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Knaus Schwalbennest

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Tiny House Blog readers who have perused the book “Teardrops and Tiny Trailers” by Douglas Keister may have seen the delightful little Swallow’s Nest trailer owned by Lowell and Janice Vivian. This trailer was originally built in 1961 by the German trailer company, Knaus. For its 50th anniversary, Knaus is selling the redesigned Schwalbennest in a limited edition retro design.

The diminutive trailer is just over 12 feet long and about 7 feet high. It weighs about 1,245 lbs. and has a maximum load capacity of about 400 lbs. It includes an awning, three windows and a skylight, outdoor lighting, integrated blinds, lights, a two-burner stove and sink, a fold-out work surface, a refrigerator, a four gallon water tank and a gas heater. It sleeps two people on the 4.5 ft. by 7 ft. fold-out bed. The trailer also contains a full wardrobe, storage under and behind the benches and above the dining area.

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Cozy Home Plans

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Kevin Harrington, a licensed realtor and home remodel expert in Colorado has created a nice selection of tiny and small home plans called Cozy Home Plans. The homes range from 288 square feet to 781 square feet and his plans cost between $99 to just under $700. Kevin also runs a blog where he posts articles on home construction and DIY tips. He has posted about how to mix concrete, installing electricity, useful household tools and tiny house Feng Shui.

A few years ago, Kevin downsized from a 2,700 square foot home, got rid of about 90 percent of his possessions and moved into a 280 square foot 5th wheel trailer. He was in the process of researching alternative building techniques and stumbled onto the tiny house movement. He decided to start a website and blog to showcase his small home plan ideas.

“This tiny lifestyle I was living gave me back serenity,” Kevin said. “This was something that had been sorely missing in my life for a very long time. I just wanted to share my experiences.”

His goal with Cozy Home Plans was to add a few more feet onto tiny homes to make them more livable.

“Can a person live in 100 square feet? Absolutely, but can they share it with guests or a partner full-time? How about a larger kitchen, washer/dryer capabilities and storage for extra stuff in such a small space? Answering “Yes” to these questions became more difficult in such a tiny space,” Kevin said. “My solution was to add a few more feet to each house.”

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Small Home. Big Life

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By Ben Hurst Hello, my name is Ben, a 31 year old music teacher. I live in Southeast Louisiana and in the past four years I have been on a journey to create an easier life for myself. From growing a garden, raising chickens, ducks, and rabbits, to aquaponics. I … Read more

Block Island Small Homes

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My name is John Warren. I met Andrea Tremols and Cedric Baele at an oyster roast last night in Charleston. They told me about their project and I told them about a series of photos I took of small dwellings out on Block Island, Rhode Island. They are mostly highly efficient summer homes that are are all uniquely designed to withstand sustained winds of over 100 miles per hour.

I photographed about 20 of them, but there are many more. I became interested in small dwellings when I went to Whidbey Island, Washington.

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The Smallest Shop in Los Angeles

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by Peter Bruce

So here is the story behind the Anna Bruce shop on Abbott Kinney in Venice, California… the “smallest shop in LA”

My sister, Anna launched a line of embroidered 100% organic cotton t-shirts, baby clothing, and not-quite-organic hats about two years ago. Her line consists of animal and plant patterns (and even surfer) stitched onto colorful and very soft cotton. She started small, mainly giving her work away as gifts to friends and family – with the occasional sale generated by word of mouth. She soon realized she had something pretty special with more and more people asking to order merchandise. I came on board to help her spread the word and we worked to get her line into shops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Marin County in Northern California.

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