Oakland

Mark’s Life in 200 Square Feet

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Mark Alford’s is part of the modern tiny house movement and he and his creation is part of the growing trend of people living in tiny homes that are less than 400 square feet. Mark and his girlfriend recently made the move from Indianapolis to an expensive studio in West … Read more

Oakland Tiny House

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by Matthew Wolpe

So, I’m designing and building a tiny house. Last year one of my students showed me a picture of the Tumbleweed houses and said she wanted to build one and wanted me to help out. I laughed and thought it was funny and intriguing, but inside I was like “Are you serious, you’re gonna move into one of those?” Okay, so fast forward six months, and the New Yorker article came out and I was reading it in bed. It was a rare moment of epiphany, aided by some lovely company.

It was the ideal next step for me.

There were a few considerations:

  1. I loved my housemates to death but don’t love my basement room, particularly in the winter
  2. I’d been building chicken coops for the past year, something I’m a little tired of, so it was like a giant chicken coop with new challenges
  3. I had been trying to buy a house with friends in oakland for over a year and am convinced this is my only way towards home ownership in the bay area, and
  4. After finishing the manuscript and seeing my sweetheart leave the country for a long while I had the compulsion to throw myself into a giant project.

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