The house, code named Strawtron, is designed to be a passive solar, straw bale-insulated house using timber frame as the main structure.

The interior living area is 13 ft x 24ft which is about 300 square feet, it also has a loft and a green house area that is used to bring in passive solar heating.

Brian is making the small timber frame house plans available for free.

As a side note if you would like to help build this house Dancing Rabbit is offering a Natural Building Workshop in the summer of 2012. This includes two workshops one a Timber Frame Workshop and the second a Straw Bale Workshop. Only 12 spaces are available so click here to learn more and to apply.

P.S. Ziggy just sent me the full details so I am including them below.

Building a Small Timber Frame House | Free Timber Frame House Plans

2012 is the year I embark on a brand new natural building endeavor. In 2008, I built a tiny cob house and reveled in the experience of building purely with mud, and designing a small, cozy space. This year, I am taking a very different approach — the new house (jokingly named “Strawtron”, as the cob house has become known as “Gobcobatron”) will be a timber frame and straw bale house. In many ways, the houses are radically different. But one thing remains the same: staying small and natural is at the heart of this latest timber frame house plan.

Designing a Small Timber Frame House

Strawtron has approximately 300 square feet of indoor living space on the main level — the building footprint is as compact as possible. I carefully considered every extra foot when designing the floor plan, and minimized extra square footage as much as possible. An attached greenhouse and screened-in north porch extend the living space and the footprint, but not the amount of space that requires extra heating. Actually, the greenhouse will provide supplemental free heat in the wintertime — windows can be opened to let in extra heat once the greenhouse warms up past the temperature of the house. And in the summer, the shady north porch will provide much-needed relief from the heat during hot summer nights.

Passive solar design and high levels of insulation are key here, and using local and natural materials in the construction is a high priority. The intended number of occupants is 2-3, which equals about 200 indoor square feet each for two people.

Natural Building with Wood and Straw

The rest of the small house design emphasizes natural building materials and ecological design principles as much as possible:

• Building elements: straw bale insulation, timber frame with local wood, concrete pier foundation, living roof, earthen and lime plasters, light clay straw interior wall, cellulose and wool in floor platform
• Interior 1st story living area rough dimensions are 13′x24′ (about 300 square feet)
• Greenhouse is planned to be about 10′x14′ — serves as heat source, additional living space with solar shower, sink, etc., & space for growing lovely things
• Spiral staircase leads up to lofted story above main living space, with a walk out to 6 ft. deep balcony on the west
• Sheltered outdoor work area under balcony on west
• Heat to be provided by small wood stove (Morso 1410 wood stove), with plans for future masonry heat

Learn Natural Building Skills

An important aspect of building this new home is teaching valuable natural building skills. We are offering two natural building workshops this summer at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in northeast Missouri to educate folks about how to build their own energy-efficient, small, natural homes. The full-featured Timber Frame Workshop and Straw Bale Workshops are intended for folks looking to gain crucial hands-on skills that can be applied to their own projects.
(There are actually only 2 days left to save 20% off the cost of the Timber Framing Workshop by applying for the Extra Early Registration Discount.)

Skilled instructors will lead the programs, which are open to applicants of all experience levels. The goal is to educate people about all of the facets of what it means to build naturally, and live sustainably — using local, natural materials, building small and beautiful spaces, and keeping our carbon footprints low. Participants will also get a look into sustainable life at Dancing Rabbit.

Check Out the Free Small House Plans

I am happy to offer the plans for our timber frame and straw bale house for free. The document below includes floor plans, elevation views, a pier foundation drawing, and other design drawings. If you have any interest in small home design, timber framing, or straw bale construction, give these images a look for inspiration or ideas!

Check it out: timber frame & straw bale house plans.

Keep an eye open to learn more about the construction of this new passive solar, timber frame & straw bale house!

Windows are one of the most predominant features of a tiny house. Buy using them strategically you can help heat and cool your home (think passive solar and cooling), make the space appear larger, and properly ventilate for appliances and heating units. But how do you do this? Do you put up sheathing first and then cut out for windows? Or do you hang the windows and frame around it? The following is my method and what I have found to be most successful.

