Teardrop Trailer Gatherings
Throughout the year, owners of tiny trailers will gather together for rallys or gatherings, in order to show off their designs, bargains or builds. The best way to get ideas for a tiny trailer is to go to one of these trailer gatherings. You will also end up meeting a wide range of really great people.
I recently went to a teardrop trailer gathering outside of Austin, NV. This was my third gathering and while there were only about 20 trailers, it was a wonderful way to see what other teardrop enthusiasts are capable of building and creating. Most gatherings will have over a hundred trailers. Continue Reading »
Free Spirit Spheres
What do Ewoks and Julie “Butterfly” Hill have in common? They have discovered the ethereal magic of living up in a tree.
Tom Chudleigh of Vancouver Island, Canada has discovered the same magic with his Free Spirit Spheres, handcrafted tree houses that bob among the trees like giant apples.
Chudleigh calls his design a bio-mimicry. Each sphere attaches to a web of rope. The web connects to whichever strong points are available. This replaces the foundation of a conventional building. A tree house sphere uses the forest for its foundation, so the occupants of a sphere then have a vested interest in the health of the trees. Each sphere has four attachments on top and another four anchor points on the boom. Each attachment is strong enough to carry the entire sphere and contents.
A suspended sphere is tethered by 3 nearly vertical ropes to each of 3 separate trees. This distributes the load evenly over the 3 trees and results in a stable hang. Like an inverted three-legged stool, there will be almost equal tension in each of the three suspension ropes. The sphere resides in the center of the triangle formed by the 3 trees. It can be slung from 5 to 100′ off the ground, depending on the size of the trees.
Photo from Kiwipulse
If something really big, like a tree, falls through the web then some strands will break and let it pass through. The sphere remains suspended by the remaining strands. A major disaster like that is not likely, but possible. Everything, including spiral stairways and suspension bridges, are hung from ropes. Trees are protected where the spiral stairways hug the trees and ropes pass around the trees. The spheres are well adapted to life in a large mature forest.
The sphere concept borrows heavily from sailboat construction and rigging practice. It’s a marriage of tree house and sailboat technology. The wooden spheres are built much like a cedar strip canoe or kayak and suspension points are similar to the chain plate attachments on a sailboat. Stairways hang from a tree much like a sailboat shroud hangs from the mast. The joinery is yacht style with much brass trim, varnished wood and cane doors. They have closets on either side of the door.
Photo from Kiwipulse
A sphere is accessed by a spiral stairway and short suspension bridge. The two lower back suspension points of the sphere are tied horizontally to the two back trees, to keep the suspension bridge from sagging when it is walked on. The door faces the “door tree” and the suspension bridge connects the two. A helical stairway spirals up or down from the suspension bridge to the ground or next level.
Two Spheres, named Eve and Eryn, are available for overnight rental year round. Eve rents for $125 a night or $199 for two nights while Eryn rents for $175 a night or $299 for two nights Eryn’s rate is based on 2 people. The motion in a sphere is a slow gentle rocking when the wind blows. The rope tethers are almost vertical which lets the treetops move considerably while hardly moving the sphere at all. When another body inside a sphere shifts his/her weight the motion is abrupt. This is because the mass of the sphere is low.
Photo from Kiwipulse
In the Eryn style, there is a double bed on the right centered under the 40″ window. A settee with table is placed in front of the 42″ window on the left. The back wall opposite the door provides a galley area with counter cupboards and a sink. A microwave and refrigerator are also installed. Above the galley area there is a loft bed with full sitting headroom at the center. Circular shelf segments connect the loft bed to the cupboards on either side of the door. An outhouse and washroom are located nearby on the ground.
Photo from Kiwipulse
Free Spirit Spheres can also be purchased as completed projects or as shells and component kits. Wood spheres are made of two laminations of wood strips over laminated wood frames. The outside is then finished and covered with clear fiberglass. The result is a beautiful and very tough skin. The cost of these are sold for about $125,000-$150,000.
Fiberglass shells are also sold at $39,000-$45,000. The skins are waterproof and strong enough to take the impacts that come with life in a dynamic environment such as the forest.
Both wooden and fiberglass spheres are insulated. Vinyl upholstery fabric is stapled to the frames (lines of longitude). Each fabric joint is then covered with a decorative wood strip. The wood strips come together at the top and give a nice cathedral ceiling effect.
Photo from Kiwipulse
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The Small Cabin
Alexander of the Small Cabin website has created a nice little community of cabin lovers and builders. His tiny cabin in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada is the quintessential getaway. It is efficient and utilizes the outdoors as much as possible. The cabin is 8×12 feet with large windows for extra light. The total cost of the cabin came to around $1,200 and took about two weeks to build.
Alexander goes over the step-by step process of building your own tiny cabin in a remote area.
He discusses electrical issues and being off the grid. He talks about how to keep down your building costs as well as how to protect items in your cabin from the outdoors. Alexander also brings up good points about site selection, planning, water issues, street or highway noise and how to run power tools without conventional utility hookups.
The Small Cabin interior
The website also includes a discussion forum frequented by cabin builders and dreamers. On the forum, I came across the blog of Wayne and Margy Lutz who live most of their time in a floating cabin in coastal B.C.
If a tiny house is still your dream home but you are only able to live in it part time, this website contains a helpful bit of information if you want to build your own little retreat away the everyday world.
The Lutz's Floating Cabin
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