These are the winners: http://www.countryplans.com/contest.html

Your blog is amazing an so are your houses!

Gable Roofs – Gable roofs are a little harder to build, they provide a more closed in feel, they tend to hold in the warm/cool air better. I’m not sure about this but I think they make the whole house stronger because they rest evenly on the top plate(s) of the walls.

Shed Roofs – Shed roofs are great for passive solar design especially in a tiny house where you can turn the tall side toward or away from the sun depending on the weather and desired effect. The disadvantages of putting a shed roof on a mobile tiny house is that the roof pitch has to be less steep than a gable to stay under the 13.5 road limit. The advantage is that it provides more interior headroom and a more spacious loft.

Lofts – As far as sleeping lofts, hot air rises. The less open a loft the hotter it will be. Jay puts windows in both ends of his tiny houses for cross ventilation. Open lofts would still be warmer but would tend to be more like the main room in temperature.

Towing – Many SUVs can tow 5000 pounds, even some of the imports. Check the rating on the truck/SUV to be sure. Many of the smaller tiny houses (120 sq ft) tend to be under 5000 pounds. The tortoise shell homes that are build from steel studs tend to be about 1000 pounds lighter than the wood houses. So your choice of materials will greatly effect the weight. My pallet house for example will be heavier than a Tumbleweed but I suspect you could build a tiny house without all the decorative wood that’s lighter than a Tumbleweed.

Hope that helps!

To be candid I don’t know which of your proposed future sketches I’d vote for: all of them sound appealing in their own right.

If you’re able to answer or throw a better-educated guesses my way:

-What are the dis/advantages to having either a gable or shed roof?
-Would sleeping in a loft in one of (for example) Jay’s Tiny Houses be very hot up there?
-(And here’s my silly question, but I really don’t know) Would it be necessary to own a truck to tow one of those houses around, or could, say, some form of SUV do that?

Well… your in the right place. I feel the same way I love Jay’s designs, the detail, careful composition, and premium finishings but I think a very nice tiny home can be built for a lot less… if the right choices are made.

Thank you for posting this for everybody; I, too, believe in the philosophy of “free,” at least in the sense that people should help others who wish, as Gandhi stated best, “to be the change they wish to see in the world.”

To the point: I agree with JD in that I’d love to see a design like Turnstall’s little home on wheels. I began reading into natural-building techniques roughly a year and a half ago, but decided that I’d prefer to build one using modern techniques (i.e. wood framing) and simply build smaller. When I found the book “Tiny Houses,” I soon found the Tiny House Blog. When I found out about Jay’s idea of having one on wheels, I knew it was what I wanted: I intend on going to graduate school myself, and figured this would be an excellent way to go about affording doing so. However, I can scarcely afford to spend $1000 on the plans for the Weebee; so, when I found out there was another graduate student with my idea, I was delighted that she followed through. The idea of having a small, affordable home, is excellent; furthermore, I’d love to pursue using rainwater collection, both passive solar and solar powering, and compost toileting. It likely sounds as though I’m over my head here, but that’s why it’s terrific that there’s this little community.

One thing I hadn’t taken into consideration is where Jay is located: I looked at Lowe’s website, and due to my living in Michigan, it seems that the cost of the same lumber compared to where Jay lives in California is nearly half the price of what Jay’s is. I figured aside from things like stainless steel countertops and the other frills (e.g. heater, etc.), I could build one relatively cheaper, especially if I scavenged.

What say ye to my novel-length reply?