building - Part 3

Green Valley Natural Builders Tiny House

For their first tiny house, Green Valley Natural Builders in Sebastopol, CA decided to build something very small, but beautiful, using only natural, unprocessed and re-used materials. What they came up with is a delightful tiny structure on wheels that cost only $1,500 to build. Because the small company is … Read more

868 Ogden Utah

by Kent Griswold

The following is not a tiny house, but it is creative use of a small space so I thought I would let Stew share it with you. By Stew MacInnes I thought that your readers might like to see the photos of a cool little project that we just completed. … Read more

Pootatuck Pallet Projects

by Kent Griswold

by Doug Calderone

I have been a follower for many years now and wanted to take the next step and contribute. Around the same time I stumbled across your blog, I began experimenting with shipping pallets. Being a carpenter by trade, I already possessed the skills to build, but pallets are a whole different ball game. When building with pallets, one cannot just draw up plans and expect everything to work. Pallets need to be looked at as building blocks, like Legos for example. Drawing up plans is still a good idea, but the dimensions and structural integrity of pallets needs to be the main factor in design.

Before, I started building; I needed to find sources to obtain my pallets. The most common pallet can be found behind almost every store and it measures 4ft by 45 inches. It consists of 3 parallel 2x4s with 1x planks running perpendicular. These pallets are normally reused over and over and are riddled with nails. The wood is grade “d” lumber at best and is hard to drive a nail into. However, there are treasures out there; I have found many mahogany pallets and oak pallets. With some dedication, the wood can be reclaimed.

“Deek” Diedrickson on GardenFork Radio

by Christina Nellemann

Treehouses, homemade canoes and Labrador Retrievers. What more can you ask for in a radio show? Eric Rochow of GardenFork recently spoke with Deek Diedrickson, microhome builder and author of the new “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks” book in an episode of GardenFork Radio. Deek and Eric (two men cut from … Read more

Tiny House in a Landscape

by Kent Griswold

Lesle sent me this photograph of a tiny building decorated for the holidays. Although the landscape is rather invisible because of the white out the building is attractive and the wreath is beautiful. I like like the pine boughs used to decorate the edge of the roof. No lights here, … Read more

Cae Mabon

by Christina Nellemann

The Cae Mabon Retreat Centre in North Wales has been building small, natural dwellings for their residents and visitors since 1989. This intentional community is located in the best of what nature can offer: in the woods, by a river, near a lake, at the foot of the mountains and within sight of the sea.

Cae Mabon’s principal creator is Eric Maddern, who was inspired to create the community after spending time with the Aboriginal people in Alice Springs, Australia. He wanted to create a place that was not the ostentatious beauty of the wealthy but the humble beauty of the simple and natural. The buildings he created are mostly made from timber, stone, reed, straw, grass, lime and clay and they blend in with their surroundings.