The conference is a three-day, solutions based gathering that brings together a diverse audience to create deep and positive change in our communities.

Peter King’s workshop will be joined by dozens of other workshops and keynotes throughout the conference weekend. For more information on this year’s program please visit, http://www.marioninstitute.org/connecting-for-change/events, and here is more information on my presentation, http://www.marioninstitute.org/connecting-for-change/events/how-build-small-wood-frame-house.

In addition, here is a link, http://www.marioninstitute.org/videos/2010/2010-connecting-change, to VIEW A VIDEO of the 2010 Connecting for Change Conference

This conference can change the way you see the world and the experience can help you change the world! REGISTER here, http://www.marioninstitute.org/connecting-for-change/register, for the 2011 Connecting for Change Conference.

Guest Post by Gwen Powers:

Back in October, some friends and I decided to head up to Vermont to participate in a Tiny House Workshop, run by Peter King (check out the website – and look for upcoming workshops – here).

I wrote an earlier, much shorter post on this right after the event, but I’m hoping to be able to give a more thorough report in this one. While this may not end up containing more information, memory being the finite thing that it is, it will definitely contain more pictures!

Photos by Gwen Powers, please contact her for permission to use them.

This is Peter King, giving us an intro talk about why he does these workshops. Peter feels strongly that building a place to live is not rocket science. Housing gets expensive and complicated when we decide we “need” extravagant amounts of space, and complicated structural and decorative details. But if we are willing to redefine that need, and pare it down a bit, than being intimately involved in building the most important structure in our lives is well within reach.

Peter claims – and I believe this, after the weekend – that anyone can learn how to build a simple structure. All it involves is basic math, and basic tools, and a few easily learned rules.

The second aspect of his involvement in these workshops is that he feels strongly that housing is just too darn expensive – we should be able to own the house and the land we live on, and not have to loan it from a big corporation.

After this discussion, and after getting a quick summary from each of us – eight participants, including the owner – on why we were there, we got to work.

The first task was framing out one of the walls. The building was 12 by 20, and the two long walls had to go up first. Khumpani (the owner, who is an herbalist who is currently living in an even smaller tiny house on the land) and Peter had finished the foundation earlier in the week, in spite of the miserably cold and persistent rain, so that we could get as much of the main structure done over the weekend.

This photo is just prior to getting the wall up – this is the most complicated tool used that day, and only Peter was allowed to use it:

And Peter in action:

And the first wall, going up!

Getting it level:

Then the rest went together relatively quickly. Unfortunately, the nail gun was not in use, as apparently these contraptions are picky about the types of nails that go into them, and we had the wrong kind. So instead we got to do lots of hitting of things! Which was fun, but much slower. When someone like Peter is sinking a nail, it takes him three hits. When rookies are sinking nails, it takes us anywhere from 8-20.

Also, we were learning about king, queen, and jack studs, as well as what cripples were and where they were supposed to go, so there was a lot of “Peter? Do we hit this one in here?” followed by pauses for measurements, re-measurements, and explanations.

Our progress near the end of the first day:

Cutting out windows:

One of the tools we were allowed to use, a speed square:

The other tools we could use included hammers, and measuring tapes. And chisels. All simple hand tools, which did the majority of the work.

By the middle of the second day, the roof was going up:

Some inside shots – this is from the entrance door, looking to the south. Khumpani planned for passive solar gain, which is why all the windows are on this side, and why they are enormous.

From the door, looking north – the kitchen will be going against the back wall, under the windows. The door that is framed out will eventually open to a deck.

From the kitchen windows (and the future deck) there’s a lovely view of the meadow where Khumpani is currently living, and the mountains beyond. See:

And one more inside shot, from the kitchen looking back:

The ladder over on the right goes up to the loft. He had planned for a dormer, to have another window and some headroom up there. I don’t know what it looks like inside at this point.

Here is what it looked like at the end of the second day – you can see the gap on the left where the dormer will be:

Peter’s ability to manage the project was remarkable. He was constantly juggling the roles of teaching and project management, and I thought he did a tremendous job. He somehow managed to keep track of all the little jobs that had to get done, kept everyone moving, paused to answer questions, and got a team of total novices to frame a house in two days. It was also fun to chat with him at meal times about his views on housing and lifestyle – he had really helpful things to say about finding land, books to read, and skills to acquire.

Overall, it was a fantastic way to spend a weekend, and we lucked out with a crew of lovely, thoughtful, interesting, fun and hard working people. It was also really great to meet and work with Khumpani, who is living his life with an inspiring level of dedication to his ideals and to the earth.

