“Honey, I Shrunk the House – by 1,377 Percent”

A local Seattle-area family has just built a new home that’s only 159 square feet. They’re part of a national movement toward smaller, more sustainable housing that is taking root in the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle, WA, February 16, 2012 — This week, thousands will converge in Century Link Field for the Seattle Home Show (February 18-26, 2012) to browse the latest trends in building the American dream. However, they’ll likely miss one of the fastest-growing trends: living in tiny homes that are sustainable, flexible, and often mobile.

To learn more about tiny homes, you need to venture a few blocks north to a gathering of fewer than 100 people: the Tumbleweed Tiny House Workshop held the same time (February 25-26, 2012) at the Pioneer Square Courtyard Marriott.

Photo Credit Seattle Tiny Homes

One Seattle-area resident planning to be there is Sharon Read, with a tiny home in tow. She’s just built a new home that is only 159 square feet – 1,377% less than her family’s current dwelling. With classic Craftsman styling, beautiful cedar siding, and lots of windows to let in light, the tiny home has a kitchen, a “great” room, an office, a bathroom with a tub/shower, and even a washer and dryer. The home also features two sleeping lofts that have room for two queen size beds and storage.

The home’s foundation? A sturdy 22-foot steel trailer, meaning the home is portable and can be positioned anywhere.

While Read and her family hope to live in the tiny house as much as possible, the home is also the show model for Seattle Tiny Homes, a company Read founded to build high-quality, custom tiny homes – both portable and stationary – that can be used as primary residences, vacation homes, guest cottages, auxiliary housing for elderly relatives or college students, or an office or studio.

Read and Seattle Tiny Homes are part of a growing movement of tiny home advocates that is spreading across North America – and taking root in the Pacific Northwest. Spearheaded by Jay Shafer, called the guru of the tiny homes and author of The Small House Book (learn more at www.tumbleweedhouses.com), the movement touts the freedom and flexibility that tiny homes offer – plus the “green” advantage of a greatly reduced environmental impact.

The public is welcome at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Seminar. To register, visit www.tumbleweedhouses.com/workshops/seattle/. Classes will be taught by Dee Williams, a tiny house pioneer and co-owner of Portland Alternative Dwellings (learn more at www.portlandalternativedwellings.com).

Photo Credit Tumbleweeed Tiny Houses

Read’s new tiny home – all 159 square feet – will be on display and open for viewing during the seminar. For exact times and location, contact Sharon Read of Seattle Tiny Homes at:

(425) 445-3675
sharon@seattletinyhomes.com
www.seattletinyhomes.com

My wife and I will be going south to visit our daughter over the Presidents Day weekend. I hope everyone who is able to make it to this open house enjoys it.

Here are the details:

Photo courtesy of Tumbleweed Tiny Houses

Most of the designs we see out there resort to the loft for a bed. This saves precious floor space for living. However, this is not ideal for everyone. Unfortunately, at this time I only know of a few designs that take an alternative route to the loft – so I thought I would do a post to highlight these houses. My goal is to inspire others to design more homes with alternative sleeping quarters other than a loft.

The oldest version of a tiny home on wheels that I am aware of is the vardo or gypsy wagon. These homes were designed with a bed that sits up high and has storage below. You still need to crawl up a little to get in, but it is nothing like climbing a ladder. There are not many plans out there for this type of home. The only one I know that is available the “Don Vardo” by Portland Alternative Dwellings. While it is not a complete house I think the plans could be extended to make it into one with a kitchen and bathroom. Dee Williams from Portland Alternative Dwellings and I once talked about this revision and she may have even completed the plans by now. You can get an idea by looking at the picture of the Don Vardo here and a vardo picture I have included above in this post.

(Dee just sent word that she has the 12 foot vardo available which features a bathroom and kitchen. The plans are now available here for only $30. They are in the process of having one built out in Florida and I will share photos, etc. as soon as it is completed.)

