history

When Does The Tiny House Story End?

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I have spent a rather large amount of time over the last month trying to grasp the concept of a tiny house history, how it plays into a more obtuse history of domiciles, and the inspiration spots we tiny housers regularly resort to. It has been eye opening to say … Read more

Was There A Tiny House On Plymouth Rock?

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I submit this to the annuals of tiny house history. On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would later become the settlement of Plymouth, Mass and thus began the North American tiny house movement.   Due to weather conditions on ‘the Rock’ plans to … Read more

My Tiny Cabin In Kentucky

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by Amy Gregory Our cabin is a tiny 10 x 20 located on property that has been in the family since the 1800’s. The cool part is that I was reunited with my family after being separated for 32 years. I lost both parents in a car accident as a … Read more

Finding Freedom: a return to Usonia

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“Tiny House History” is not so much an actual academic topic as it is a supposed idea of how we got to the place of sustainable homesteading, as it were. While it may come with some argument or even disdain I propose that tiny house history did not begin in … Read more

Little House in Spokane

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before renovation

Here is our little house story in Spokane, Washington. In the spring of 2006 I was walking through my neighborhood, as I had done so many times over the years and for some reason I really noticed this small, tired and neglected building with its Mission Revival architecture, very unusual … Read more

Little House in History

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little house in history

A.M. one of the Tiny House Blog’s regular readers has discovered some really neat historical homes in some old publications and has started sending them to me. I wanted to share with you one that really caught my eye. Here is what A.M. has to say: This little house is … Read more

1950’s Grapes of Wrath Tiny House Trailer

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old tiny house on trailer

At only $600, and it’s obviously in terrible condition, but it’s an interesting bit of history, and looks very similar to what many are building today! This Grapes of Wrath tiny house trailer was discovered by Cheryl Spelts on the Inlad Empire craigslist. Here is the actual listing: THIS IS … Read more

The Tiny Cottages of Faubourg Marigny

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marigny orange

The French Quarter of New Orleans usually gets most of the attention for its architecture, stylish balconies and lively street life, but a small neighborhood just east of the Quarter has a selection of some of the best Creole and Classic Revival cottages in New Orleans. In addition, many of them are tiny.

marigny orange

 

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.

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Tiny Houses of the Historic Northwest

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Zol Fox emailed me an interesting article showing some of the logging history of the Northwest and included in the email a couple of pictures of tiny houses built from hollowed out logs. The size of the trees that were taken down in the Northwest 150 years ago is something … Read more

Bridge Tender Houses

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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.

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