Tiny House Blog

by Steven Kuchinsky

I am part of a team of people from Monmouth University building a program known as THRIVE (Towns for Healing and Rehabilitation in Interactive Village Ecologies.)

We are working to create an alternative for about 80 homeless people living in tents (Tent City, Lakewood). Unfortunately, they must soon leave and will only have a homeless shelter to go to for one year and then they are on their own with no facilities available.

We want to create a sustainable community where these people together can build micro-homes and learn to live in a holistic life style.

We want to partner with whatever appropriate, likeminded caring people/groups will support this endeavor, such as Habitat for Humanity, various school programs that initiate sustainable farming, Home Depot which teaches home maintenance, and finally proponents of tiny homes that would like to make a difference in the lives of these people.

What better way to empower homeless people than to give them the opportunity to build their own homes and build their own community!

To what extent would you like to be a part of this ranging from simple suggestions, sharing contacts, ongoing communication, educating, etc.?

Here is a website about Tent City, and here also is a slide show (video) that I created. As idyllic as it may look, it is very difficult in the winter and they will not be permitted to live in these tents much longer.
(The pile of wood chips shown in the slide show were placed there by the town to make it more difficult for people to donate food to the homeless people. The county has since enforced removal.)

Debt free – healthy, happy, and with lots of friends. Where the best things in life are not things, where less is more and, where just enough is plenty!

The lifestyle model includes:

• Sustainable living – shelter, food, water, energy, transport, waste, environment
• Community participation – volunteering, active citizenship
• Education – learning, simple sustainable choices, self-sufficiency, and rich experiences

A model for life and an educational project to learn from with information and inspiration.

Of most interest to the Tiny House community this website will be the Happy, simply home – a 10m2 house built by a group of volunteers using mainly reused, recycled, or left-over materials in two weeks for under $8000 NZ ($6700USD).

To live simply is the ultimate sophistication and luckily I have been fortunate to live and learn from the world’s poorest who, unfortunately, don’t get to choose simplicity, but are masters of living simply and being more connected to their families, communities, and the environment around them.

Simplicity has so many amazing benefits to the individual, the people around them, the environment, and towards a more just and connected global community. This was the starting point that I wanted to have a home that implemented these ideologies in a tangible way through a dwelling to live in and be an active part of a community.

After traveling to almost 60 on top of my native home of Australia, I stumbled upon a town named Paekakariki (where the girls are cheeky – as the local rhyme goes) and fell in love with the surrounding beach and mountains and also the community. It’s a small but distinct community that cares about where they live and those who live within the community. I was there this time last year and then had to leave for the remainder of the year. I returned in late January to set up the Happy, simply project and the home. Continue Reading »

By Alyse Nelson

Jon and Ryah Dietzen’s 3-year plan entailed getting out of credit card debt, establishing an emergency fund, finding work closer to home, and having more family time. Sitting in their 1,700 square foot house, they realized it would not be easy to tackle their plan. So they made a move most people would consider extreme – they converted a garage into a 400 square foot cottage.

Jon and Ryah Dietzen look into their renovated cottage – their home for 3 years. Photo by Royce Tillotson, used with permission. Continue Reading »

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.

by Anders Karlstam

I have attached a picture over a part of our city built up with tiny houses of different designs. This type of building in this type of area are called “kolonistuga” and the tiny houses are called “koloniområde.” This area was built way back to give hard working People in factories a chance to get recreation on vacation.

There are several areas with tiny houses in our city. Most of them are located in surrounding locations of the city, but this one and two to three more areas are located inside the city. It is a very nice contrast to all large buildings.

Photo Credits Anders Karlstam

Usually, people are not allowed to live in these permanently and they are empty during the wintertime.

Every house is owned personally, but owners have to be a members of a community that rents the land from the city. So every house owner rents the ground from the community, which is called a leasehold.

Continue Reading »

Dan Louche from Tiny Home Builders is going to be offering a unique workshop starting in March and I wanted to make sure you all new about it. I’ll let Dan tell you about it below.

Building a tiny house by yourself can be intimidating, especially if you have limited construction knowledge. But imagine if instead of doing it alone, you were part of a community of people with different levels of knowledge and experience working in tandem toward the common goal of building and living in a tiny house. In this community there would be an experienced instructor who was there to guide you and answer all of your questions along the way. This is the idea behind the Tiny House Build Along.

At the end of six months you could be living in your own tiny house. A house that is mortgage free, environmentally sustainable, that you built with your own hands. Beginning on March 1st 2012, I will be building a tiny house, and I invite you to build yours with me.

Participants will get access to an online community where each step of the build process will be broken down and scheduled to allow ample time for completion. Illustrated instructions and videos will be provided for each step so that you understand exactly what needs to be done. There will also be a discussion area where you can post your questions which will be answered by your fellow builders and myself. For each step there will be an opportunity to call in and ask your questions with the instructors answers broadcast live over the web to all participants (these sessions will also be recorded for others in the event someone is not available at the specified call time). My personal number will also be provided for a limited number of immediate answers.

The total cost is $849 and includes your choice of one of the Tiny Home Builders tiny house plans (Tiny Living or Tiny Retirement), the Tiny House Construction Guide, and unlimited access to the Tiny House Build Along online community.

You’ve dreamed of living in a tiny house, if you’ve thought of building your own home, but didn’t know where to start, then this is it! This is your start!

Reserve your spot today for $99.
Learn more at tinyhomebuilders.com/buildalong.