Cottage on the Hill
by Zinta Aistars
I’ve long enjoyed Tiny House Blog, admiring the philosophy and the tiny houses. In March 2012, I moved to a 100+ year old farmhouse in southwest Michigan on 10 acres, my dream come true, sweeter still because it had a tiny cottage on a wooded hill.
This fall, I weatherized the cottage, added a small deck, an outhouse, painted it inside, furnished it, creating a writer’s retreat. With its quirky angles and mismatched windows, it’s been likened to a place from a Tim Burton movie, or from Dr. Seuss. No two windows match, each are at a different height. It’s approximately 120 sq. feet on the main floor, 80 on the upper floor.
Cottage on the Hill, or COTH as I have come to call it, reminds me a little of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, that tiny cabin in which the writer lived for several years. Actually, it is more expansive than Thoreau’s, as it has approximately 120 square feet on the main floor, and a stepladder up to a second floor of about 80 square feet. And, in cooler weather, a space heater adds warmth.
Being a writer, I found it irresistible, conducive to meditations in solitude, connecting to one’s Muse while being completely “unplugged” from the busy world seemingly so far, far away … although, admittedly, the Cottage does have electricity! Continue Reading »
Tiny SIP House
by Art Cormier
My name is Art Cormier and I decided to build a tiny house this last fall. I realized I had been living in large space, but only using a small portion of it. I began to research floor plans online and decided to start with the basic layout of Jay Shafer’s Walden (Tiny Tumbleweed Houses).
The thought of framing up such a small space and subjecting it to the stresses of transport on a trailer seemed daunting. S.I.P. (Structural Insulated Panels, SIPS.org) panels seemed like a good option.
With the panels each surface would be one piece, making the construction easy. S.I.P.s allow someone without extensive building skills to put together a sound structure. This was my first experience using S.I.P.s and there is much detail of the process on my blog, tinysiphouse.blogspot.com.
