The good new is I have another Wee Irish Cottage almost finished. It is 8ft X 26ft with 8ft X 20ft insulated living space with loft, and a covered 8ft X 6ft trek deck porch, insulated windows and door. The outside is covered with cedar bevel siding and the inside is T&G pine with bamboo flooring.

There is a small kitchen with a sitting area and under counter fridge, 36 in. shower stall and composting toilet. Downstairs there is a hide-a-bed if you don’t want to use the loft. I am advertising the Irish Wee House on Portland Craigslist for $12,500.

The new Big house also has a big shop and working area. I may try to do some workshops.

Thanks,
Mike Irish
541-296-5225
503-515-8408

Deb Durham here again. Yep, the tall broad with a penchant for small spaces and little automobiles.

When you can’t afford or don’t want to expand a home’s footprint, here are 2 remodel ideas for transforming existing space to best advantage. This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,200 sq. ft. home I renovated outside of Santa Fe, NM. I call it Asian Adobe.

I understand Southwest style may not be everyone’s cup of tea and it may be larger than your idea of a small home, but work with me here. There are many useful takeaways you can apply whether you’re focused on a 175 sq. ft. home on wheels or a 6oo sq. ft. cottage.

#1 Portal (that’s a “porch” for you East Coasters) Turned into ¾ Bath and Laundry Room Combo

Floor Plan of guest bathroom/laundry

When I bought this house, the previous owner had enclosed a 6 ft. x 9 ft. portal at the back of the house which he used as an office. See the small roof above red door in top left pic? I wanted to add a guest bathroom next to the guest bedroom that would also serve as a powder room and include a washer/dryer. I was able to do it using a stackable washer/dryer and an open shower with 1 glass wall so it feels very spacious. Plus all materials were tone on tone neutrals of quartzite stone tile, American Clay plaster and natural pebbles. The one unorthodox thing about the bathroom is it doubles as the back door entrance to the house, but no one seems to mind!

#2 Turn a Hallway + Laundry Room into a Deep Soaking Tub (for 2!) with a View

Tea for Two Tub

Tub with View

So, “Where was the laundry room before the remodel?” you ask. It was in a short hallway between the living area and the master bedroom behind cheap bi-fold doors. The good news is the plumbing from the washer was already in place (read: money savings!) and there was an existing sky light above the hallway portion. Fewer and/or smallish hallways in homes make for better use of tight space. I installed a 6 ft. Kohler Tea for Two soaking tub with gorgeous views out to the mountains via a narrow horizontal window. You do not need a huge window when you are in the tub. To determine the exact dimensions for the tub window, I sat on the floor in the living room facing the same direction and taped off existing windows to see the minimum window height and length I needed. This one is 18 in. x 48 inches.

• If I had it to do over, I’d position the tub filler on the surface edge of the tub vs. on the short wall so that the window would start at tub surface lever rather than the 5 inches above. I also gave the tub area some visual separation by installing a beam parallel and above the edge of the tub which repeats the same look elsewhere in the house. The shelf above the tub could hold a steady supply of towels but I chose 5 whimsical torsos I found at IKEA.

By placing the soaking tub here, I was able to enlarge the Master Bedroom shower and closet….but that’s a whole other story.

Please let me know if these ideas were helpful. If so, I have some more space expanding ideas from this home for my next guest blog. Cheers!

Deb Durham

My husband and I recently went to New Orleans to visit with family and we rented a small apartment in the Fauborg Marigny area of the city. It’s only a few blocks from the French Quarter, but it feels like a different city altogether. The vibe is more historical and bohemian and less touristy and Bourbon Street-y. The main road is Frenchman, which is called the “local’s Bourbon Street”, and is known for its great restaurants, coffee shops and jazz clubs. Because the neighborhood is on higher ground, it escaped the worst of the Katrina flooding.

Many of the cottages that cram the Marigny streets date back to the 19th century and have their own distinctive style of paint color and design. Many of them are “shotgun” style in that they look very small from the front, but their length may take up half a block. The Marigny area is popular with artists, musicians, writers and other creative types who regularly rally for the preservation of their neighborhood which has been placed on the National Register of historic districts.

Photos by Christina Nellemann, infrogmation, deadhorse and netpix.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

When I consider all of the hurdles and hassles associated with building a tiny house in this modern time of high land prices and restrictive zoning, I find myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to buy a small cottage. My cottage has remained essentially unchanged since the 1940s when smaller houses were the norm.

I have always had an idea of just what kind of house I wanted to live in. For years I had been keeping an eye on the market for the perfect house. Finally, in 2006, I saw an ad in a real estate flyer: ‘Brookside cottage with claw foot tub.’ This I had to check out, even though I was in a perfectly comfortable living situation at the time. When I visited the house, I felt a sense of recognition. It was as if I were returning to a home I had built for myself in a previous lifetime. In a flurry of negotiations I got the price down to what I could afford, and with the help and advice of a Tarot reader, I overcame some legal hurdles and I became a homeowner.

