Tiny House Blog

On my last trip to Sebastopol, California. I was able to visit Jay Shafer’s Epu. He has moved it to a new location within town, but still offers open house tours on the first Saturday of each month from 2-4 p.m. My husband, Harry Thomas, a semi-professional photographer took a few photos that I thought were a interesting and different view of Jay’s sweet, little house. The sleeping loft is a great place to hide.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)

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My hometown of Reno was the first stop in Jay Shafer’s Fencl cross-country tour. I counted about two dozen people who stopped to visit Jay’s newest build, some who were visiting from other Western states.

I was impressed with how many of us could fit into the 120 square foot house. It smelled like freshly cut wood and let in lots of afternoon light and air from the numerous open windows. The great room was a nice place to hang out and chat.

I think what Jay does best with his tiny homes is the space planning. I mentally began to fill the numerous shelves, closets and cubby holes with my own things and kept coming up with spaces to store stuff. I was really impressed with the space below the kitchen sink and the depth of the two great room closets.

The window seating area was my favorite part. It was large enough for a puffy chair and even a small table or bookshelf. The placement of the fireplace was right next to the seating alcove, which I like better than right in the middle of one of the walls the great room. This gives you more wall space for additional seating or a dining table.

Two ladders on each side of the entrance to the kitchen/bathroom area are used to reach the loft. Some people found them a little difficult to maneuver, but they seemed safer and more utilitarian than a moveable ladder.

The loft housed a fairly large bed, more than enough for two people. There is a small cupboard at the foot of the bed. The Fencl loft seems to have more privacy than other tiny house lofts I have seen.

Jay answered numerous construction, space and living questions and was very approachable and gracious. He seemed to enjoy meeting people from all over the area and was impressed with the visitors who had come from long distances.

How much fun would it be to be able to take your house on a tour, to show it off and meet interesting people along the way? It just goes to show that the smaller your house is, the bigger your world becomes.

By Christina Nellemann

The great room, loft and peak of the kitchen

The seating alcove and detail of the loft ladder

View from the loft

View of great room from loft

View of loft

Kitchen sink

Two-burner stove and refrigerator

Kitchen shelves

RV toilet

The shower

Storage area above the alcove and front door

Alcove seating area

Jay and one of the Fencl visitors

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Just a reminder that Jay Shafer is offering a Building and Design workshop this next weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Saturday and Sunday,  March 21 and 22. The location is at the Hampton Inn located at 10420 Wayzata Boulevard, Minnetonka, MN 55305 the phone number is (952) 541-1094.

If you would like to go click here to go to the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company site and than click workshops to register.

Jay is also offering a tax time discount on his New Vessica design. This is what Jay has to say about the plan and design:

Save $200 on these plans thru April 15, 2009.

The New Vessica is 278 sqaure feet. If you include the loft space, the total square footage would be 450. However, we don’t include the lfot because it is not technically “habitable“. There is an option for a downstaris bedroom, that would increase the size of the house from 278 square feet to 372. The New Vessica is designed as a stationary house only, permanently affixed to a foundation. This is not a modular home, and therefore can not be built and shipped to you. We offer the plans so that you may build it. We suggest talking to local contractors about building costs in your area. Under most circumstances, building costs for a home affixed to a permanent foundation range from $100-$200 per square foot. This design meets Interntaional Building Code.

You can buy the plan at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Buy now and save $200.

Well, I’m finally getting this post up. I’ve wanted to for quite a while and somehow it got put aside. I had been in communication with Gerry Shaw while he was building his Tumbleweed Tiny House Company Epu, which is the same home that Jay Shafer lives in and wanted to tell you more of his story. Here is what Gerry has to say about his build:

Well the move was a bit hairy as it was full on winter when we started then a huge rain storm when we arrived in Victoria.  The distance was ~800 KM and we did it over a full day leaving at 4 AM.  We had one ferry crossing.  We wrapped the house in leftover home wrap and padded the front and pack with insulation panels to prevent any windows from  breaking and keep as much muck off the house as was possible.  When we arrived everything was intact.

I haven’t had much time to ‘finish’ it but it’s very livable.  My plan wasn’t to complete the bathroom as I’m still not sure how I want to prevent water freezing and what sort of toilet system I’m going to use so that will be a summer project along with the porch roof and some trim.  I might redo the cabinets at that time as well since the ones I built were done in hours on the last day before the move.

The closest thing I’ve built before this was an end table that didn’t turn out that well  Hiring an experienced friend to mentor and help me was the best decision I made and the house would not have turned out as well as it did without her help.

Living in it has been great.  The proportions are amazing and the layout gives the impression of it being much larger than it is since you have about 4 distinct rooms in the house (great room, kitchen, bath/closet – tiny, and a very private bedroom.

Costs are about $15,000.  Trailer, windows and labor were about 2/3rds of the cost.  I still need to install the bathroom and hot water system.

Here are three galleries that are open to the public to view.  I’ll reply (in time) to any questions people ask me.

To view Gerry’s gallery of pictures go to the three links below.

• http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71737&l=649fc&id=563415667
• http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70976&l=c733e&id=563415667
• http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58669&l=dd438&id=563415667

If you would like to get plans to build your own Epu, visit the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website.

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The best way to slash your energy bills is to choose a compact, well-built home such as this sweet, neat and petite home in Franklin, Maine.

Mother Earth News in the current issue (Oct-Nov) of their magazine did an article on Ben and Sarina Speed, who live in an 18 by 18, 640 square foot home. Smaller than most garages, Ben and Sarina share their home with their son Noah and a house cat.

The house was designed by Jay Shafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company located in Sabastopol, California. The family lives very comfortably in their small home. In a house this size details are doubly important, and the Speed’s home is efficient and attractive both inside and out.

Thoughtful planning produced a design that is efficient and economical, as well as cheery and welcoming. The walls are brightly colored, creating an airy and spacious feel to each room. The house is very efficient with an electric bill of only $20 a month.

Sarina says that living small takes the clutter out of your life, as you have to be very efficient  when living in such a small space.

Besides being cheaper to maintain, the Speeds’ home was cheaper to build, costing $55,000, including road and foundation work. To keep costs down, the couple did much of the nontechnical labor themselves or with the help of friends.

The Speeds’ may add another child to their family at some time in the future and will probably add a small addition to the house to fit everyone comfortably. They plan to keep it small and simple as the current plan and say that the house will never be over 1000 square feet at it largest.

Read the complete article “Home Petite Home” at the Mother Earth News site.

Photo Credit: Frances Idlebrook – Mother Earth News

Eating Nook

Open Ceiling

Front Porch

Kitchen

Bedroom

Tumbleweed Enesti Floor Plan

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