Tiny Observatory

This tiny house is just a few blocks away from me in Washoe Valley, Nev. Each time I drove by, I was intrigued by its strange shape and perfect size.

It turns out it’s a tiny observatory built by a local man named Michael. His neighbors affectionately call it the “Milk Carton.”

He built it about 3 years ago and it took him several months. It is 2×4 construction built on concrete piers, but does not have heat, plumbing or insulation. It is two stories tall and an internal ladder goes up to the second story. Michael owns several telescopes and uses the house for digital imaging. The telescope sits on the second floor scanning the sky, and Michael sits on the bottom floor with a computer capturing the images. He is mostly interested in planetary nebula.

I thought the deck in front of the observatory was a nice touch and must be a great place to hang out in the summer. This winter, Michael is using the observatory for a storage area and does not have the telescopes set up in the house.

I was most impressed with the orientation of the observatory. The roof window looks toward the West part of the sky where there are fewer city lights from Carson City in the South and Reno in the North. Also, the deck is located on the East portion of Michael’s build so the tall house blocks most of the hot summer sun but still allows the winter sun to hit the deck from the South.

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)