Although I think it would be closer to the truth to say that this house owns me. Even as I have chosen this house to be my home, I feel that in some sense I have been chosen by this house, and by the woodland spirits that live here, to be its caretaker.

Since then, I have been redecorating/remodeling the house one room at a time. The claw foot tub is still there, although the rest of the bathroom has been completely redone.

[View with PicLens]

In 2004, my wife and I decided to purchase 20 acres in rural Kansas about 45 minutes away from our suburban home in Overland Park, Kansas. With a daughter close to graduating from high school, we thought the best way to transition to the country might be to build a small cottage that would serve as my home office. I sat down and made a list of requirements for the office and decided it might be wise to add a small kitchenette and second floor sleeping loft just in case we wanted to spend the weekends at the farm.

Exterior of the cottage after roofing

After a good deal of research, I settled on a set of plans called the “Weekend Warrior” by Robinson Residential. Using those plans as a guide, I expanded the footprint of the cottage by three feet and added a full second floor sleeping loft.

Shows "stock" one story plan that we modified

Having just built a small pond on the front side of our property, we decided to set the cottage about fifteen feet from its edge. This would provide an excellent view of the wildlife while maximizing passive solar gain as well. The final grade for the cottage would be about three feet higher than the surrounding grade to allow for proper drainage. We then poured a 16ft x 28ft concrete slab as the foundation for our little building.

Ductwork in second floor loft

We chose to frame the cottage using 2 x 6 wooden studs as this would allow for additional insulation in the exterior walls. We caulked and sealed the base plates and any exterior openings and then had wet-sprayed cellulose insulation blown into the wall and attic cavities. Cellulose insulation is made from recycled newspaper, cardboard, and cotton which has been treated with boric acid as a fire retardant. The exterior of the cottage was finished using lap siding by SmartSide which is warranted against rot for 25 years.

Wet-blown Cellulose Insulation

We had been purchasing high quality Pella windows from our local home improvement stores “returned window” section several months before construction started. These were windows that had been custom ordered and for whatever reason either not picked up or were the wrong size. This saved us a huge amount of money and allowed us to have the highest quality windows for a fraction of the normal retail price. To increase energy efficiency, we minimized the glass on the west and north sides of the cottage. Small awning windows set high on the north wall of the cottage allowed for cross ventilation and natural lighting while at the same time conserving valuable interior wall space. The large twin patio doors on the east side of the cottage made for easy access to the covered deck and opened the small footprint to the outdoors.

Kitchen and stairway

The first floor of the cottage contains the dining area, kitchenette, pantry closest, bathroom, and bedroom. Accessed by a set of ladder stairs, the second floor loft is one large open area with nine foot ceilings. Two skylights help keep the area filled with light and provide excellent summertime ventilation. A small utility closet on the second floor contains the hot water tank and HVAC system.

Dining area

We chose to keep the interior finish of the cottage very simple. We painted the concrete floor and used cedar boards to trim the windows and doors. The doors are all painted a cinnamon red which adds to the playful nature of the design. We even built a treehouse-like windup bucket that the kids use to haul up snacks and drinks. The kitchenette has a full size sink, and several maple kitchen cabinets. A cabinet mounted microwave, large toaster oven, full size refrigerator and chest freezer, all allow us to easily store and prepare meals. The use of an electric fry pan replaces what dishes would normally be cooked on a stove top. In addition to the small number of kitchen cabinets, a small pantry closet, roll around stainless steel cabinets provide loads of storage.

Bathroom pedestal sink

The bathroom includes a corner style shower with full size pedestal sink and toilet.

The downstairs bedroom measures approximately 12ft x 12ft and has a small closet.

Cedar bunk beds I built for the kids

As it turned out, we had to delay building our permanent house, so we decided to move our family of four into the cottage. At approximately 800 square feet, it’s less than 2,000 square feet smaller than our city home, but we were amazed how well it functioned. Since we never intended to live in this little house for extended periods of time, we didn’t include a laundry room. In hindsight, I should have added a small closet that could have been used for a stackable washer/dryer unit. Other than that however, the cottage functions very well and I can’t think of anything else I would change.

Shows the detail of the front deck

People are always shocked when we tell them where we live. Such a small home set on 20 acres does resemble a kid’s playhouse but we assure them we do in fact live quite comfortably in our “Little House on the Prairie”.

