Tiny Wish House
by Gillian Wilson
When our nearly 6 year old son was diagnosed with Leukemia last year time stopped, waiting for our brains to catch up. As I lay in hospital beds, and then at home with my son, we looked at books about tree houses. We had wanted to build one.
Children with cancer are all given a wish from the “Make a Wish” foundation. Right away, Eli wished for a tree house. MAW does not do tree houses any longer due to liability. So he regrouped, and asked for a fairy tale cottage in our yard, like in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. As a paranoid mom, I realized the scale of his wish was greater than MAW could provide. I did not want a kid-sized playhouse that would be forgotten in just a few years.
I envisioned a functional tiny house that could serve our family for all our lives here in many ways. I was really concerned that the structure be safe for him since a big enemy of this cancer is fungus and molds. I wanted double paned windows, insulation, electricity so we could heat and HEPA filter, and water. We withdrew our wish, and I calculated up what we might have spent on vacations and restaurants over the next 3 ½ years. We did a little re-fi, and hired two local builder friends. Over the course of the worst part of his treatment he and I scoured every entry on Tiny house blog looking for ideas. I drew, and planned and got input from Eli over every aspect of the design.
It transformed from a very elaborate (unaffordable) curved roof Bavarian style cottage…to a simple 16 x 16 foot cabin. A feature I would not give up was a full staircase into the loft sleeping area. This is why I went with 16 x 16 rather than a smaller footprint. The builder talked me into a full upstairs since cost was about the same either way. The original set of drawings I also included a small bathroom with composting toilet. I nixed that during construction due to budget and opted for a sawdust toilet concealed in a chest upstairs.
Eli is into the much easier maintenance chemo now and has just over 2 more years left on therapy. Thankfully, the cure rate for childhood Leukemia is very high. Our tiny house has brought distraction, joy, and hope. The house provides a place for our friends to come visit which brings even more joy.
I had a friend tell me it is like entering their own childhoods againwhen they enter the house. I love our tiny house, more than our big house…and could easily live in it full time. Thanks for reading our story.
Gillian in Oregon
Site for cabin
Area leveled, trenched for electric/water/phone and 4 inches of rock layer down.
Post and beam floor structure
First floor going up and very curious dogs assisting the builders. At this point, the dogs still believe we are making this for them.
Second floor, roof and shed dormer. The downstairs plywood subfloor will get a layer of foam insulation and framework built for 2″x6″ douglas fir planks to go down on top making a very stout “floor sandwich”. The upstairs is the same douglas fir decking flipped upside down giving the downstairs an exposed beam ceiling. This was more cost efficient than other flooring options I looked at.
Getting reading for roofing. Starting to look like a cabin. The front of roof has a 3′ overhang so there is a dry place to sit. All eaves are 24″ to further protect the structure from the ridiculous amount of rain we get.
Yeah – steel roofing is up, and siding/windows on. One of our builders is a local timber framer. He has a mill and milled all of the cedar siding for the board/bat. He used live edge cedar to trim out the windows, and later would use live edge of various species to do the interior window trim.
Here you can see the live edge window trim, and also the lovely sweeping arches supporting the roof. I used copper chain as down spouts on the gutters.
Here you can see the live edge window trim, and also the lovely sweeping arches supporting the roof. I used copper chain as down spouts on the gutters.
Finally – a door! Another feature we did not want to give up on was having an arched top dutch door. This was worth the wait. Adirondack Naturals in new York made the door and gave Eli the gift of the great door knocker you see there. Cabin is finished in Eco-fin by sun frog. All of the external and internal finishes used are no VOC, or as low as I could find. Our timber framing friend found this great clear cedar lap siding at a clearance warehouse and did the soffits in cedar too.
Panel in. We did our own electric with the help of neighbor friend who tied it into our shop power.
Done! Want to see inside?
My favorite part of the house is this newel post made by a local Chainsaw carver (gallery at Alder Creek). He also made a lot of the cabin furniture. i found the quote from Christopher Robin, and it sums up the reason for building this cabin.
Dining area
Kitchen. I found damaged Hickory cabinets ½ off at big box store. and Oak counter from Ikea…world cheapest kitchen! I splurged on a copper sink for its anti-microbial properties.
Living room area
Upstairs bedroom with Hemlock ceiling. I wanted a skylight over the bed so our 2 sons could watch the stars in winter.
Other view of upstairs. Cedar tree used as support for pony wall.
The coveted dutch door. If I could do this again – I would have had this made in anything other than pine…It swells like crazy and is either loose, or stuck shut.
and finally a close up of the shelves in kitchen. Black walnut shelves – again from our timber frame friend and wood packrat. I love these!
85 Responses to “Tiny Wish House”
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I want one 2…And may your entire family be blessed and your son healed in the name of your LORD & GOD!
Your story is truly inspiring. My son is in remission after being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in March 09; two weeks after my spouse filed for divorce. Hundreds of days in the hospital and two bone marrow transplants helped my son and I learn what is important in life. Spending time with the ones you love and being able to make every minute count is really what it is all about. I spent many a night by my son’s hospital bed looking at tiny homes on this site. I left a multi thousand foot home hoping one day to realize a dream of living in less than two hundred. Now that my son is out of the hospital, he has acquired his dad’s appreciation for tiny homes and dreams of living in one himself one day. A home which allows the time to truly live. A prayer goes out to Eli for a most blessed future leukemia free.
