Guest Post by Tammy Strobel
I’ve been obsessed with these tiny Portland Cottages ever since I read about Jeff and Brad’s building techniques on OregonLive.com last year.
Fantastic Tiny Home Tour
I was lucky enough to tour these tiny cottages during my mini-vacation a few months ago. When I arrived in Portland, I sent Jeff and Brad a quick email on the off chance that they might be around and let me tour their beautiful little homes. To my surprise Jeff emailed me back and said yes!
Jeff and Brad are the cottage designers and builders. The couple created these beautiful spaces using salvaged and recycled materials. Brad has been building in Oregon for over 30 years and Jeff has an incredible amount of experience in gardening and masonry.
374 Square Foot Cottages
The homes built by Jeff and Brad are truly works of art. Recycling and reusing materials to create such an spectacular space made me smile. Some features in the cottages include:
- Built-in bookshelves;
- A gabled roof;
- Cedar-shake siding;
- Decorative brick foundations;
- Thirteen-foot ceilings that give the small cottage a feeling of spaciousness;
- The kitchens include trap-door wine cellars built into the fir floors;
- The floors are tongue-and-groove fir, but they have been stained which makes the spaces warm;
- Recycled olive oil cans were twisted into the shape of cascading calla lilies;
- Old kitchen vent hoods from The Rebuilding Center became window boxes;
- And two old Dairy Queen benches were made into porch swings.
Cottage Popularity
I knew the cottages were sought-after, but didn’t realize how popular until Jeff and Brad told me about the numerous people who stop in front of their homes to stare. Some folks even peer into the windows and have walked into their backyard. I know these places are cute, but you would think folks would ask permission first?
Reuse and Recycle…
Jeff and Brad are really sweet people and incredibly kind. Meeting them restored my faith in humanity. It’s my hope that more people will follow their building philosophy: reuse and recycle. The planet is small and there are only so many resources to go around.
You can see all the cottage photos by clicking here.
Photo Credits: Tammy Strobel
by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)
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I love these cottages. I came across these on Treehugger a while back and love the layout of the interior floor plans and the quaint look of the exterior. I’d love to know if they have plans to build a slightly larger model.
thanks again for the post-
Little House
Cool 🙂 You can say it blew my brain! 🙂
I’m not aware of plans that are available, I’ll check with Tammy as she talked to the builders and owners when she was there.
Thanks for this most excellent post. As a tiny-house owner and advocate I love reading about others who not only live tiny, but build tiny. I’m just getting started at the Tiny House-of-Chaos, but I’m really, really thankful for your insight and input on how to continue, rebuild, remodel and renovate using sustainable and salvage materials.
I’ve loved these for ages too. I’m curious though, are there any drawings, or descriptions of the floor plans? They don’t have lofts for the beds, do they?
beautiful flickr photo set — thanks Tammy!
I loved the flickr set too. Lots of interesting details. Lovely work.
Hi Tammy,
Nice to hear from you and see you on the tiny house blog! Thanks for posting the pics. I love these houses and wish I could live in one!
Hope you’re doing well. May all your tiny house dreams come true!
Mandy (from Dee & KT’s workshop)
To save space, time and money in this kitchen:
Place the fridge in the corner, then a lower cupboard, then the sink, then the stove – this saves steps as you remove food from the fridge, wash it, then cook it. Stack a set of pans in the stove drawer and oven.
Between the fridge and sink, add a pull-out cutting board, stack dry goods in the lower cupboard and store a set of decorative dishes and glasses vertically on a narrow wall shelf. Store utensils in a jar on the counter. Dry dishes on a dish towel. Place a large cutting board over the stove or sink, as needed.
For spaciousness, paint the walls a light color and add a mirror over a drop-leaf table.
Sell the upper cupboards. Add recessed lighting over the counter.
Rather than cupboard doors, use a set of small curtains of recycled fabric. Use a small, spring-loaded curtain rod – supported with cup hooks.
At the far wall, add a glass slider, deck or screenhouse.
what a wonderful place! thanks for posting the flickr album too … lots of wonderful ideas! thanks!
I can’t believe how tiny it looks from the outside and yet space is so organized inside!