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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 6:08 am
by EMJ
Gypsy Rose was born of necessity. I (Kevin) live on a boat (Raven) on Lake Champlain from April through November. Marion recently bought land in Tunbridge, Vermont. While I was exploring options for a winter residence in Burlington (Raven is "on the hard" from mid-November through the beginning of April), Marion knew she needed a temporary summer home in Tunbridge until she decides how to eventually build a permanent home on her land.
Last winter, I was mulling over the options while on a long drive through Vermont. It came to me. I called Marion and suggested, "Why don't we build a home on wheels! We can share it. I can use it during the winter months in Burlington and you can use it during the summer months in Tunbridge."
An idea was born! Marion loved it and we immediately started working through concepts and ultimately drew up plans for the new home. "Gypsy Rose," we'll call her.
http://paddleways.com/blog/gypsyrose/20 ... _born.html
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 8:42 am
by jennypenny
@EMJ--Is that you? That's cool.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:04 am
by EMJ
No, my tiny house never made it to a blog.
But Gypsy Rose is a beautiful house so I thought you might be interested.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:46 am
by OldPro
That's a viewpoint I can buy into without any difficulty. On the programs I watched though it seemed like wheels was almost a given. When you add wheels it just becomes a trailer as far as I am concerned. I can see adding wheels without planning to move it, in order to get around building codes though. Add wheels and then build a deck/porch etc. with no intention of ever moving it.
I have a garden shed that as designed needed a building permit due to size. To avoid that hassle and cost, I built it in 3 parts. No one part required a building permit and since there is no time requirement between parts, in fact I built it all at one time. Part one larger area; part 2 smaller area; part 3 deck and arbor. If you look at the first 3 pictures here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=ultimate ... 38&bih=543 you will see what it basically looks like.
If you look at other pictures on that link, you will see some other very nice designs. So here is my tip. You don't have to just search for 'tiny house' links. My garden shed could as easily be used as a 160 sq. ft. tiny house rather than a place for my garden equipment. Take a look at this example which is a shipping container.
http://www.gardenista.com/posts/the-ult ... -container
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:16 pm
by EMJ
a shipping container
Some reason why shipping containers might not be great material for homes
http://markasaurus.com/2015/09/01/whats ... verything/
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:30 pm
by OldPro
The single biggest reason why a shipping container or any other easily available used item is not suitable EMJ is that all the regulations and bureaucracy are set up to not allow you to decide to live in anything other than a house built by a developer and put on a lot taxed by governments. In other words, it's all about the money and the pressure put on you to buy a 'normal' house.
A shipping container might have some disadvantages in SOME situations but the reasons given in your link and by others do not apply in EVERY situation. Yet they are STATED as if they do. Take any of those disadvantages and see if you cannot think of a situation in which it doesn't apply. Think for yourself, not listen to what others want you to think.
An uninsulated shipping container might lose space to insulation and adding drywall inside for example but if you put it in a place where you do not need insulation and are happy to just paint the metal inside, those requirements simply don't exist. It is as easy to come up with a situation in which you PRESUME the requirements don't exist as it is to PRESUME they do exist.
Take a look here at what can be done with shipping containers and remember, used containers costs around $1000 each.
http://www.homedit.com/22-most-beautifu ... ontainers/ My personal favourite is the one in Costa Rica designed by Benjamin Garcia Saxe and built by the owners themselves for a total cost of $40k. Take a look at the photos and simple layout plans and tell me you wouldn't be happy to live in it.
http://www.homedsgn.com/2011/06/16/cont ... rcia-saxe/
I particularly like that the metal cut out for the expansive windows was used to roof the gap between the two containers. Thus re-using what was already being re-used. Kind of a double whammy. As it sits on concrete pillars, you could theoretically just lift it all up with a crane and move it.
No EMJ, containers are not the problem, the rules are the problem. Thinking 'out of the box' (pun intended, couldn't resist) is frowned on in our society and all kinds of rules exist to keep you from doing so. Imagine what would happen to the building industry if everyone decided to build their own house like this for $40k. Why even 'poor' people could own their own homes. What's that I hear the banker's saying, 'no mortgages, that can't be allowed to happen. Quick pass a building code law to stop it.'
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:44 pm
by OldPro
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2015 3:26 pm
by jennypenny
I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the caring for parents thread ...
With a ‘Granny Pod,’ Grandma Can Live in Your Backyard. The
MedCottage website.
There's no reason you couldn't kit out any tiny house for this purpose. I like the idea of it, especially if there are caregivers coming and going and you don't want to have them going through your house. It would also help with someone who tended to wonder off--you could put them in one of these and then make sure you had adequate fencing around your yard and/or a perimeter alarm.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:03 pm
by henrik
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 3:58 pm
by jennypenny
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 12:41 pm
by OldPro
I could live in that house except for the loft bed jennypenny. Sometimes I think people should think less about 'tiny' and more about 'small' houses.
The average new build house is now at a record 2,600 sq. ft. Discovering that you can live in a house that is only 600-1000 sq. ft. which most people would call 'tiny', would be a whole lot easier to do than living in a 250-500 sq. ft. house I'd say. Take the house you linked and just add a bedroom and I wouldn't see any real compromise being made at all. It would go from 540 sq. ft. to say 640 sq. ft. (10 x 10 bedroom). That's still pretty small.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:40 am
by peerifloori
This is my favorite small house, too! Though I agree with OldPro, I'd nix sleeping in the loft and add another bedroom. I especially love the built-in couches/guest beds/storage. And the book wall. Basically everything.