Thanks for your comment. We are kindred spirits in having sick children lead us to the tiny house dream. I am so glad your son is doing well . Tranplants are terrifying.
I would love to buy your actual plans for this home! The only thing I don’t see that is a neccesity is a bathroom…
I just drew up scale plans on graph paper. I originally had small 1/2 bath under stairs…but also, lots of room upstairs in dormer area. That is a king sized bed in picture. It is an enormous tiny house.
Love this and definetly would love the plans. So well done and definetly brings back wishes of childhood/adulthood! Hope your son is doing well. You are great parents for doing this as a way to keep going and make wishes come true!
Wow – fabulous house, and wonderful cause behind it. We all need things to look forward to, and I trust that this project provided your son with something beautiful to look towards, and will continue to inspire; I know it has inspired me.
MAW wouldn’t fulfill the wish because of LIABILITY! We think they have forgotten what they WERE all about! But you became the angel they claim to be!
I think it likely that it has nothing to do with MAW forgetting what they are about. The most probable answer is that someone fell out of a treehouse that they provided to fulfill a childs wish and some lawyer saw them as deep pockets to go after. Welcome to the culture of litigation.
Amazing little house, and inspirational story! I truly love this!
I am in awe, I pray for healing for you and yours.You are blessed.Thanks for sharing your story.
Thank you for sharing so many detailed images, descriptions and tips! I love seeing inside and also being able to see how you did things along the way. You truly have created a magic cottage!
Re: the sawdust toilet, we recently stayed at Tree House Point in WA and their treehouses had Incinolet toilets, which burn the waste to ash via electricity. From the company’s website: “INCINOLET uses electric heat to reduce human waste (urine, solids, paper) to a small amount of clean ash, which is dumped periodically into the garbage. INCINOLET remains clean because waste never touches the bowl surface. A bowl liner, dropped into the bowl prior to use, captures the waste, then both liner and its content drop into the incinerator chamber when the foot pedal is pushed. You can use INCINOLET at any time-even while it is in cycle.” Though we ended up using the plumbed toilets in the shared bath on the ground, I thought I’d mention it in case it might be worth exploring for you down the road.
Thank you so much for this detailed and inspiring post and here’s to perfect health for your precious son!
I could so live in that house too! It’s like a real-life version of a gingerbread house. I love the bear carved into the stairway rail. And the bedroom looks like one that even a tall person can stand up straight and move around just fine in…which seems rare for a tiny house with upstairs bedroom. Nicely done, and count me as one who just might consider buying your plans if you ever make them available. Best wishes for your son’s recovery
A beautiful tiny house! We are in process tonight of sketching plans from this for our next phase. We are in a 16×16 with a 1/2 loft for sleeping(<4' clearance in loft…,bad planning.)
This Griswold house will key into our existing cabin with a patio between and the cabin would serve as bath/kitchen while we LIVE in the new spot! Great construction job and a fantastic photo journal.
Thanks,
Chip and Linda
Just to clarify – MAW does not do tree houses because the insurance companies would only insure them for an astronomical rate. MAW has never been sued over a tree house incident. At least that is what we were told when a relative asked about them.
Lovely little house, and I wish your family years of health and joy in its use.
That makes just as much sense. I have to admit, that I was speculating. I was really just commenting on the idea that Make-A-Wish had somehow “forgotten what they were about,” and figured there are probably very practical/pragmatic reasons why they can or can’t do certain things.I think they are a great organization, but there are limits to what any organization can do.
if u don’t mind,can i have the copy of your house plan?both of us want to build small house like yours.we love it.nice and simple
Make a wish is wonderful, but there are unfortunately so many kids in the situation of receiving wishes, that some wishes are too great. There are wish guidelines and rules. The organization rules also vary by state. Ultimately, this was such a personal wish for Eli…and quite outside of the MAW criteria, we did it on our own. The process of doing it proved to be much more therapeutic than if it just magically appeared.
So beautiful, and even more special because of the reason for the cottage. Healing prayers for your son as he continues on his road to recovery, and how lovely he has such a special spot to know in a very physical way the love and care you have for him!
What was your budget for the house? Just wondering how much it would cost to build one like this?
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[...] favourite is the tiny wish house. It’s a wonderful design, and I would love to live in it. It has more than enough room for a [...]
Thank you for this. It has touched my heart. I agree with above who states that this is such a beautiful physical example of your love for your son. We would be interested in the plans for this if possible.
What a beautiful home. I wish your two sons many happy, healthy years together looking at the stars through their skylight. You’re in my prayers.
What a wonderful story of manifestation in the face of sadness. I wish your family abundant healing and all the best. Your cottage certainly reflects a simple beauty and sweetness that will be a haven of love.
Magical! Reminds me of the wabi-sabi fairy tale cottages of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Dear President
Greetings to you from Myanmar,I am Grace Director of Hope For Myanmar
Children,we have 28 orphans and poor children in our center,we need prayer
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With blessing,
Mrs Grace
Director Hope for Myanmar Children
Yangon,
Myanma