Portland

Build Small | Live Large Housing Summit

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A couple years ago Jordan Palmeri of Portland, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality conducted a study that showed that building small is the single best building strategy for energy and resource efficiency. Over the past year a group of us have been working to create a forum to share information … Read more

Tammy and Logan’s Tiny House Tour

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My friend and fellow blogger Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens and her husband Logan just fulfilled a dream of theirs and moved into a tiny house. The home was designed and built by Dee Williams and  Katy Anderson of Portland Alternative Dwellings based in Portland, Oregon. I asked Tammy to give us … Read more

Sharon’s Small House Story

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My husband and I have been living in a small home rental in Portland, Oreogn for the past year and a half. Our cottage is about 450 square feet. It feels quite spacious to us. Both of us grew up in very large homes full of family, friends, and fun and we loved it, but prefer a smaller space for ourselves.

We got married in Maine (we used to live in Boston/Somerville) and packed our small Honda Civic with all of our possessions and leisurely road tripped to Oregon.

We found this house on Craigslist soon after moving to the area. Because we only brought our clothes and some personal items, we wanted to find a small place that would be easy and cheap to furnish. It took a few weeks, but we were able to get everything in our home (except TV and bed side tables) from Goodwill, Craigslist, and garage sales. It was quite an adventure!

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Minimalist Apartment Living

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Tammy Strobel is off on vacation this week and is taking a digital break as too. Tammy writes about minimalism and she also lives the life that she promotes. Tammy recently took these pictures of their small apartment in Portland to share with her readers and before she left on vacation gave me permission to share them with you. Tammy and Logans apartment is less than 400 square feet.

When Tammy and Logan moved from Sacramento to Portland they downsized to where they were able to load all their belongings into the back of a standard size pickup. That is quite an accomplishment. The neat thing is that they have stuck with a minimalist foot print. Just check out Tammy’s tiny library and the clothes closet.

If you are interested in minimalism which most of us are who follow this blog be sure and read Tammy’s blog Rowdy Kittens and check out her books Smalltopia and Simply Car-free. Thank you Tammy and Logan for sharing your life with us.

Photo Credits: Tammy Strobel

Tammy and Logan plan to eventually build a tiny house on wheels and are planning to have Dee Williams and Katy Anderson from Portland Alternative Dwellings assist them in the construction. I am looking forward to seeing that project started.

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Pedalpalooza: Tour of Southeast Portland Tiny Homes

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Following is a guest post by my friend Tammy Strobel who publishes the Rowdy Kittens Blog.

Shift is an organization in Portland that brings people together for bike based fun. Every year Shift facilitates an amazing event called Pedalpalooza, that spans a 2 week period.

With 291 events, most organized by individuals, bikers of all persuasions are likely to find many events of interest. Nearly all events are free.

A few weeks ago Eli Spevak, from Orange Splot, LLC, organized a Pedalpalooza ride featuring tiny homes. A group of 150 cyclists gathered for the tiny home tour, in Southeast Portland.

Beginning of Ride

We stopped at six tiny homes and saw a number of different housing styles, including: a 14 x 8 gypsy wagon, a little house made of cob, a nanny’s house on wheels, a straw-bail tiny house that is being used as a detached bedroom, an urban village, and a cute little home that was converted from a garage to a little cottage.

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