I currently live in 2 "boxes". An 8'x12' bedroom with woodstove box, which has an 8'x12' porch/outdoor kitchen, and a 10'x12' bathroom/kitchen/guest room. Our total living area is <220 sq ft (not counting the outdoor space because in Alaska it doesn't count as livable). I look forward to moving into a "real" house, though I'd prefer to stay under 1000-1200 sq ft. There's something to be said for having a living room big enough to stretch out and do yoga in.
I also love
this funky tube house! It's 540 sq ft, and has a pretty nice set-up as far as living in a tube goes. It's near where we want to move to, we've been here and peeked in the windows. Realistically it's on a fairly steep hillside very near the coast, so a good earthquake would likely send you on a tube-slide down to the ocean (or at least your neighbors on the street below). But, it's my pipe, er, tube dream.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 9:16 am
by GandK
@jennypenny and @peerifloori
Those remind me of some of
Ross Chapin's designs.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2015 2:34 am
by peerifloori
@GandK
I also love Ross Chapin! I keep hoping that I will find more small house resources/architects that I haven't discovered yet.
Here's another one I really like, it's a
<300sq ft tiny home on a trailer, but with a full bathroom and full kitchen appliances.
Earthbag Building Plans also has some neat small home designs, which apparently can be built quite cheaply. Dirt cheap. Even if you aren't interested in building with earthbags, he has many small home designs under 1000 sq ft, which are quite efficient and nice. Nothing wrong with dreaming about a 3-story earthbag tower, either!
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2015 4:49 am
by peerifloori
peerifloori wrote:@GandK
I also love Ross Chapin! I keep hoping that I will find more small house resources/architects that I haven't discovered yet.
Here's another one I really like, it's a
<300sq ft tiny home on a trailer, but with a full bathroom and full kitchen appliances.
Dream Green Homes also has some neat small home designs, which apparently can be built quite cheaply. Dirt cheap. Even if you aren't interested in building with earthbags, he has many small home designs under 1000 sq ft, which are quite efficient and nice. Nothing wrong with dreaming about a 3-story earthbag tower, either!
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 6:59 am
by jennypenny
Today's favorite.
This company is in Quebec and says the houses can withstand the cold.
My 'lottery' fantasy is to revive the ERE city idea. I'd buy a large piece of land that had a fresh water source and build dozens of tiny home sites throughout the property. There would be several common buildings in a central location for use by everyone including one for laundry with craft and sewing equipment, a workshop/toolshed, an indoor/outdoor kitchen with canning supplies, a fish cleaning station, smoker, and fire pits for cooking, and a pavilion for larger gatherings with internet, TV, video games, and a library. I'd keep a handful of vehicles in different sizes for when someone needed one, but I'd have bike paths connecting all of the properties. I'd have fruit trees lining the paths and use berries and herbs for landscaping in common areas.There would be also be farmland divided into plots for each resident, and residents could lease their plots to others if they weren't interested in gardening.
I obviously think about this way too much.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 7:59 am
by GandK
@jennypenny No, you don't. I'd totally live in a place like that.
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 8:29 am
by Ego
jennypenny wrote:
My 'lottery' fantasy is to revive the ERE city idea. I'd buy a large piece of land that had a fresh water source and build dozens of tiny home sites throughout the property. There would be several common buildings in a central location for use by everyone including one for laundry with craft and sewing equipment, a workshop/toolshed, an indoor/outdoor kitchen with canning supplies, a fish cleaning station, smoker, and fire pits for cooking, and a pavilion for larger gatherings with internet, TV, video games, and a library. I'd keep a handful of vehicles in different sizes for when someone needed one, but I'd have bike paths connecting all of the properties. I'd have fruit trees lining the paths and use berries and herbs for landscaping in common areas.There would be also be farmland divided into plots for each resident, and residents could lease thier plots to others if they weren't interested in gardening.
I obviously think about this way too much.
Except for the garden plots, this exactly describes the campground I managed way back when. They've since added many more tiny trailerable cabins.
http://www.pkscabins.com/. I'll bet you could easily do this without winning the lottery by watching for a good deal on a campground/trailer park with the basic infrastructure already in place and adding the tiny homes at one or two per season.
Edit: Here you go
http://www.theforestlodge.net/. Asking price $395k. You and GandK can split that for pocket change.
Or you could go hog wild with the other one in the Poconos
http://thecampgroundconnection.com/park ... l&search=1
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 9:43 am
by Carlos
jennypenny wrote:Today's favorite.
My 'lottery' fantasy is to revive the ERE city idea. I'd buy a large piece of land that had a fresh water source and build dozens of tiny home sites throughout the property. There would be several common buildings in a central location for use by everyone including one for laundry with craft and sewing equipment, a workshop/toolshed, an indoor/outdoor kitchen with canning supplies, a fish cleaning station, smoker, and fire pits for cooking, and a pavilion for larger gatherings with internet, TV, video games, and a library. I'd keep a handful of vehicles in different sizes for when someone needed one, but I'd have bike paths connecting all of the properties. I'd have fruit trees lining the paths and use berries and herbs for landscaping in common areas.There would be also be farmland divided into plots for each resident, and residents could lease their plots to others if they weren't interested in gardening.
I obviously think about this way too much.
Sounds like a place I'd very much like to live!
Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 3:56 pm
by jennypenny
Looks good! It's about half way between me and K, so maybe we should take a road trip this spring to check it out. I'm not sure how well two word nerds would do running a campground -- it sounds like the setup for a sitcom (or a Stephen King novel
).
@Carlos--You have to come so you can give sailing lessons.
