDesign) certificate program. During the design and construction process, students adhere to sustainable building practices as well as learn about the real estate market. A video was created about their build and can be see on the Green Mountain College website.

Photos courtesy of Green Mountain College

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]