Underground

Tornado Shelters as Tiny Houses

by

This holiday season seemed to be full of severe weather causing devastation across the Midwest United States. The 12 tornadoes in Texas not only killed 11 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, but they destroyed several towns and thousands of homes. Tornado shelters are not always built as … Read more

Hobbit Hole Redux

by
cave home

After living in various simple structures on a two acre horse pasture for over a decade, (tipi, willow hut, tents, beach shack), I ended up going underground with a Hobbit Hole style tiny house. I liked it so much that I continue to live in it some 15 years later. About 10 … Read more

A Life Lived Under The Earth

by

Nearly five years ago (in 2009) a reader named Dave sent Tiny House Blog information regarding the Shorpy Historic Archive. One of those images is shown above and is a dugout house built by homesteaders Faro and Doris Caudill with Mount Allegro in the background in Pie Town, New Mexico. (titled: The Caudills at dinner. … Read more

Gnome Home

by

When I was six years old, one of my Christmas presents was the book, Gnomes, by Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet. Even at such a young age, I was charmed so much by the little nocturnal creatures and their tiny  homes, that I was bound and determined to also live in one. The book was so well written and so beautifully illustrated, it was as if Huygen and Poortvliet had been studying the little people for decades.

Written with a naturalist’s hand, Gnomes is a guide to the life of the little woodland and garden creatures. It covers everything from courtship and marriage, children, food gathering, handicrafts, and the building and care of the gnome’s tiny underground house.

Read more

Underground Micro Homes Part 2

by

Guest post by Walt Barrett

We have already established in a previous article for the tiny house blog that by building a home underground there are huge advantages when it comes to heating, and cooling. Starting from an average underground base temperature of 55° F it’s an easy jump to hold a small underground home to a temperature range of 65° to 75° Fahrenheit.

Now an underground home can be as simple as a pure survival model such as burying an old van, school bus, truck body or shipping container in the side of a hill or a hole in the ground with a combination stair well – light well, or it can be a well designed, and insulated modern home complete with all the necessary systems as a totally modern above ground home. One of the main differences is that the underground home design will certainly use far less energy, and it will be far less expensive to build if designed properly. If you miss the view of an above ground home, assuming there is a view to begin with, I suggest a TV wired to a web cam with a 360 degree sweep. Plus, you can always step outside to enjoy the view and contemplate the thousands of dollars that you are saving.

Read more