Tiny House Blog

I saw these interesting cottages on Boutique Homes and thought that together they made a beautiful, little vernacular village. Individually, they would make a great tiny house. The Shobac Cottages of Nova Scotia were designed and built by Brian MacKay-Lyons on historic land settled by the Acadians during the 1600′s. The four identical cottages, large studio and octagonal barn are used for rentals, private events and a design/build internship program called the GHOST lab.

Each 800 square foot cottage has 7-foot tall windows that frame the ocean view of the Atlantic. They each contain two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, one bathroom, two decks, a wood stove, dining area, living bay and custom tile and maple floors. They rent for between CAN$1,500-$1,995 a week. The entire site, along with the studio and the historic octagonal barn can also be rented for events and are ideal for art workshops, weddings, equestrian vacations, family reunions or corporate retreats. Continue Reading »

Last year Anne Yarbrough shared with us her Nova Scotia Fish House. After living on the island for a year Anne’s husband Greg Brown has written a book called Island Year Finding Nova Scotia. I just completed the book and wanted to give you an overview.

Greg and Anne lived a very busy life and Greg served for twenty years as a pastor in The United Methodist Church in Washington DC. As they neared retirement Greg and Anne decided to make some drastic changes in their lives. Greg had roots in Nova Scotia and they started researching real estate in Nova Scotia.

Discovering property on McNutt’s Island with a home that needed restoring it seemed like the perfect place to use Greg’s passion for restoration and a nice quiet place to call home.

The book covers their first year on the island as they learn how little they know about life on an island. They discover new challenges that come along with island living. Meet Skipper and Radar, lobstermen who become Anne and Greg’s teachers and guides. Discover the ongoing battle of the Zulu Spruce that grows like weeds on the island.

Meet the wild sheep that they thought were a romantic part of the island but have some very different sides to  their character also. Discover the difficulty of dealing with garbage and making the crossing to the mainland in fog and stormy weather. Learn about some of the ghosts of the island haunting past. Learn about the lighthouse and the history of pirates. See how Anne and Greg divide the daily labour to keep life going on the island. Join in the festivities of the First Annual McNutt’s Island Pirate Festival and enjoy the wild raspberries scattered across the island.

This is a book for dreaming and relaxing and sharing a simpler life. I highly recommend it and you can purchase the book from Nimbus Publishing for $19.95. Thanks Greg and Anne for sharing your story with us. Stay up to date with their daily life with Anne’s blog here.

I recently discovered a cool blog called the Nova Scotia Island Journal written by Anne Yarbrough.

I stumbled across a recent post called the fish house. Anne and her husband live on a small island in Nova Scotia called McNutt’s Island. They live in a fisherman’s house on the island but there are also two fish houses on the island and one of them has been restored to be a guest house. I’m going to let Anne tell you more about it.

The house we live in is the last old fisherman’s house left on McNutt’s Island. But there are two old fish houses that still stand. In the old days the fishermen used these sheds to repair their nets and their other fishing gear, and for storage.

Greg restored the fish house and you can read all about it and see pictures before and after at the fish house post. Let’s move on to the interior.

It’s an easy tour since the fish house is eight feet by twelve feet. All you have to do is stand in one place and look around.

We discovered many interesting things stored here — lobster buoys, tools, doors, frames, furniture, oars, fishing poles, old lanterns, things like that. Some of these things have returned to the fish house. Now they are objects of art, or at least objects of interest.

Greg took up all the floor boards and sanded and polyurethaned them. He put down a sub-flooring of plywood before he re-installed the wood floor. He built a tiny french screen door. This door is so little that even I have to duck to get inside.

Speaking of ducking, we found these old silhouette decoys stored in the fish house when we moved here. They were originally black, of course. No ducks would be fooled by them now.

The desk was in the main house when we moved here. It may have once been the desk for the island post office.

There’s plenty of room for a queen-sized bed. Greg built a new window high on the north wall, above the bed. It opens and closes very cleverly.

To learn more go to Anne’s  Nova Scotia Island Journal. I think you will become addicted to it just like I am.

Fish House in the 70's

Fish House View Out the Door

Old Desk and Window

View from Bed

Queen sized Bed

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