Alex recently transplanted himself and his family from the busy life of New York City to a rural setting in Sweden. Alex has started a blog called EcoHouseFilm that he is documenting his families life changes.
Alex, his wife and his son are currently restoring a 50 year old house they inherited with the mountain, it is 25 square meters in size.
Alex says: We are stripping it of the paint and fungus and are going to add insulation on a 2×6 external frame plus a bigger roof with a loft, as the current wood is just 2 inches thick and does nothing for the minus 20 celsius winters in Sweden.
Overall it will be 35 meters square after that, so still a tiny house for a family of three.
Some of the wood is going to be locally sited from the property, and I want to buy all the wood from Sweden, which is easy, as we do produce a lot of wood.
We have a horse ant problem, and as you can tell from the name, a horse ant is big and makes pinkie size holes in wood!
The roof needs to be changed as well. We are hoping to be ready for the winter, and I will build another small house for my workshop comes spring.
In sweden there is no regulation if your house is on wheels, pretty much like in the United States so I will be building several of those.
There is a whole little house movement in Sweden, the friggebod, as a house under 15 square meters is unregulated.
The friggebod is at the heart of all things Swedish and lagom. A small house often confused for a shed, the Friggebod is 15 square meters or less, and thanks to the humanity of Swedish law, requires no permit or inspection to build on.
Overall, our move to Sweden has been going smoothly.
The environment and schools are much better, but everything is three times more expensive than the United States.
Of course plumbing and sewage is a royal bitch, as in all “civilized” countries. We will try to push for a greywater reed bed.
Watch a movie below that shows an interesting angle of their move to Sweden. Visit the EcohouseFilm blog here.
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Looks like a great project, life in simplicity. A lot like living in a houseboat, you have to move something out every time something new comes in.
great post..
15 square meters converts to about 161 square feet or a square building a little over 12′ by 12′. That would be challenging to live in full time comfortably and efficiently with a reasonable level of modern conveniences.
I’m completely impressed that they are going to brave the cold winter in a tiny house, they must be outdoor types. I can’t wait to check out the site. I live in Italy and I don’t think there is any tiny house movement. I wish there was.