Tiny House Blog

Hi Kent,

I’ve been following your blog since November when I finally moved into my own tiny house on wheels (136 sq. feet) on Whidbey Island, Washington. I started blogging about, downsizing (‘right-sizing’, as I refer to it), tiny living and on-going improvements in October.

Since January, I’ve attended a Tumbleweed workshop and, more recently the PAD’s La Casa Pequena workshop in McMinnville. I’m in the process of deciding the next step in tiny building, teaching and consulting. Here are a couple of full moon shots I took of my wee house. Thought one of them might fit will under the ‘tiny house in a landscape’ theme.

Thanks for all you do. The tiny house blog is truly invaluable.

Cheers!

Angela Ramseyer
MightyMicroBuilt.com

Here is our little house story in Spokane, Washington.

In the spring of 2006 I was walking through my neighborhood, as I had done so many times over the years and for some reason I really noticed this small, tired and neglected building with its Mission Revival architecture, very unusual for Spokane. As an Albuquerque, New Mexico transplant, I was automatically drawn to its style. It turned out the owner was a local contractor preparing to demo the building and construct a duplex. My partner, Val, and I made an offer and were soon the new owners of the North Hill Substation, built in 1930 as the local utility power distribution site with a mere 374 square feet and 13ft ceilings. We started ever so slowly, huddled in a corner with an electric heater, pen and paper and tried to wrap our heads around our vision for this great piece of history. It has evolved to what it is today affectionately called “The Little House.”

One big obstacle to this adventure was learning to let go of all my stuff. As a dealer and collector of antiques I had a daunting task ahead of me! For 4 years with the help of eBay, Craig’s List, thrift store donations and the dump I was able to whittle things down. Two years ago I was ready to vacate my 1500Sqft apt and see if I could really be happy in one fifth of the space. I made due with a woodstove for heat. I also had a propane cook top and refrigerator I used previously for camping. I found not only was it do-able, but soon realized that less is truly more. After 13 years, Val and I decided to move in together into her house. But with 2600 sqft, 3 bathrooms and kids grown and moved away plans have changed once again. Together we are diligently working towards the “small move” back to the Little House. Continue Reading »

Adam Nash photographed this beautiful photo this week. Here is what he says: I took this photo up near Mt. Baker Ski Area in the Washington Cascades. It appears that this small A-frame (potentially a tiny home) has an incredible one-of-a-kind view of Mt. Shuksan. It doesn’t get any more idyllic.

The bloggable part of this scene is the ‘tiny home’ on the hill. A home with a window looking out at the whole Mt. Shuksan massif 24/7. For me a window is infinitely better than any framed piece of art on the wall. It glows! It radiates! Its like a backlit, ever appropriately changing, landscape photograph. It never feels wrong.

No one, in a house of a natural setting, ever said, “I wish there were less windows.”

Given the opportunity to live here with an original Ansel Adams print hanging on the wall or a simple window, which would you choose? Leave a comment. Pin it, share it. Spread your love of all things amazing in this world. And do good things. -AND Click here to see more of Adams photography.

by Paul and Shari Roten

We are the former owners of Kaizen Tile & Stone in the Seattle area, although are both originally from small towns in the Midwest of the USA.

We spent years renovating others homes as well as our own cottage in West Seattle prior to starting our tiny house outside Newport, Washington. We’ve gone from 10 acres of woods to having an “Ideabox” inspired home well underway with the burgundy metal roof due to be installed in just two weeks!

We’d love to include some pictures and would love to share our story. Because of your site, we have been inspired by others walking a similar path, and made changes to our footprint after seeing some of the plans from Ideabox. As parents of 5 and grandparents of another 5, we’ve decided to make our Roten Retreat a two story to accomadate our lives and loves, with option as we age to be able to live on one level only. The foot print is 500 sq ft with 1000 total for both floors. Continue Reading »

Hi folks! My tiny house, the Bayside Bungalow, in Olympia, Washington is available for rent this winter. I’m looking for a full-time renter from December or January through April. Tiny houses in the Northwest fare much better in the winter when someone is living there full-time running the water & keeping the heat on (i.e. no frozen tiny pipes!). And now with the Envi heater AND Dickenson stove, it’ll stay nice and cozy! The house sits on waterfront property on the shore of the Puget Sound, in a rural, quiet setting, which is 15 minutes from downtown Olympia.

Photogrpahs Copyright Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

Asking $550/mo. with utilities included, but I’m willing to be flexible for the right fit.

See www.baysidebungalow.com for photos, and contact information. If you or someone you know is interested, please pass along the word and let me know!

Cheers,
Brittany

Continue Reading »

A tiny house may not always work out as  a permanent home for everyone. Shawn and Jamie Dehner of the Small House Catalog have lived for the past two years in one of their own designs called the Moschata Rolling Bungalow. This orange delight cost $17,000 to build, sits on a lot the couple owns and contains a full kitchen where they are able to cook and bake, a bathroom with a sink, an RV sized tub and a shower and toilet. The vaulted living room has window sills that are wide enough for their cat to sit on and the sleeping loft has a queen size bed. However, the building codes in their home of Point Roberts, Wash. requires that they build a permanent home within two years.

Their new home will be 700 square feet and the Rolling Bungalow will become their company’s office. The Small House Catalog designs, drafts and occasionally builds small houses and tiny “rolling” bungalows. Their designs are influenced by the kit houses and bungalows of the early 20th Century and are cozy, comfortable and stylish. Both the houses and plans are also affordable for the average person. Several of their plans include the Beekeeper’s Bungalow which is 680 square feet and costs $249 and the 200 square foot Tinka which is free to download. The Small House Catalog also has a great blog that covers a multitude of small and tiny house issues including design aesthetics, small house styles and reviews.

The couple will not leave their rolling home without some regret.

“We’ve met just about all our neighbors (and maybe even our whole town). We never would have met so many people here otherwise,” Jamie said in a recent article for CNN Living. “We’ve even become a landmark…”turn left just after that cute little orange house” is apparently a commonly offered direction! It was a simple, fun building project that solved an immediate need by providing us with clean and comfortable shelter. Furthermore, it saved us a ton of money as we were able to say goodbye to our rental and keep $1,000 a month in our pocket.” Continue Reading »