The FirstDay Cottage company in New Hampshire offers a house kit which they claim a couple, and a handful of friends, can build in approximately fifteen weekends and for under $45,000. These house kits can be customized for each customer and can be built with almost no carpentry experience. What I found very refreshing about FirstDay is that they insist that their kits are so simple to put together, that they encourage all their customers to contact them frequently to get advice and support throughout the project. They even help to get the owner/builder financing.

While these houses are little larger than the average tiny house, the smallest is under 1,000 square feet. The smallest of the plans is the Basic, which is 16 feet by 30 feet or 960 square feet and costs about $26,900 for the kit.

The FirstDay Kit Includes:

• Instructions and plans
• Posts and beams
• Sheathing and decking
• 2″ High-R Foam Insulation
• Roofing and siding
• Windows
• Interior and exterior doors
• Nails
• Building wrap
• Interior partitions
• Kitchen cabinets

I actually found the FirstDay plans through this couple, who are living the simple life in upstate New York with their young son. They built their own FirstDay as a spec house and then built a tiny cabin in the woods from the scraps left over. The entire project cost them about $900.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)

Are you looking to become an expat in Costa Rica? How about living in a shipping container? You can do both in one tidy package from Container Homes by Jimmy Lee. Lee designs and delivers surprisingly airy and open shipping container homes with a full kitchen, bedroom and a small bathroom.

Visit the video gallery

Jimmy Lee and his shipping container home

Each of his homes is earthquake, fire and hurricane proof. And since they do stay within Costa Rica, you probably don’t have to worry about heating the place. He is selling a 45 x 8 x 9 foot finished home for $17,000, and a land and home package for $60,000. You can also order the raw containers from his company and build your own house. A 20 x 8 x 8 foot container sells for $2,700 and a 40 x 8 x 8 foot container sells for $3,600 to $4,100. Transportation costs are extra, but he can have a home delivered to you in 3-5 weeks.

This might be the best time to purchase one of these home/land packages. Costa Rica is no longer an undiscovered paradise. When I visited the country about 10 years ago it was just starting to cater to travelers, and now it’s a refuge for American and European expatriates. Prices are only going to go up.

Before opening up his business, Jimmy worked as a Greenpeace team leader for six years in Washington, D.C. He left Greenpeace to study to become a chiropractor. Weeks after receiving his Doctorate he moved to Costa Rica where he has been established for ten years as a chiropractor in the town of San Ramon, Costa Rica. He is also a yoga instructor.

He believes that shipping container homes are the most environmentally sound form of home construction on the market. It’s been estimated that 85 percent of the building materials used in each shipping container home have been recycled. Also, the foundation design is less expensive, uses much less material and is faster to install. The infrastructure for transport already exists, so the container homes can be easily moved by ship, truck or train. This component reduces the amount of transport time. Everything is delivered in one trip. You don’t have to pay for multiple deliveries of separate construction materials. Additionally, no building permits are required. Because the unit is on its wheels, it is referred to as a “non-permanent” structure.

The 45 foot container home includes:

• The wheels. This unit is attached permanently to its base
• Total insulation on all walls and the ceiling, backed by fibrolite board
• All bathroom fixtures. Shower, toilet, sink, mirror, shelves and tile
• Kitchen counter, sink and faucet, shelves, breakfast bar with two benches
• Bedroom rug, shelves and bamboo curtain rod installed
• All windows and doors are equipped with metal bars
• Ceiling fan in master bedroom and lighting
• All electrical outlets and light switches
• Interior and exterior paint

The home does not include the following. However Jimmy’s company could supply the following for an additional cost:

• Furniture and appliances
• Second bedroom if requested
• Transportation to your destination
• Solar power
• Rainwater catchment system
• Hot water pump
• Bamboo roofing (the container naturally has its own roof, this would be on top of that)
• Deck

The first step to ordering from Jimmy is to visit the prototype and decide what changes you would like to make. If you cannot visit, and wish to place an order, you can do so and then as soon as the model home is picture ready he will send you the photos. A deposit of 50% is required to begin the building of your portable home. Estimated time to completion is between 3-6 weeks.

By Christina Nellemann

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On my road trip to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, I had to stop and take some photos of this darling little log home just outside of Cedar City, Utah. The Mini Pine Hollow log home by Pine Hollow Log Homes is 11 by 16 feet with a full loft and a 4 by 16 foot covered deck.

Pine Hollow offers this tiny cabin as a kit and will deliver it within 250 miles of Cedar City. It takes about two weeks to have a kit delivered. This particular home was unfinished inside, but the Pine Hollow website should have updated photos of the Mini log home soon.

The Basic Package includes:

• Blueprints
• Treated skids
• Floor framing
• 6″ starter/finish logs
• 6″ wall logs, gable ends
• 8″ oly screws/construction adhesive
• Calking for windows and doors
• Loft floor joists
• 2×6 rough sawn window/door bucking
• Windows and door
• Deck framing
• Roof framing with OSB sheathing
• Porch posts
• Porch framing with OSB sheathing
• Milled 3×2 handrail
• Dormer framing with 1×6 tongue and groove siding

Cost: $8,781.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

The Deluxe Package includes:

• All of the above items
• 1×6″ tongue and groove soffit
• Batt insulation
• 1×6″ tongue and groove ceiling
• 2×6″ tongue and groove loft floor
• 1×6″ tongue and groove porch sheathing
• Tar paper
• Steel roof, trims, flashing and screws

Cost: $10,865.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

Pine Hollow offers other log home kits, most around 1,000-2,000 square feet.

