Pre-fab

Better Built Portable Buildings

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For anyone with vision, a few building skills and a great set of tools, several of these portable buildings by Dix Enterprises in Wichita, Kansas can become a personalized tiny house. Better Built Portable Storage Buildings by Dix are outdoor storage sheds, barns, garages, cabins and offices that are built onsite in Kansas and then delivered by truck. At that point they can be customized by the customer. Dix claims all of their portable barns, sheds, cabins and garages are built to hold up under heavy use and provide a lifetime of service. Most of the buildings are for storage, livestock and gardening, but three of their designs may make a great tiny house: the Lofted Porch, the Portable Casita and the Mini Cottage.

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Solar Decathlon 2009

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Craig one of our readers had the opportunity to go to the Solar Decathlon in Washington DC. and wanted to fill us in on this exciting event. Here is what Craig has to say about it.

Sorry to take so long to get back to you on the Solar Decathlon houses on the mall in DC.

I’d taken pictures, but they didn’t turn out so great what with all the crowds. As it happens, the solar decathlon webpage has some great videos for each house on the front page that do a far better job of showing off the houses than I could.

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Team Germany was just announced the winner, though my favorite was Team Louisiana’s Beausoleil house. They plan on marketing the houses as modular homes in the next couple of years with a price around $120,000 including the solar panels.

The maximum size limit for the houses was 800 square feet and they all had to be off the grid/independent.

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Mule Drawn Tiny Home

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13 months in a 21 square foot, Mule drawn Tiny Home Bernie Harberts of River Earth recently bought a set of Sonoma Shanty plans and when we were communicating by email because he is wanting the shanty on wheels version, I discovered his website and learned about his interesting story. … Read more

Alternative Building’s Fiberglass Yurt

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Sorry no longer in business! Mike one of our readers sent me a note about this yurt option that is both easy to assemble and affordable. These fiberglass yurts range in size fron 15.4′ diameter (181 sq.ft.) to 51.3′ diameter (2011sq.ft.) pre-insulated. Pricing ranges from $15.00/ sq.ft to $20+/sq.ft. Here is … Read more

Yardpods – Personal Space

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On one of my visits with Bill Kastrinos of Tortoise Shell Homes, I noticed a new small structure sitting off to the side of the Tortoise Shell Nursery. Bill put me in touch with Malcolm Davie who has just given me the go ahead to go public with their new … Read more

Tortoise Shell Camping Cube Delivery

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Last Friday I had the opportunity to go on a delivery with Bill Kastinos from Tortoise Shell Homes to Chanslor Guest Ranch located 1 mile north of Bodega Bay. The historic 378 acre Chanslor Ranch is known for its magnificent ocean views, horse back riding on the beach, ocean view … Read more

Carre D’etoiles French Cube

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Carre d’etoiles: a Tiny, Portable Prefab Cube from France Yesterday materialicious discovered the neatest prefab cube and I had the hardest time waiting until today to share it with you. The concept of the design is for a vacation getaway for resorts where you can experience a window to the sky, … Read more

L.A. Times: The Beauty of Mini-Prefabs

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materialicious pointed out a neat article on Mini-Prefabs in the L.A. Times. Here is a brief intro from Emily Young: In recent years, prefab construction has generated plenty of buzz in magazines such as Dwell and at exhibitions such as one last year at the Museum of Modern Art in … Read more

The Barn Raiser Homes

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Dave Ortlieb from The Barn Raiser in Saugerties, New York recently discovered the tiny house movement from a recent customer. Dave contacted me and wanted to share his business as another option for tiny houses. Here is what Dave has to say about his business: We’ve been in business for … Read more

Sonoma Shanty Update

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Yesterday I stopped by Little House on the Trailer to see how the Sonoma Shanty on wheels was coming along. The Sonoma Shanty Hybrid shell on a trailer is 20 feet long versus the 15 foot long shanty built on a foundation. When I stopped by it was not completed, but … Read more

Tiny House of India

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Milan Shah from India contacted me about some tiny houses that are being constructed in India. They remind me of the metal cargo based homes made here in America and abroad. The units have air conditioning, plumbing and modern European toilets and washbasins. Plus exhaust fans. Water is supplied from … Read more

Clayton i-house

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The i-house has been in the news a lot lately. Though not considered a tiny house starting at 773 square feet, it is a step in the right direction and getting people to think smaller is the right way to go. MSN had a great article about it and below … Read more