1. Rough it up. In order to rough in your window you first need to measure the width of the rough opening at the top, middle, and bottom and the height (at both sides and in the middle). If you come up with a difference in the three width measurements you may need to fill the opening with some stud material to level or plumb the opening. You also want to make sure you follow the directions on the new construction window which will more than likely call for the dimensions of the window to be 3/4″ narrower and 1/2″ shorter than the smallest width and height measurement.

2. Insane in the membrane. Rain is NOT our friend when it comes to installing a window (or even a door). That area where the window meets the wall can be a nightmare waiting to happen. To combat any leaks you should cut a 6-inch-wide strip of self-adhering waterproof membrane about 20 inches longer than the window’s width. Center the membrane under the rough opening and adhere it to the existing house wrap. Make sure its top edge doesn’t go past the edge of the rough opening. Then cut two more strips of membrane a foot longer than the height of the opening. Center and attach. Make sure to overlap the strip under the window. Now deal with the width by cutting a strip of membrane about a foot longer than the window is wide. Center and attach it so it overlaps the two side strips. By now you should have four strips of membrane around your window with the top and bottom strips overlapping your side strips.

3. Install. This is perhaps the most gratifying step as it is the one you see the most immediate result. Pick up your window and insert it bottom first into your rough opening. You want to first fold out the window unit’s nailing fins for proper tacking. When you see the gaps between the sides of the window and the jack studs equal on both sides tack the nailing fin to the sheathing at one upper corner with a common roofing nail being sure not to drive it all the way in.

4. On the level. Once you have tacked your window into the rough opening use a 4′ level to note the window’s high side. Then hold the level against the jamb on “the high side” and nudge the window until it appears plumb at that jamb. Tack the fin at the lower corner on the same side of the first nail.

5. Drive it home. Measure your frame diagonally from corner to corner to check for square. You should find that the window is within 1/16″. If not, you may have to adjust the frame. When the sill is level and the frame square, drive it home by nailing the sides, top, and bottom of the nailing fin. I find that driving one nail through every other pre-punched hole is plenty.

6. Is this record skipping? Repeat step 2 on the outside of the window.

At this point you may or may not have to deal with flashing or other sealing strips provided by the manufacturer. If this is the case, directions should be included with the window. The advanced installer may even have to use a siding break to bend a piece of flashing for superior protection against leaks.

FOOTNOTES: You simply can’t depend on just the trim and the housewrap to stop water from leaking in. Take the extra time (and money even…..remember, it is your HOUSE after all) to seal the perimeter of the opening with sticky sheets of self-adhering waterproof membrane, strips of metal flashing, and liberal amounts of window & door caulk. I dare the rain to try and penetrate!

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Bigger does not always mean better. Progress does not always mean forgetting our roots in order to forge a new future. Blogger, photojournalist, and hobby farmer Andrew Odom has spent much of the last few years rediscovering the lost art of living, growing, and being truly happy. Visit him online, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

Jenine let me know about these three great video interviews she had with a website called faircompanies.com and I wanted you to see them and share them with your friends. They speak for themselves so spend a few minutes and watch them today.

Jenine Alexander built her own home using reclaimed materials she found at the dump or off craigslist. Total cost: the price of a used trailer and some fasteners.

Her tiny home on wheels was such a success she decided to build a second one, this time for sale, with fellow tradeswoman Amy Hutto.

This winter has proved to be a cold one as well, but we had a better handle on our wood harvesting this year and are in good shape. We estimate that we will use between 3 and 4 cord this year… only one more really cold month to go.

Our PV system is small and has a generator plug in to supplement power when needed. We have not used a generator yet however ~ we choose to reduce our usage instead. We only use our microwave and toaster on very sunny days and supplement our lighting with a propane light and candles if necessary. We save a lot of energy by cooking on the wood stove.

