Tiny House Blog

Last week, I made a trip down to visit with Stephen Marshall of Little House on the Trailer. He is introducing his new line of little houses and going after a new need in the area. It is called Home Care Cottages, Solutions for Independent Living. These homes are built specifically for the elderly with requirements such as wheel chair access and maneuverability. Stephen agreed to let me do a video walkthrough with him and take some still photographs.

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]

This weeks Tiny House in a Landscape was a post back a year to two on the Tiny House Blog but this is a new picture is perfect for the fall season. The person who sent it to me called it the the perfect autumn weekend getaway cottage and I agree 1oo%.

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.

My story. I’m a self employed housekeeper/gardener/painter. Back in the 1990′s I set about buying a house. Can you guess what sort of reaction I got from mortgage bankers when I told them what I do for a living and how much money I earn?

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. Continue Reading »

by Amber Rouleau

***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. Continue Reading »

Thinking big and building small is the philosophy behind the company BuildZing, located in Dripping Springs Texas. BuildZing builds small homes that are eco-friendly, affordable and can have customized exteriors and interiors based on the owner’s budget.

The company builds what they call “flex rooms” that can be used for offices, studios, workshop, retreats, rental properties, and cottages and tiny homes for a simplified lifestyle. Their designs can also be adapted to be ADA compliant to house disabled persons. The designs are energy efficient and specific to Texas climates.

Their 12 foot by 16 foot model costs $13,750 including sales tax. BuildZing can build directly on-site and will consult with you on foundations and utility and sewer attachments, or the building can be delivered ready to move in.

Photos courtesy of BuildZing

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

My husband and I have been living in a small home rental in Portland, Oreogn for the past year and a half. Our cottage is about 450 square feet. It feels quite spacious to us. Both of us grew up in very large homes full of family, friends, and fun and we loved it, but prefer a smaller space for ourselves.

We got married in Maine (we used to live in Boston/Somerville) and packed our small Honda Civic with all of our possessions and leisurely road tripped to Oregon.

We found this house on Craigslist soon after moving to the area. Because we only brought our clothes and some personal items, we wanted to find a small place that would be easy and cheap to furnish. It took a few weeks, but we were able to get everything in our home (except TV and bed side tables) from Goodwill, Craigslist, and garage sales. It was quite an adventure! Continue Reading »