Tiny House Blog

Happy Independence Day! With summer fully upon most of the country, let’s celebrate one of the best tiny houses for enjoying the outdoors. We’ve covered numerous yurts in the past, but Becky Kemery a.k.a.”The Yurt Lady” and her book, Yurts: Living in the Round, shows how these structures can be comfortable and elegant while still letting in the outdoors.

Becky has lived in yurts for many years in the mountains of the American Northwest. Her book was completed a few years ago while living in her own portable fabric yurt on a permaculture homestead in Idaho. She has also created an educational website called Yurt Info, a newsletter and a Facebook page for other yurt owners and fans of the wood and fabric buildings. The Yurt Info site offers information on how to buy or build a yurt, and includes a forum and links to numerous yurt videos and photo albums. Continue Reading »

While most of us around the continental U.S. are experiencing the nip of winter cold, these tiny houses on the Big Island of Hawai’i are looking wonderful in their warm, tropical environment. Habitats Hawai’i are tiny homes on wheels created to simplify life and to live in a blended environment with the outdoors. The Habitats are a self contained living space which offer all of the basic necessities which one can then expand by way of arbors, plants, stone and water. Each of the homes are wired for 110 volts and are solar ready.

The Paniola is the first and premier model built with attention to quality and detail. The finishes include Sapele wood custom cabinetry, bamboo flooring, glass raindrop door between the bathroom and the kitchen, full insulation, refrigerator, two-burner stove, on demand hot water heater, a heater for cooler nights, Wilsonart countertops, an office, and an indoor bathroom with a shower and a composting toilet. The ladder is a unique and ergonomic design custom made from beautiful Sapele wood. The dimensions of the Paniola are 16 feet x 9 feet x 14 feet and there is a comfortable sleeping loft with windows above the kitchen. The Paniola is solar ready, wired for 110 volts and set up for a rain water catchment system. This Habitat is available to see by appointment only. Please call Barrie Rose at 808-960-6785. You will have the opportunity to discuss custom designs to fit your individual needs. Continue Reading »

Blending the benefits of a prefab, a log cabin and a mobile home, Zook Cabins, built by the Amish in Pennsylvania, offers several different types of fully assembled cabins in single or double-wide units that can be delivered directly to your property. Several different floorplans are also available, as well as customization and integration of your own design.

Adirondack Cabin

Zook Cabins are offered as fully assembled units for the simple reason in that it makes it easier on the owner. The Zook website says that most buyers of kit homes don’t have a lot of time or extra hands to construct a cabin from a kit or from scratch. Also, if your building site isn’t precisely level, the precut lumber doesn’t fit, or if you place one piece wrong you fight everything the rest of the way, and sometimes a piece will be cut wrong at the factory. Couple that with the fact that very few people have ever assembled a kit, and have yet to face the frustrations of doing it themselves or finding someone to do it for them. Continue Reading »

Howdy ladies! This post is for all those cowgirls, or wanna-be cowgirls out there…and the men who love them.

Sisters on the Fly is a group of nearly 1,000 women from around the U.S. who own and restore vintage camping trailers. They take their colorful homes on wheels on the Cowgirl Caravan to partake in outdoor adventures like fly fishing, horseback riding, rafting, or just eating fried food and watching fireflies.

Button Willow (Sister #595)

Each sister is designated by a number and by the name of her trailer. The Sisters also engage in vintage trailer sales, restoration, customization and registry. For a $40 annual fee any woman with a vintage or new trailer can join the cowgirl caravan.

The Sisters were started in 1999 by two real sisters, Becky and Maurrie. They wanted their female friends to experience their love of fly fishing and began to invite and teach other women about the outdoors. Their motto is “WE HAVE MORE FUN THAN ANYONE”.

Miss Rodeo (Sister #6)

Each of the Sister’s trailers are about 12 feet to 24 feet in length. The trailer makes vary: Holiday, Shasta, Aljoa, Scotsman, Aloha, Fireball and even an Airstream thrown in for good measure. Each trailer reflects its owner’s personality with its theme and sister number proudly posted on the rear of the trailer. They are decorated inside and out in usually a western kitschy theme. The Sister’s believe after a hard day of driving and having fun it is pure bliss to fall into your own feather bed at the close of the day, and awake to the smell of coffee and bacon right outside your door.

By Christina Nellemann

Rockin' Robin (Sister #269)

Norma Faye (Sister #250)

Jadite Jane (Sister #71)

Puck (Sister #847)

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Alexander of the Small Cabin website has created a nice little community of cabin lovers and builders. His tiny cabin in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada is the quintessential getaway. It is efficient and utilizes the outdoors as much as possible. The cabin is 8×12 feet with large windows for extra light. The total cost of the cabin came to around $1,200 and took about two weeks to build.

Alexander goes over the step-by step process of building your own tiny cabin in a remote area.

He discusses electrical issues and being off the grid. He talks about how to keep down your building costs as well as how to protect items in your cabin from the outdoors. Alexander also brings up good points about site selection, planning, water issues, street or highway noise and how to run power tools without conventional utility hookups.

The Small Cabin interior

The website also includes a discussion forum frequented by cabin builders and dreamers. On the forum, I came across the blog of Wayne and Margy Lutz who live most of their time in a floating cabin in coastal B.C.

If a tiny house is still your dream home but you are only able to live in it part time, this website contains a helpful bit of information if you want to build your own little retreat away the everyday world.

By Christina Nellemann

The Lutz's Floating Cabin

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