Tiny House Blog

Alice shared this with me and thought they would be a fun addition to a tiny house Christmas.

I made tiny gingerbread houses that are meant to be perched on the edge of a mug of hot chocolate.

I made a few versions to figure out how to make one that wasn’t so top heavy that it would flip off the mug. I also was interested to see how small I could get away with and still fit on both large and small cups. I generally followed the size of my The Mini Gingerbread House Kit (though, those pieces don’t fit together as nicely as I’d have liked).

See the article and full instructions at notmartha.org.

Pan Abode of Washington state has been selling their custom cedar homes and cabin kits for nearly 60 years. They offer a wide scope of sizes and styles including cabins that range from 120 square feet to just over 700 square feet. However, Pan Abode also sells an even tinier home they call the Mighty Cabana. These buildings do not require a permit and come in at under 200 square feet.

The Mighty Cabana is pre-cut from solid wood and is connected by a patented building system for strength and ease of construction. They can be used as a small house, a small business, a vacation home, an artist studio, pool house or storage shed. Continue Reading »

Drawing on ideas from his sculpture practice, Craig Pleasants designed an octagonal, eco-friendly kit house as a low-budget housing alternative. For example if a person took out a 10 year loan to pay for a $25,000 mortgage the monthly payment would be less than $300 – most rentals are much higher! And wouldn’t it be satisfying to own a home.]

Based on a house he built from conventional materials in 1979, the new “Octagonal Living Unit” is constructed from pre-cut, recyclable panels of steel and expanded polystyrene. It takes only a matter of days to assemble. With a price tag of less than $25,000 and a footprint under 400 square feet, it could easily function as an artist’s studio, a guest house, a living space for a small family, or (as the need arises) disaster housing. The material, extremely resistant to seismic activity and high winds, is strong and safe, yet the design aesthetic is sculptural and appealing.

Craig is currently collaborating with kickstarter.com to raise funds to construct a full-scale prototype for the Octagonal Living Unit project. If the $21,000 goal is met by June 30, funds will be awarded and the project may continue. With the success of his kickstarter campaign, Pleasants hopes to market these low-profile octagonal houses to a wider audience.

Last year I did a small post on Cabana Village Garden Buildings, and since then their tiny cabin kit gallery has grown.  I thought the Tiny House readers would get a kick out of some of Cabana Village’s latest designs. Their website also features an interactive design center so you can customize your cabin kit.

Cabana Village builds cabin kits and cottage bunkies to be used as weekenders, lakeside cottages, starter cabins or backyard retreats. They also build pool houses, sheds, garden studios and garage kits. The cabins, cottages and bunkies feature cedar doors, windows and trim and are available in cedar or maintenance-free Canexel siding. All their cabanas have 1/2″ plywood roof sheathing and 2×4 SPF framing. With their sturdy construction and use of quality materials, extensive pre-fabrication, ease of assembly, and attractive design, their possible uses are only limited by your imagination. Continue Reading »

With a nod to Eastern style and philosophy, and an eye on ecologically sound and environmentally sensitive design, Tim Cornell of Polehouses.com has created a tiny house kit that is appropriate for any climate and location. The 576 square foot P-Pod is climatically appropriate, durable and recyclable.

Tim explained that the P-POD housing is a “building system” more than simply a specific house design. His system is a uniquely engineered “kit of parts” and space frame grids, that can be adapted quickly for any and all housing regimes, programs, and designs desired. P-POD units can be stacked 2 or 3 tall, or spread out in any configuration such as townhouses, duplexes, apartment buildings, etc. Continue Reading »

The FirstDay Cottage company in New Hampshire offers a house kit which they claim a couple, and a handful of friends, can build in approximately fifteen weekends and for under $45,000. These house kits can be customized for each customer and can be built with almost no carpentry experience. What I found very refreshing about FirstDay is that they insist that their kits are so simple to put together, that they encourage all their customers to contact them frequently to get advice and support throughout the project. They even help to get the owner/builder financing.

While these houses are little larger than the average tiny house, the smallest is under 1,000 square feet. The smallest of the plans is the Basic, which is 16 feet by 30 feet or 960 square feet and costs about $26,900 for the kit.

The FirstDay Kit Includes:

• Instructions and plans
• Posts and beams
• Sheathing and decking
• 2″ High-R Foam Insulation
• Roofing and siding
• Windows
• Interior and exterior doors
• Nails
• Building wrap
• Interior partitions
• Kitchen cabinets

I actually found the FirstDay plans through this couple, who are living the simple life in upstate New York with their young son. They built their own FirstDay as a spec house and then built a tiny cabin in the woods from the scraps left over. The entire project cost them about $900.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)

On my road trip to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, I had to stop and take some photos of this darling little log home just outside of Cedar City, Utah. The Mini Pine Hollow log home by Pine Hollow Log Homes is 11 by 16 feet with a full loft and a 4 by 16 foot covered deck.

Pine Hollow offers this tiny cabin as a kit and will deliver it within 250 miles of Cedar City. It takes about two weeks to have a kit delivered. This particular home was unfinished inside, but the Pine Hollow website should have updated photos of the Mini log home soon.

The Basic Package includes:

• Blueprints
• Treated skids
• Floor framing
• 6″ starter/finish logs
• 6″ wall logs, gable ends
• 8″ oly screws/construction adhesive
• Calking for windows and doors
• Loft floor joists
• 2×6 rough sawn window/door bucking
• Windows and door
• Deck framing
• Roof framing with OSB sheathing
• Porch posts
• Porch framing with OSB sheathing
• Milled 3×2 handrail
• Dormer framing with 1×6 tongue and groove siding

Cost: $8,781.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

The Deluxe Package includes:

• All of the above items
• 1×6″ tongue and groove soffit
• Batt insulation
• 1×6″ tongue and groove ceiling
• 2×6″ tongue and groove loft floor
• 1×6″ tongue and groove porch sheathing
• Tar paper
• Steel roof, trims, flashing and screws

Cost: $10,865.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

Pine Hollow offers other log home kits, most around 1,000-2,000 square feet.

By Christina Nellemann

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