It’s a book shelf, a double bed, a sofa, a dinner table, four stools, a work place, a wardrobe, and storage. The whole thing fits in about 43 square feet so from the look of it you could turn any normal bedroom or small space into a workable home. The only thing it’s missing is a bathroom and kitchen, right? Very cool idea. Photo credit Matroshka.

The article spotlights some people who’ve bought these tiny houses and how they are using them as art studios and homes. Photo credit to statesman.com, read the original article.

Ironically I was talking with a journalist the other day about tiny houses and a thought popped out of my head that mobility might become a real asset in our even troubled economy. I know I for one would feel the need to move if I were laid off. There aren’t too many good web designer and online marketing jobs in the Sacramento area. But with a tiny house I could theoretically keep my house in Sacramento and park a tiny house in the silicon valley a few days a week if I had to. It would be rough but it could work if times got that tough. But I digress…

Good luck to Hillary and Michael on your move to San Diego. I’m sure we’ll be able to follow your continuing adventure on thistinyhouse.com. Photo credit Hillary and Michael.

In his 50’s Dick Proenneke decided to spend some of his retirement in the wilderness. He chose a place called Twin Lakes in Alaska and in 1968 built a log cabin using nothing but hand tools. It was about 11′ by 15′. It had glass windows, hand-made wood door hinges, and hand-made furniture including a desk, chairs, bunk, and tables. He even built a stone and mortar fireplace to make it through the cold Alaskan winters.

Initially he planned to stay only a year or so but ended up staying 30 years. From time to time he’d travel back to civilization to spend time with family but continued to call his remote cabin home. In 1995 at age 82 he decided that the -50 °F winters were just too much and decided to live out the rest of his life with his brother in California. Dick Proenneke died on April 28, 2003 and left his cabin to the park service who now maintains it as a historic site and popular visitor attraction.

He also documented his life in film, photography, and writings. When filming himself he’d place the camera in a secure spot while he performed the task he wanted to record. This meant he also captured clips of himself walking and canoeing to and from the camera.

I realize this post is a bit off topic, except for the cabin and lifestyle, but I thought I’d share it with you on this first weekend in November. It’s a really inspiring story and stories like these can really help when times seem like they are getting tough. Don’t you think?

• Download the free eBook (50 MB): More Readings From One Man’s Wilderness
• Buy the DVD at Amazon.com: Alone in the Wilderness
• More about Dick Proenneke on the Lake Clark National Park & Reserve website.

Photo credit to the Park Service.

The back story is that there is a group of people that live in the coastal mountain range west of the Silicon Valley just south of San Francisco. The area is extremely expensive to live in due to all the technology money. If you search the area using Zillow.com you’ll find few homes in the hills under a million dollars.

But these folks did something pretty smart. They got together and bought a piece of property with an existing large home and then bought 8 tiny houses from Bill. Much of this story has already been told by Bill at the Tiny House Society Yahoo Group and Kent will fill us in on the rest of the story in his next post on the trip. So I won’t go into too much detail now.

But the short version is… Bill has been building and delivering tiny houses to this community one at a time. The drive is usually a couple hours drive down highway 101 depending on traffic, although Kent shared with me that it was an all day affair and took them about five hours to get there. Yesterday’s trip was number 7 of 8 so Bill will make at least one more trip with one more house.

The folks that ordered these tiny houses value their privacy but I’m hoping they will share how they did it. This is a great example of a tiny house village actually being built right in the middle of an area tightly controlled by zoning rules. If we could learn how they did it, a lot of doors might open for a lot of people hoping to do the same thing. Photo credit Kent Griswold.

It’s occupies the same foot print but looks a bit more like a little house and less like a trailer. The bedroom end is a full 8 feet wide. The living room section is narrower, 7 feet. The extra foot is used to break up the box visually and to provide a little space for a fold-up porch roof and fold-down porch deck.

While on the move the porch would be folded in and the trailer would still be less than 8 feet wide. When folded out it would make the house look less trailer-like and provide some exterior space. I’ve drawn the porch to be 48″ deep by I think you could go to 72″ easily.

The wheels created a bit of a challenge. There would need to be a cut-out for them in the porch floor. I placed a window above the wheels to give the home owner the easier way of hiding the wheels and hole by hanging a window box of similar camouflage below the window which would help disguise the wheels on the porch side of the house.

I have no idea how much cost the more complex roof would add. I also realize that the square footage is compromised slightly for a mostly aesthetic solution, but I think it’s worth it. I suspect aesthetics play an important role for most people when choosing to buy one house over another. This would actually explain why Jay Shafer’s designs are so popular; and as long as form follows function why can’t a home be utilitarian as well as attractive.

Anyway this was a fun little diversion. If anyone has any suggestions or comments please post them. It’s great to hear new ideas.

In fact their homestead is so productive they actually have a food surplus taht they sell to local restaurants and caterers. The homestead has become so successful financially that they can invest in technologies such as solar panels and a bio-diesel processor. On the to-do list is the installation of a grey water system, composting toilet, and rain water collection system.

This is a really inspiring story right from America’s front yard and an inspiration to anyone looking to find a way to make the most from what you have. I also realize that this is sort of off topic, from tiny house design, but I knew many people would see the tie in and appreciate the quick post.

Take a look for yourself. Their website can be found at pathtofreedom.com.

I was going to wait to write a post on Gaviotas until after I read the book but this was just too good to keep under my hat. Once I finish the book I’ll write again and report on what I find. I suspect there will be a bunch of good ideasfor those looking to build tiny house communities and eco-villages. The latest edition has a lot of good reviews on Amazon and it was just updated this year with a section on the progress they’ve made over the last ten years.

On Amazon: Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World–10th Anniversary Edition

Also see Friends of Gaviotas

It was built by designers Flo Florián and Sascha Akkermann, who also run a website called confused-direction. It’s got a green roof, produces no emissions, and is made from a lot of reclaimed materials. It really inspires me to reconsider an alternative roof line for my tiny free house. Also find more details on this tiny house boat at Schwimmhausboot. If you can’t read German try this translated link instead. Photo credit to Flo Florián and Sascha Akkermann.