12 foot Don Vardo Floor Plan

Another home not using a loft is Dan Louche’s house plans. He designed his home for his mother and she did not want a loft. She uses a futon in the living area as a bed and it is working great for her. You can view Dan’s plans here and check out his blog of the construction of the home here.

Jay Shafer is popular for his loft based tiny homes on wheels the Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. Jay has pretty much stuck with this type of plan except for his most affordable plan – the Popomo. You receive this plan free if you purchase his book or you can buy it alone for $16.95. This is a very modern home, in fact they have just completed building the first one and I had a chance to see it a couple of weeks ago. If modern is not your style, don’t worry, the exterior can be customized to suit your tastes. Here is a picture of the Popomo that Tumbleweed Tiny House Company recently completed. You can see more pictures at their website. Click here to see them.

Tumbleweed Popomo

If you are aware of any other homes on wheels that have not used the loft bedroom please share them with me and the other readers below. Let’s get some new ideas and plans out there for those who need or want this option.

Popomo Interior via Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

Abel Zimmerman a friend and neighbor to Dee Williams from Olympia, Washington contacted me recently about his vardo he built for himself and to let me know he will build them for others too.

Abel says: “I have a family in Olympia Washington. (we use the vardo as a backyard getaway and extra room for now) I plan to do some summer vardo sabbaticals with the whole family — perhaps in the mountains.”

If you would like to contact Abel here is his contact information: dba: Zyl Vardos and Periscopa Lighting zylvardos@gmail.com

Thanks Abel for sharing your vardo and I hope others are inspired to create their own tiny home.

Dee let me preview a copy of this book and I can’t believe all the knowledge she has packed into this little book. Although just 21 pages long, Dee is able to share the engineering basics to help understand how the stresses of a house mounted on a trailer can affect your construction. She gives you size restrictions and permit information along with the basics of trailer construction and how to deal with it. Dee walks you through the floor construction, how to connect the walls and install a gable roof. What is involved in installing the exterior finish and working with vapor barriers, insulation and flashing.

All this for just under $20. Dee’s goal is to help as many people out there find the confidence to jump in and build their own tiny house on wheels. Thank you Dee for making this available and sharing your knowledge and experience.

Click here to learn more.

Be sure to visit Dee’s tiny house website, Portland Alternative Dwellings.

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

The tour is being sponsored by the South Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild.  This is a community event focused on solar or other renewable energies, new and reclaimed materials, low energy consumption and water conservation technologies, and sustainable design techniques.

Educational sessions will be held at various locations and will feature real life topics on how to think and live greener. Check it out at: southsoundgreentour.org

The class was held in a local Portland residence and was the perfect location for a small workshop.

I loved the structure of the class; it was all about active learning and contained an incredible amount of valuable information. We learned about general construction techniques, how to stay safe with power tools, discussed building codes and built the foundation of a tiny mobile office.

Click here to go to Rowdy Kittens for the rest of the story.

Photo Credit: Tammy

My friend Michael at Tiny House Design discovered that Dee Williams will be presenting a workshop on June 27, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. It’s a one-day workshop taught by Dee and KT Anderson with a combination of classroom and hand-on training.

A few of the things you will learn are to fasten a tiny house securely to a trailer, general construction techniques, building codes, and staying safe with power tools.

You most likely know Dee from her extensive news coverage in the Northwest and KT Anderson has 20 years in the trades and recently graduated from a two-year program at the School of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California. She is currently working on designing and building a green home in Portland, Oregon.

The cost of the one-day workshop in Portland, Oregon is $250. To register or learn more contact Dee or KT by email.

• Dee Williams – dee.boxcar@yahoo.com
• KT Anderson – kupiak@mac.com

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by Carol Estes

“The more intentional you are in your choices, the more every change makes room for more changes … I just love that there’s this endless potential.”
—DEE WILLIAMS

Read the full article here at Yes! Magazine. Thank you Christina for bringing this to my attention.