I’ve been following the Bear Ridge Project for quite some time. It’s the journal of BigBear, a man who’s been working to find his own path to freedom by leaving a consumer based existence behind for and off-grid sustainable lifestyle. The little 8′ by 10′ cabin pictured here is a little guest cottage he built on his property in southern Colorado. He lives in a larger house that he’s been slowly building and adding onto which is probably several hundred square feet now.
The power for this little cottage comes from a simple stand-alone off-grid system that consists of an old solar panel, battery, charge controller, and inverter. It’s just enough to power some lights and a laptop. The cabin was too small for a wood stove so he’s set up a simple propane heater. The rest of the accommodations include a futon, fold-down desk, some stools, and storage for food and personal items. BigBear’s next project will be a 4′ by 7′ steam hut which will be setup about 20 feet from this cabin.
Above: View from the cottage.
Hi Michael,
I notice that many of the designs and builds seem to forget that the footprint of the design can be maximised by using the wall area more efficiently.
Locate storage space and some of the utility hardware outside the external wall by ‘hanging’ these elements outside of the basic frame, by popping out the spaces from the wall frames. Windows could be made deeper too, the deeper sills can be used as seating/shelving areas. Boilers, water storage (cisterns, header tanks) can also be put ‘outside’ the basic rectangle even in uber cold climates by placing them in suitably placed and insulated pop out cavities. Might make servicing the systems easier too!
Equally the use of lightweight floor/wall/roof elements to create additional living space for when the weather is warmer or for times when visitor numbers demand additional accomodation.
There are a number of way’s to store these and even incorporate them into the overall design say by designing a deck that as well as maintaining the aesthetics and practicalities also allows the space to be returned it’s original footprint.
Regards,
Mark
Mark,
This is actually what I had envisioned. The plan was to hang the bed off the back of the cabin much like a popup camper and push the two big windows out 18 inches making a nice work space. I will try to get to that this spring but needed to use the cabin over the holidays.
BigBear