Month: March 2010

A Tiny House Thought from Thoreau

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Jesse Smedley has been reading Walden, by Henry David Thoreau and shared this with me. This past weekend I was re-reading one of my favorite books: Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. Many of your tiny house readers are probably familiar with the book, and I would urge those who have … Read more

Simply Car-Free

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Though not directly related to tiny houses, Simply Car-free is right on when it comes to simplifying your life, which in my opinion is part of the tiny house movement. My friend and fellow blogger Tammy Stobel who publishes the RowdyKittens blog has written a wonderful ebook that I would highly … Read more

Tales of a Tiny Homestead

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What began as a tug at the edge of our subconscious some years ago is finally starting to turn into a reality for us. While considering our options for life, and wondering why the heck we had to work full time at jobs that we hate for the next 30+ years, we started thinking that there had to be something different. And different, indeed there was!

While poking around online we happened to come across Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny House website and the light came on in our heads! We would build a tiny house! A palace on wheels! We’d already rented out our home in the city and moved to the country in an RV, so why not build a small home, we didn’t need the space anymore, and wild horses couldn’t drag us back to city living.

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Underground Micro Homes Part 2

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Guest post by Walt Barrett

We have already established in a previous article for the tiny house blog that by building a home underground there are huge advantages when it comes to heating, and cooling. Starting from an average underground base temperature of 55° F it’s an easy jump to hold a small underground home to a temperature range of 65° to 75° Fahrenheit.

Now an underground home can be as simple as a pure survival model such as burying an old van, school bus, truck body or shipping container in the side of a hill or a hole in the ground with a combination stair well – light well, or it can be a well designed, and insulated modern home complete with all the necessary systems as a totally modern above ground home. One of the main differences is that the underground home design will certainly use far less energy, and it will be far less expensive to build if designed properly. If you miss the view of an above ground home, assuming there is a view to begin with, I suggest a TV wired to a web cam with a 360 degree sweep. Plus, you can always step outside to enjoy the view and contemplate the thousands of dollars that you are saving.

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Curved by Design

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If your dream home still takes on the shape of a mushroom or a Hobbit house, maybe one of these dome homes by Curved by Design will fit your bill. Curved By Design, Inc. is based in British Columbia, Canada and they design and build small garden or backyard domes, cottages and guest houses for recreational and tourist properties.

Their smallest design is the Garden/Backyard Dome which is approximately 12 feet in diameter, provides 100 square feet of floor space and can be built on a small stem wall to provide additional height. The advantage of this size dome is that it falls under building permit requirements and yet provides a spacious and calm ambience. Curved by Design also features two small designs: the 24 Foot Open Plan dome which is ideal as a relaxing yoga studio, a spacious conference room, or a guest house and the 24 Foot One Bedroom dome which can accomodate one spacious bedroom, a full bath and kitchen, a cozy living room and plenty of storage.

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Underground Micro Home

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Guest Post by Walt Barrett part 1. Here in New England it gets pretty cold in the winter, and the temperature hovers around the freezing mark. We have already built a 128 square foot micro home to use as a test bed for our energy saving products, and now we … Read more