Tiny House Blog

Benjamin Wheeler brought to my attention Tom Dolby’s blog and his restoration of on ships lifeboat that he has converted into a music studio over in England. Though not used as a tiny house there is absolutely no reason that it couldn’t be converted into one.

I’ll let Tom Dolby tell you a little bit about the boat and you can use your imagination to see where you could take a boat like this.

She was built in the 1930′s as one of a pair of ship’s lifeboats aboard the SS Queen Ann, a British merchant vessel serving in the South Seas. If you look at the red stripe down the side, this was her original gunwale: the deck was added in the 1960′s and we built the wheelhouse this year. In the 30?s she would have had a sail, oars and small paraffin engine. It’s carved on her bowpost that she could hold up to 99 souls. Continue Reading »

I recently got back from a trip to Europe to visit family and kept my eye out for tiny houses across the pond. What caught my attention in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark was a steel and copper bridge tender house. My husband and I actually peaked into the windows and contemplated if we could buy one of these things and spend our days watching the traffic and bicyclers speed past. These particular bridge tending homes are now being used as municipal offices, but I think most of these types of buildings would make great tiny houses along the lines of a lighthouse…utilitarian and beautiful.

Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo by Harry Thomas/Silver Monkey.net

In the past, bridge tenders were needed to run the electronics and machinery that raised and lowered bridges on major rivers, waterways and railroad bridges. The machinery was kept in a small house near or on the bridge and the bridge tender would spend most of their time in the house, or even lived there. Their jobs consisted of controlling and monitoring traffic around the bridges, keeping the bridge and the raising/lowering mechanism in good condition and running telegraph machines and other communications. Most bridge tender houses were usually built by government departments of transportation. Continue Reading »

Jared alerted me to this unique find on Ebay at 5:00 A.M. this morning. Tiny houses and floating homes are a passion of mine and this one a real find.

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area I would run down and check this out right away as I am sure it will go fast. I am in the process of duplicating the Ebay ad as I know it will go away in a few days and I want this available for all to see for a long time. At a Buy Now price of $28,900 it can be yours today.

I am also trying to get in touch with the owner to see if plans are available for those who might want to build one themselves. This is a long post so hit the more link below. Here are the details:

You are bidding on a 28-foot long, steel-hulled, river barge boat. If you are considering a small houseboat or floating home for a retreat on the water, this might be a perfect alternative. It could be the perfect bachelor’s pad, artist’s or writer’s studio, weekend or vacation spot, or whatever you would like it to be! It could be a great liveaboard situation for a single person, who is also handy in finishing up some undone work.

This is NOT a fixer. Just not quite finished yet. Pride of ownership shows!

Unofficially named the “Gypsy Ark”, but the name is nowhere printed on the hull or siding, so you could rename it easily. (It is only painted on one horseshoe lifering) Continue Reading »

In celebration of Canada Day and the 4th of July, I thought I would do a post on the tiny houses of the Thousand Islands, which is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the U.S.-Canada border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario.

Many of these islands house small castles and large estates, but it seems the most admired of these islands are the tiny islands which have their own tiny houses…and not much else!

The islands, which number 1,793 in all, range in size from over 40 square miles (100 km2) to smaller islands occupied by a single residence, to even smaller uninhabited outcroppings of rocks that are home to migratory waterfowl.  This area is very popular among vacationers, campers, and boaters, and is often referred to as the “fresh water boating capital of the world”.

Photo by Don Beck

Photo by anne4brown - Webshots

The smallest of the inhabited islands is called ”Just Room Enough” and only when the water level is low enough is there room for the outdoor furniture to be put out.

Just Room Enough

Because of the beauty of the area and the romantic aspect of living on your own rock, these cottages are highly coveted and can run into quite a bit of money. However, many of these tiny homes and cottages can be rented for vacations. And most of them can be viewed while sailing the St. Lawrence.

Photo by Ian Coristine

Photo by Ian Coristine

Photo by Don Beck

Photo by Krzysztof Machulewski

Photo by anne4brown - Webshots

Photo by anne4brown - Webshots

Photo by anne4brown - Webshots

Photo by pago2000 - Webshots

By Christina Nellemann

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Chris over at Small Footprint Living is selling his houseboat. Here is what he has to say about it:

Here is your chance to own a cute little water getaway and finish it the way you want it. I have $5,000 in it so the price is firm. I was hoping to finish it this summer but time will not allow it. The boat is 70% complete. Hull is glass over wood and fully bottom painted, the sides are partially painted. Interior is framed and ready for paneling and finish work. It would take a flatbed trailer to haul it off. Specs can be found here http://glen-l.com/designs/hankinson/waterlodge.html

Go visit Small Footprint Living if you are interested in this neat little houseboat. You can also contact Chris via email at: woodpuzzles(at)comcast(dot)net.

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Ok, I know this blog should be called the Tiny House Blog and the Tiny Floating House Blog. I am enthralled with both and when ever I see a new or exciting floating home or getaway I want to share it with everyone.

This one also comes from Chris from Small Footprint Living and it is similar to some of the previous posts I have done on tiny houseboats or floating homes. This is Devlin’s, Millie Hill version 2 and you can view more pictures of the construction and read more about it at the Devlin Boat website.

Here is a little of what Devlin has to say about the Millie Hill:

Have you always wanted a waterfront getaway but couldn’t afford the luxury? This cozy retreat is our answer to the problem. Winter, spring, summer or fall imagine yourself anchored in some beautiful backwater in this little vessel. Equipped with a wood cook stove and galley you can catch or bring in the ocean’s bounty or something from Safeway.

She sleeps four with the settees converting into double berths. The head has a shower and private entrance with a wet hanging locker. There is a dry locker closet near the front deck area. The galley has full standing headroom with comfortable sitting headroom in the settee area for reading, writing or card-playing. The front deck has screening for ventilation in the summer and canvas awning for covered dry storage while on board. The Millie Hill has a 10 hp Yamaha hi-thrust outboard, she powers at what I would guess is 5 knots top speed.

Plans for Millie Hill are available at the Devlin Store for $100. This just might be the floating getaway you have been looking for.

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Chris from Small Footprint Living shared this site with me and I thought all you floating home enthusiasts would appreciate this small floating home.

 Flagler Bridge Boatworks and Marina in Flagler Beach, Florida, hired Sponberg Yacht Design in 2005 to develop a series of houseboat designs for their marina.

The Prototype Flagler Houseboat has rounded corners and an arched roof, which will be optional on future models.

The prototypes shown in the first series of photographs were built on plywood and fiberglass barges, and a newer model has been developed for a molded fiberglass boat hull.

The Flagler Houseboats shown here are in two sizes: Small, 16’ x 40’ or 16′ x 44′, with about 550 sq. ft. of interior living area on one level; and Medium, 20′ x 40′, 20′ x 44′, and 20′ x 48′, with about 1,400 sq. ft. of interior living area on two levels.

Each living unit is built on a rectilinear plywood and fiberglass hull that is subdivided into several watertight compartments.

While the curved corners and curved roof are quite attractive, they are more expensive to build than square corners and roofs. These features are not included in the standard designs, but an owner may request them for a correspondingly adjusted price.

Each houseboat has complete electrical and water services. There are shore power connections for electricity, television, telephone, and the Internet. To read all the details go to the Flagler site.

Photo Credit: Flagler Houseboats

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