Month: March 2010

Tortoise Shell Prototype for Sale

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Update: Interior Photos and description added.

Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Home is selling his 8′ x 24′ prototype. It includes a separate bedroom, living area, kitchen and bathroom with a built in shower. It is not completed on the inside but I’m still waiting for the details on what needs to be finished. So stay tuned for more information.

Bill is asking $20,000 finished, but would let it go for $15,000 unfinished. You can contact Bill by email at info@tortoiseshellhome.com or call 707-206-7581. Be sure and let him know you heard about it on the Tiny House Blog.

The prototype 8×24 is unfinished. The exterior siding will be finished before delivery. The house includes:

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Tiny House Paintings

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Tracy Booth contacted me the other day about some cool paintings she creates with tiny houses. Tracy is an independent artist from Western North Carolina. I’ll let her tell you what inspired her to create these beautiful paintings. My tiny house paintings were inspired by my love of tiny homes … Read more

Aluminum Bliss and the Airstream Sport

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I came across an inspirational website from Sean Michael of the Long, Long Honeymoon of a young couple who sold their home and belongings to travel and live in a 23-foot Airstream International. But they’re not alone. On their journey, they will be accompanied by their two rescue greyhounds and a newborn baby in July.

As mentioned on their blog, Aluminum Bliss, Chris and Lani decided to make the Airstream their new home because of its sleek, rounded, aluminum interior and large windows that open up a small space and dispel the feeling of living in a box. The modern furnishings inspire a clean environment and the numerous storage spaces eliminate clutter. Their classic rig also turns a lot of heads.

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Our Tiny House

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Dawn and Scott Hines recently completed a tiny house and asked me to share it with you. Dawn and Scott had a tough time finding detailed information that could help them build a tiny house. So they did something different. They had their friend (a licensed builder) tape the process and explain what he was doing and why and it really makes it much more clear. They hope this may help others too.

So be sure and visit their website Our Tiny House to view some clips and if you choose purchase their DVD of their tiny house being built. I’ll let Dawn tell you more about the build.

This is the story of the construction of our tiny house built by C&E Construction. In December 2008 we attended a construction seminar in Florida and were fortunate that our general contractor was able to attend the seminar with us. While the seminar was helpful for design, it really did not give us any of the details we’d need in order to build a tiny house. As Chuck Peterson of C&E Construction built our beautiful tiny house he taped the construction details, showing the specific methods and critical tips for success. We now offer a detailed 2 hour construction DVD full of these details and helpful hints that are necessary to actually build a tiny house.

We did buy a set of plans for our tiny house and modified the plans to fit our needs. Some of the changes we made to the original plans were:

  • We wanted the tiny house to be usable in a sub-freezing environment.
  • We raised the loft ceiling height to accommodate Scott’s height so that we have 7 feet clear.
  • We wanted a full size 36″ x 36″ shower.
  • We wanted to sleep on the main level.
  • We plan to use this as a weekend house and not as our full time residence.

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Montana Mobile Cabins – Marion

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Just shy of three years ago I published the first post on the Tiny House Blog it was on my favorite log cabin company Montana Mobile Cabins based in Whitehall, Montana.

I contacted the company recently to see if they would share with me some recent photos of there projects. They responded by sending three wonderful cabins with lots of great pictures. I’ve decided to highlight them individually in their own posts and this is the first one.

The Marion cabin is an 18′ x 24′ cabin with a half loft, kitchen, bath, and a great room. The cabin includes an on demand electric water heater in the bath and kitchen.

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Codding’s Rapid Deployment Structures

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This past week I had the opportunity to connect with Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Homes who is also involved with Codding Steel in Rohnert Park, CA. Following the Haiti earthquake Codding and Bill have worked together to design these Rapid Deployment Structures and I had the privilege of seeing the first 12′ x 12′ prototype.

Codding is in the process of working with United Way to set up a way for people to donate directly for these structures for help in such places as Haiti and Chile. The current cost for this unit is around $5000. You can learn more by visiting the Codding’s Rapid Deployment Structures web site.

Codding’s Rapid Deployment Structures (RDS) provide the lightest, strongest, and safest materials able to withstand the harshest of elements.

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