After we left, Khumpani continued to work on it on his own, with a little bit of help from friends and family, and I believe that Peter also returned to help him finish up the plywood sheeting, etc. Khumpani recently sent the participants an email with photos of the current progress – this is from the middle of November:

The inside is sheetrocked, and it’s almost ready to be moved into! I’m hoping to get updates as the inside gets finished. I think it will be a lovely space to live in.

Please be sure and check out Peter Kings website for more workshops. I will also try to stay in the know and let you here about them on the Tiny House Blog. Thanks Gwen for such a great report on a wonderful workshop. Visit Gwen’s blog here for more great reading.

Here are the details:

Time: September 15, 2010 at 9am to September 16, 2010 at 5pm
Location: Johnson Vermont
Website or Map: http://www.vermonttinyhouses.com/
Phone: 802.933.6103
Event Type: sustainable, building, workshop
Organized By: Colleen Korniak

Tiny House workshop with the effervescent Peter King! Wednesday Sept 9/15 & Thurs 9/16 in Johnson Vermont. Learn fundamental building techniques for Sustainable Living. $250 includes camping on site. For info & to register, call Peter at 802.933.6103

Here are some photos showing some of the progress on our house since the “Stuck in Vermont” video this spring. We moved into the house in June after we sold our house, it is a great space to live in, my wife even loves it.

The house is 12′x16′ with a 6′ porch. Electricity, composting toilet (behind red curtain), propane stove/oven. No running water, the sink drains into a bucket which we empty outside. We will add a wood stove when it gets colder, (you can see the stove pipe in the ceiling in one of the pictures). we will have to rearrange the furniture to accommodate it.

Thanks Dale for the  update, please continue to keep us posted.

This morning on NPR Radio the interviews went live. You can view a web version of the broadcast Do-It-Yourself Downsize: How To Build A Tiny House on the NPR Site. Thanks Jon for sharing the Tiny House Movement with your radio audience. Thank you Deek from RelaxShax and Peter from Vermont Tiny Houses for your creative ideas and making the Tiny House Movement come alive for those not familiar with it.

Photo of Peter King by Kirk Kardashian. Photo of Derek Diedricksen by Bruce Bettis.

Peter has built 11 tiny houses since we saw him last but is not super pleased with his new moniker “The Tiny House Guy.” With the economy in shambles and foreclosures running rampant, tiny houses seem more relevant than ever. But Peter has some ideas that are even bigger than his tiny houses. Please check out the Stuck in Vermont article here and enjoy this excellent video below.

Photo Credit: Seth Butler http://www.sethbutler.com

Tiny House Workshop with Peter King, as seen on “Stuck in Vermont,” ”YouTube” and Vermont Tiny Houses.

Learn basic carpentry skills and Tiny House design. No experience needed, just a willingness to learn.

As a team we will build a 12′ X 16′ house with a loft, and a 12/12 roof. 90% of the material will be pre-cut, allowing us to build from foundation to roof ridge cap in two 8-hour days!

The two-day workshop will take place in the Bridgewater area, Vermont.

• July 11 and 12, 2009
• 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Saturday and Sunday

Bring a sketch pad and a lawn chair.

The cost is $250, including cooked meals and refreshments.

Camp area available.

Please reply via tinybuilder@gmail.com or call 802-933-6103.
Thanks so much! We look forward to meeting with you all.

Peter King at “The Whole Picture Show”

Meet Peter King of Vermont Tiny Houses at the Whole Picture Show; Green Exposition located at the Sheraton Conference Center in Burlington Vermont on February 21 and 22. Here is your chance to meet Peter and view his work and chat with him.

Walk through a full scale frame model of his 10 x 10 tiny house design. Go to The Whole Picture Show Green Exposition website to learn more.

Peter has also opened a website site that you will want to bookmark and visit often. You can see a short video of him working with a class and keep tabs on his workshops.

You can now email Peter at peterking (at) vermonttinyhouses.com or phone him at 802-933-6103. Visit Vermont Tiny Houses here.

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Basic Carpentry Skills
For Absolute Beginners

As a team of 6, we will build a 10’ x 10’ house with a loft, and a 12/12 roof. 90% of the material will be pre-cut, allowing us to build from foundation to roof ridge cap in two 8 hour days! We will use native softwood locally milled.

Tiny House
Building Workshop

Learn By Doing
Floor Framing
Wall Raising
Door – Window Installation
Exterior Sheathing
Interior Sheetrocking

A Tin Roof Will Top It Off

Become One With
• 4 Foot Level • Framing Square • Speed Square
• 25 Foot Tape • Hammer • Chalk Line
• Utility Knife • Chisel • Cats Paw • Bevel Square

Visit the Vermont Tiny Houses website.
Email: PeterKing (at) VermontTinyHouses.com