By Christina Nellemann

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Over the holiday weekend, I visited Portland and the tiny house of Walt Quade of Small Home Oregon. Walt builds and ships lovely 325 square foot homes anywhere within the state of Oregon. Walt has been a residential designer/builder since 1992 and is dedicated to building smaller homes. This tiny house is built on a foundation in his backyard.

“With a small home, you have to take the extra effort to create an efficient space,” he said.

His tiny house feels a lot larger than 325 square feet and contains all the amenities of a larger home including a full bath and bedroom. I was impressed with the architectural details of the curved ceiling, the beautiful lighting and the use of a Murphy-style bed in the bedroom. The small home can be built with a loft or just a ceiling storage area.

Walt has built two tiny houses for other people who use them as recreation homes. He offers five floorplans and several configurations, and he can customize the space to whatever the buyer wants. Each house can also be placed on any type of foundation, has a 55 lb snow load and can withstand 110 mile an hour winds.

“You can put them on the beach or in the desert. Basically, they can go anywhere.” he said.

Walt is an advocate for off-the-grid living as well, and encourages buyers of his homes and plans that they look into several off-grid options for power, sewer, water and heat. His tiny house now is heated by small wall heaters, but he said that they can be built to use radiant heat.

The buildings come with a 1 year warranty and have been inspected and approved by the state of Oregon. Right now, Walt is only shipping within Oregon. Each tiny house costs around $40,000 and will cost around $4,000 to ship. Plans cost $265 per set. Walt also builds custom teardrop trailers if you feel the need to travel away from your tiny house.

By Christina Nellemann

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I recently came across these two companies who design and build small, whimsical backyard and garden

cottages for a very affordable price. EcoScape Outdoors in San Diego, Calif. and Zoe Outdoors in Salem, Ore. are both run by different members of the same family and offer a wide array of unique customizable garden cottage studios and outdoor living products. Their tiny cottages are made with prefabricated wall panels, a roof truss system and floor system that a certified installer can complete in about three or four days.

Both EcoScape Outdoors and Zoe Outdoors are factory direct manufacturing companies which can save the buyer about 50 percent of the construction cost of one of these homes. They offer three sizes: a 10 x 12 cottage for $7,450, a 10 x 16 cottage for $8,450 and a 10 x 20 cottage for $9,450. These tiny homes also offer the following:

• High quality northwest building materials
• Insulated vinyl windows
• Low E glass insulated windows
• Steel insulated entrance door
• Natural, oiled cedar finish
• Architectural roof shingles with a 25-year warranty
• One year manufacturer’s warranty

Neither company provides wiring or plumbing, but a heavy duty commercial grade extension cord for electrical power is provided with each cottage. Having a contractor or electrician wire your cottage is an option after the cottage is built.

Zoe Outdoors also works with churches, shelters and other community organizations to provide cottages for the homeless and families who need emergency shelter. Zoe Outdoors will soon be offering a cottage on wheels.

They also offer distributorship opportunities for someone who would like their own tiny cottage business. They have showrooms in several areas of the country including Seattle, Boise, Tulsa and Las Vegas.

By Christina Nellemann

Trailer Version

Trailer Version

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There is something feminine about straw bale homes. The warmth, curves and color of these natural spaces act like a hug when you walk in the door. While these profiled straw bale homes are small rather than tiny (most are around 400-800 square feet) they were envisioned, designed and built by women that I feel epitomize the beauty of the straw bale house.

Most followers of strawbale building and other natural building techniques know of the Canelo Project and Athena Swentzell Steen.

She and her husband Bill run this small non-profit organization that is dedicated to the exploration and development of living systems, including growing food and building homes that creates friendship, beauty and simplicity.

Straw bale cottage at the Canelo Project

Interior of straw bale cottage at the Canelo Project

Their latest book is Small Strawbale, which covers everything from building walls and open shelters to small and exquisite homes built out of straw bales.

Carolyn Roberts also wrote a book detailing the trials and triumphs of building her own straw bale home outside of Tucson, Ariz. A House of Straw: A Natural Building Odyssey profiles the challenges of passing her county inspections, the issues of building a house as a single woman while trying to raise two children, and the wonders of creating her own space and the friends she made along the way. Her website breaks down the cost of each part of the building process, and her total for the home (land not included) came to approximately $50,000. Because of the thick walls and use of passive solar, her electric bills average about $35 a month.

Interior of Carolyn Robert's straw bale house

Caroline Coalter Wilson built her house, Paca de Paja, to also serve as a small bed and breakfast. She works at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and runs the B&B part time. She was previously a park ranger and naturalist with the National Park Service and has written several publications on natural history.

Paca de Paja

I really admire these women who have tackled the building process from the ground up and utilize the beauty of natural products in their homes. More information for my fellow female dreamers and builders can be found in the book
The House That Jill Built.

By Christina Nellemann

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