This past year we have made a couple of low tec improvements to the yurt. Earlier last fall we finally got our mulch pit (for gray water) in place, that has been a very big help in getting water out of the yurt, and that enabled us to get an operable shower in the yurt. It may just be a bucket with a bulkhead, but it’s strangely empowering. We continue to heat our water in small batches on the wood stove. (In the summer we heat it in black shower bags and we shower outside.)

This year we are going to try to tackle a passive solar hot water heater and maybe a solar oven.

We continue to have the time of our lives living the way we do, and hope that others will realize the joy that comes with living a smaller, simpler way of life.

Our loft design was inspired by pictures we saw online. We worked with our carpenters and decided to build a wall across the back third of the yurt. We added a three foot overhang to the center just wide enough to accommodate a mattress above. This allowed us plenty of sleeping room and put our heads nearly under the dome, a real treat.

For kitchen cupboards we use antique fruit crates and our old clothes dresser.

The loft overhang above the kitchen serves the added purpose of defining our kitchen area below and storing canned goods in the underside.

Notice the heat shield behind the wood stove.

The hearth under the wood stove. A creative touch that meshes style and functionality in the yurt.

Two interior doors, our sink and faucet, and kitchen table support came from an architectural salvage shop.

Our switch to a composting toilet was inspired by reading The Humanure Handbook, by Joseph Jenkins, (http://www.joseph-jenkins.com and www.humanurehandbook.com).

The wall supporting the loft creates a large storage room behind it with our bathroom tucked into one end.

wood opening and well

We installed the wood pass through at floor level near our wood rack. The nine inch opening is the perfect size and there’s no need to cut the lattice. We cover the inside opening with the piece cut from the wall insulation and the outside is covered with the velcro trimmed canvas provided. This has greatly reduced the mess, keeping snow, mud, moisture and most of the wood debris outside where it belongs.

The house is located in Tres Orejas, a small off-grid community one-half hour west of Taos, New Mexico.

Situated on 3/4 acre of desert oasis with outstanding 360° panoramic views of the Sangre de Christo (Rocky Mountains) and Picuris mountain to the east and southeast, with BLM National Forest to the west.

Casa Juan Galan- a beautiful, small (one-bedroom), green solar-home.

Operates on sustainable energy: passive solar heating, off-grid electrical system with solar panels (photovoltaic) & wind generator electricity.

It’s an energy efficient, energy independent home.

Rain and snow water harvesting-catchment system provides water (about 4500 gallons of storage).

Heat is by passive solar and a wood stove. There is a small propane heater in the new bathroom. I have left for extended times in the winter and the house plants have survived on the passive solar alone (temperatures around 0 F).

The house is almost 800 square feet.

There is a tank house and next to it, a covered pavilion—which would be fairly easy to convert to a studio/office, maybe a bedroom.

The house has one bedroom which is a combination studio/bedroom with a queen size loft and a small Mexican chimenea (freestanding fireplace). It has a space to hang clothes. A clothes closet is being built as part–but separate from–the new bathroom. There is another small sleeping loft (or storage space) next to the kitchen.

The bathroom is “in process” and the septic system will be finished in the spring (or ASAP, if sold soon). I have been using a “sawdust flush” composting toilet. The bathtub is large with a shower. All greywater is designed to go to trees and plants

The hot water heater is an Aqua Star propane on demand. I have installed an efficient propane refrigerator. The kitchen stove is a small trailer-type propane 3 burner with oven. The kitchen and dining space are separated by a bar. The living and dining area are separated by a partial wall with an arch.

There are two water holding tanks. One is about 3000 gallons and is in the tank house. The other is 1500 gallons and is freestanding. Roof collection for snow and rainwater is about 890 square feet.

A solar haven with High-Speed Internet, Internet Phone and good Cellular reception available.

A great recession-proof, real estate deal!
For sale by owner Asking: $115,000
email: JuanGalan(at)TresOrejas(dot)com

Visit website for more photos and details.

by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)

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