Tiny House Blog

Bill Kastrino’s original little Tortoise Shell Home has found a new owner and a new location. Gabriella Skollar known as Gabi to her friends, came from Hungary 4 years ago to work and study at the Gibbon Conservation Center. She fell in love with Bill’s Tortoise Shell Home and made a deal with him to procure it. It now resides on the Gibbon Conservation Center’s property. This is what Gabi has to say about her new home.

“After being here for four years, I felt I needed to have my own home where I could get away and have some solitude. I would like to share with you some photos of my Little Tortoise Shell Home. You can not imagine how nice it is for me to go into my little house and have a break from work, with some silence, read a good book, work on my study or just relax. This home has made me very happy!”

I am happy everything worked out for Gabi and that the home is living up to her dreams. Thank you Gabi for sharing the pictures with us. To learn more about Tortoise Shell Homes click here.

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I conducted a poll for Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Homes to see if there would be interest in a larger 8 x 32 foot home. The response was quite good 168 yes and 53 no. You can view the poll here.

Bill has decided to offer this home with the shed roof and will also make it available with a conventional roof. The drawings are rough, but it will give you the idea and I’m sure he will have pictures as soon as one is built. Bill is taking orders and you can view the detail as the Tortoise Shell website. He is estimating a starting price of $28,500 and will also offer an off grid option at $35,500.

Floor Plan

Shed Roof

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This is Part 2 of 2. If you missed Part 1 go here to read it.

We arrived deep in the heart of the redwoods and Bill immediately displayed his skill as an excellent driver by backing the tiny house down a steep grade, dodging trees and other obstacles, right into the exact position the very first try.

Bill explains a little about the community in the following paragraphs.

I am supplying little houses for a Buddhist compound (also programmers), which might be a model for other communities.

I am guessing they are all making six figure incomes, there are 10 people total, and one of their people admitted none of them could afford real estate in the area between San Jose and San Francisco by themselves. So they bought a piece of property, I am guessing 3 to 5 acres, with a nice size house. Several people were named on the mortgage. Then they purchased 8 mini homes (from Tortoise Shell Homes), which by design gives them a place to retreat to, for mediation, sleep, etc. They share the house as a work space (they in large part program out of their home), they share activities together, but they still have the privacy of getting away to their “tinies” as they have affectionately named them.

These homes have been modified to meet the requirements of this group of people. Usually a kitchen is part of the Tortoise Shell Home, but in this case most cooking and eating is done at the main house.

Two "Tinies"

Oak floors, skylights, and modified exterior roofs to give it the Zen look are additions to the basic home. Each programmer has added his or her own personal touch to each home. Some with built in furniture, like the open closet below. Another, the unique shower and sink arrangement.

Completed "Tiny"

They have had a contractor raise the tiny houses up so that their disposal tank can fit under a porch and yet still be reached by the pump truck. Propane and electricity are used for the other appliances. This is a modern establishment and Internet connections and cell phones are the source of communication to the outside world.

Shelf Desk

These people are very private, but hopefully down the road they will open up and share with us how they moved through all the red tape to make this work for them. I’m sure there are many others out there who would like to start their own small community.

Loft and Skylights

Exterior of Tiny

Shower and Sink

Sink and Bathroom Entrance

Open Closet and Ladder

Work Desk

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Yesterday, October 29, 2008 I had the privilege of joining Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Homes in the delivery of a home in the coastal mountains south of San Francisco. I met Bill at the Tortoise Shell Nursery located in Rohnert Park, California. I took a few pictures of the Nursery to show you what goes on at Tortoise Shell. We than planned to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge to try and get some good pictures of the home with the bridge in the background as well as the bridge crossing.

I followed Bill in his recycled diesel U-haul truck, which he has restored and is using to deliver homes in this part of California. This is the 7th of 8 homes that he is delivering to a remote area in the Coastal Range south of San Francisco. I’ll explain more about our destination in part two of our journey.

Bill had to maintain a speed of about 55 miles an hour with the load he was pulling. I tagged along behind until we reached the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge was covered with a thick blanket of fog, so we were unable to take any pictures of it in the background. I decided however to go ahead and see if I could get a picture of him crossing the bridge. Just maybe the fog would break and we could get a decent shot. As you can see in the picture below the fog did not cooperate.

We than drove through San Francisco via 19th Street and onto Highway 280, and continued on to the Half-moon Bay turnoff. From there we climbed into the mountains. We took a break for lunch at Alice’s Restaurant in Woodside and than continued another hour to our destination.

Be sure and come back for part two as I show you placement of the tiny house and a tour of some of the tiny homes already in place.

Part 2 is now live click here to view.

Box Turtle ready for completion

Galapagos ready to be assembled on a trailer.

Leaving the Nursery

Tortoise Shell on 101 Southbound

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.

Climbing into the Coastal Range.

Driving through the redwoods to our final destination.

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