Statistics:

Year built: 2006
Land: 20 acres
Construction: Wood framing on concrete slab foundation
Size: 16 ft x 28 ft, approximately 800 square feet of living area including second floor loft
Utilities: All electric (with whole-house backup generator), rural water, septic system
Cost: Owner built for approximately $50,000 not including the land

Resources:

Robinson Residential: http://www.robinsonplans.com
Pella Windows & Doors: http://www.pella.com
SmartSide: http://lpcorp.com
Sherwin Willams: http://www.sherwin-williams.com
Cellulose Insulation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_insulation
Generac Power Systems: http://www.generac.com

Contact Information:

Jerry Hambley
Website: http://www.lemonscorner.com
Email: letters@lemonscorner.com

[View with PicLens]

12►

That amazing window (which Laurie called “a magic window”) was found lying up against a barn and turned out to be a church window from the 1800s. Custom glass was made for each round section of the window. She and her husband also perused the salvage yard and found old growth pine boards to use for the floor and chimney pots for the roof. Soybean based foam insulation was sprayed into the walls and the roof is Vermont slate. The house is powered by wind and solar.

Video images courtesy of Laurie Halse Anderson

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

This Home Care Cottage is 400 square feet in size and has a downstairs bedroom and a loft bedroom. This home is mobile but at 12 foot wide by 33 feet long you need a special permit to move it. It felt very roomy with standard room width. Stephen says that this home is priced at $65,000.

I hope you enjoy the video walkthrough and the photo gallery. You can learn more about the Home Care Cottages by going to Stephens new website Home Care Cottages.

[View with PicLens]

The cornstalks and pumpkins help frame this little getaway cottage just right. Who can help me track down the previous post that shows the interior and tells all about this neat little space? If you can comment below than I will link to it here and here.

I did all sorts of research with many weekend field trips and after a few years I found a piece of undeveloped property that I could afford with cash. I then I had plans for my home drawn up for a few hundred dollars.

I saved up for a septic system, a foundation, and then a shell, etc. I scavenged furniture from thrift shops and pulled things off the curb on bulk trash day. I’m not too proud for that. No Sir. It’s been twelve years now and the place is about as done as it’s likely to get. Looking back I could have made do with less space, but I love my little 480 square foot mortgage free cottage.

All those people who thought I was crazy for not building a “real” house? A lot of those folks lost their giant homes to foreclosure…

The cottage is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. The house was built over a period of several years beginning in 1999, but the cost for the house itself was about $31,000 – not including the land.

Other costs include $2,800 to connect to the electric grid and about $5,000 for a septic system. It’s impossible to drill a well in the area due to the brackish water so close to the ocean so the cottage is on rain water catchment from the roof. I started with a 1,000 gallon water storage tank for $800 and recently added two more larger water tanks for a total of 6,000 gallons at a cost of about $4,000. This was all done on a cash basis over a twelve year period.

The furniture is all second hand and objet trouve (trash sounds better in French…). I don’t think I spent more than $15 on any one piece besides the mattress which was bought new. Of course, there was a lot of time spent cleaning, sanding, staining, and painting the stuff.

Thanks Johnny for sharing your story and pictures, if you have a small house story of your own please email it to tinyhouseblog@gmail.com.

***Note photos below are not from this plan but from another home to give you an idea of what it could be like.

Real estate professionals often use terms like “cozy” and “charming” to oh-so-cleverly disguise the fact that a house is small. In the case of this 648 square foot cottage from Connor Homes (www.connorbuilding.com), the size and style of this home need no disguise – it’s authentically charming, due in large part to its historically-inspired roots.

This design, called the Samuel Whitlock Cottage, can best be described as a southern regional vernacular one-and-a-half story Georgian cottage. It is a one-bedroom, one bath cottage, and the key design features include a gable roof with dormers, an exterior end chimney, wide beaded weather boards, board and batten shutters, and flush rakes with applied soffit caps.

The existence of a built up brick wall which raises the height of the first floor is common in low lying areas such as tidal areas, in the south. This is called a “water table”. Additionally, the outside chimney on one gable end speaks to regional roots; in colder northern climates, center chimneys and fireplaces were preferable to provide the needed heat to the entire house. In temperate southern climates, heat was (and remains) less of an issue.

The likely period of construction for the inspiration for the Samuel Whitlock Cottage would have been mid-18th century. Interior finishes at that point would have either been what’s referred to as Primitive (lots of natural elements, colors and textures) or Traditional (classic and understated).

Today, of course, this new-old home is a beautiful addition to any property, and the interior finishes can be custom tailored to meet any home-owner’s needs. In fact, Connor Homes even offers complete, highly detailed, and historically accurate interiors to accompany their ‘new old homes’.

The interior plan of the cottage is much more contemporary than it would have been in the mid 18th century, as is illustrated by the floor plans. One of the great advantages of a “new old house’ is the ability to combine the charm of an authentic exterior with the advantages of a bright, open and comfortable interior. This cottage features a first floor “great room” with kitchen, dining and living spaces open to each other, much like the interior photos (which are of a similar design), and the upstairs ceiling is vaulted, increasing the feeling of spaciousness.

The Samuel Whitlock Cottage’s 648 square feet are open and spacious, creating a home that, while small in size, is big on function, style and yes, charm.

For more information on Connor Homes, please visit www.connorbuilding.com or call (802) 382-9082.