I’ve moved into my tiny house. I love the house. It’s very well constructed. The wind here in the Delta is so strong that at first I was afraid that even though it had survived being towed from the east to west coast, it might come unhinged by the wind. It hasn’t. It’s solid, quiet and a tranquil shelter from the strong gusts.

The cats venture out when the air is calm, but stay in when it’s blustery. We negotiate seating. I have two cats and two dogs and all five of us prefer sitting on a chair or soft spot up off the hardwood floor. Misty, my elegant female cat, claims the cushiest chair when she’s home, and I sit on a small triangular wooden stool that I brought back from India.

Smokey, my big, brave, athletic hunter, leaps from the kitchen to the loft and sleeps on my bed. The dogs, Becky and Jenny, sleep on pet beds or the toddler sofa from Toys ‘R Us. There is just enough room for all of us, but we have to think before we move – there is apt to be someone or something else in the spot we’re moving toward. We have all the comforts of a traditional house: electricity, heat, hot water, air conditioning, toilet, microwave, refrigerator/freezer, satellite TV and internet. Things I don’t need for day-to-day living are in a storage unit in town. I’m renting the land I’m living on. It’s farm land – open, flat, spacious, so much better than an apartment.

Regards,
Elaine

Graton resident Jay Shafer appears on the cover of Parade magazine Sunday. Shafer, 44, who designed and built the tiny house, is to appear on the cover of the magazine’s annual How America Lives issue, pictured standing in front of the gable-roofed cottage.  Read the Press Democrat article here.

Visit Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website.

This might be for the summer only, or could turn into a long term opportunity. You must have a place in the continental US that would be a desirable vacation spot. In addition, electricity must be readily available. The house needs its own 20 amp circuit. Also, a sewer hook up must be present and a water source within a few feet. Basically, the house needs RV hookups. Because it is a vacation rental, you don’t want to deal with cleaning of any tanks. Tumbleweed is looking for a place with a sewer hookup.

If you have a place to host and rent the Fencl you can get all the details at the Tumbleweed Blog.

The Whidbey is Tumbleweed’s largest single story house. The front bedroom is wrapped with windows, and their is an option for a second bedroom at the back of the house.

The Whidbey has plenty of loft space, a full kitchen with a dishwasher and washer / dryer combo.

The estimated material costs are $35,000 for the 1 bedroom (461 square feet) and $41,500 for the 2 bedroom (557 square feet).

The Whidbey plan is on sale for $299 through the end of April, normally $695. Click here to view more details

In October, Will drove from Abbotsford, British Columbia to McKees Mills, New Brunswick. Will drove a used 1999 Dodge diesel truck and it worked out great to tow the house.

Will and Alyson created a small blog called Alyson and Will’s Adventure to cover their move and life at their new farm home and you can view it here.

After so many months and so much planning, I drove away with the tiny house and most of our possessions in tow. Left just around lunchtime with everyone on the farm hugging me and saying goodbye. I’ve got my Ipod loaded with songs and we’ll see how far I get today. — Will

Will weighed the house before moving it, it came in at 6182 lbs. empty (well below the trailer’s 10,000 lb capacity). The tongue weight is around 1,100 lbs which is more than the max of 900 lbs recommended in the truck owners manual. He was carrying all his and Alyson’s meagre possessions also and loaded the heavy items in the back of the house to lessen the tongue weight.

Most of the trip, Will slept at truck stops or campgrounds, just stopped and had a snooze when he got tired of driving.

Leaving Glen Valley Organic Farm

Fall Colors

Lunch stop in Golden, BC

I covered about 700 km over the Rockies from Kamloops, BC to Strathmore, Alberta. Kind of slow going over the mountains. It will be flat for a long stretch now. Not too much interesting about driving for hours and hours looking for good coffee and for a place to eat that is not too bad. — Will

Made it to Manitoba

KOA campground near Ottawa, Ontario.

It was nice to start seeing wooded areas in Manitoba after the plains. The northwest part of Ontario was really beautiful with a different lake after every little hill I would go over. Until next time, thanks for reading. — Will

Pulling in the drive-way at our new farm in McKees Mills, New Brunswick.

Will arrived on the farm just before noon today. I am so happy to see him and he is so happy to have arrived! The truck did really well, the house held together and Will survived the days of driving. I think he is feeling a great sense of accomplishment for having made the big trip and I’m so proud of him, too! — Alyson

Got the truck stuck when moving the house so had to use the tractor to move it.

The house after a recent snowfall

Tumbleweed is allowing several blogs to get the word out first before they advertise the sale on the Tumbleweed website. Below is the new video and Jay Shafer did an excellent job as it really give you the feel of what is involved in the construction of a Tumbleweed home.

Tumbleweed is also adjusting the pricing and here is why. “Tumbleweed is lowering prices because we will no longer be including consultations and workshops with the plans. Those will be sold separately.”

Here is the new pricing:

• XS-House Plans $399
• Epu, Weebee, Tarleton, Lusby $859
• Fencl (price on Mar 1st $859, current price is $997) on sale $795

If you have been thinking of purchasing the Fencl plans starting now and before March 1 is the time to get them at this lower Sale Price. Click here to view more details

This may be the last time that they are available at this low price, so if you have been thinking about getting these plans some time in the future, now is the time to do it. Here is a buy now button to make it easy for you.

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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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.