Tiny House Concept

An Atypical Tree House via Dwell

Ryan alerted me to this 172 square foot tree house which serves as an office and guest room that was featured in Dwell.

This office/guest house is built on an estate in Brentwood, California a suburb of Los Angeles and was designed by Rockefeller Partners Architects, Inc. I’m sure this was an expensive tree house but that information was not given.

The architects took about eight months to design the tree house. Construction of the inhabitable sculpture, with its studio and lounge, took another 18 months.

ProtoHaus Project Lecture

by Kent Griswold

Ann Holley from ProtoHaus wrote that she will be giving a lecture on the ProtoHaus project Friday November 13 at Alfred University. The lecture is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Science Center (building 13 on the map). Ann will begin at 12:20 and … Read more

The Loft House

by Kent Griswold

“Learn by doing” isn’t that what education is all about and wouldn’t you think so in the field of architecture.

The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University whose goal is to teach students both social responsibility while also providing safe, fine constructed homes with inspirational design for poor communities in rural west Alabama.

The project known as the 20K project is an ongoing project now into it 6th year. The project is based on trying to design and build and create alternative forms of housing on an extremely tight budget.

The project is based on the 20K limit to design and build a house for $10,000 for materials and with a proposed labor cost of $10,000, therefore not exceeding $20,000.

Farmhouse Life Update

by Kent Griswold

Kent, I continually check into Tiny House Blog because it is about so much more than small buildings. For me, the tiny house movement has led to a much greater awareness of community development, sustainability, our environment, local food initiatives, and my child’s future. Is this what was supposed to happen? Recently, I saw your note asking for updates on past feature posts so I thought I would send ours in.

Since our post on Tiny House Blog last spring we have had over 150 people tour Camp Coyote and Farmhouse Life. I am often surprised by people’s positive reaction to our little buildings. Most comment that Camp Coyote is the ideal place to “get away.”

Burlington Microhome

by Christina Nellemann

Moonlight in Vermont? Sunlight might be better for this tiny solar powered home built by Alex Carver and Christopher North of Northern Timbers in Vermont. The Burlington Microhome is a 100 square-foot modular house that is off-grid and ready for additional modules to be added to it if needed.

Northern Timbers built the microhome with design help from landscape architect and metal artist H. Keith Wagner.

Much of Northern Timbers’ work reinterprets the traditional Vermont vernacular by introducing new applications of diverse materials into the residential setting, resulting in homes with a practical yet creative aesthetic.

Small House Planning

by Kent Griswold

Ryan one of our readers from Iowa sent me this cool little house model and plans that he had found in an antique store. I’ll let Ryan tell you a little more about it.

Here are some photos, I could not resist trying to get one of the house in the landscape. I found the house model at a very nice antique shop on the Iowa Minnesota border. I paid $5 for it. The proprietor thought it came from an estate in Minnesota.

He had no idea if the house was ever built. The floor plan was tucked inside the model. I really like the drawing, it helps hint at the personality and interests of the designer and builder.