Palladio’s Escape Cottage
I spotted this incredible little house on Facebook recently. It’s the creation of Ricky Newcomer and a prototype for a prefab building system he’s developing that could be built by a contractor or owner-builder. The cottage you see here is 412 square feet and the shell would cost in the neighborhood of $29,000 to build with new materials. There are several photos so continue reading past these drawings.
Low Cost Shed Example
One of my readers, Rick, sent these photos to me of a small shed/clubhouse he build for son. It’s not the typical kind of tiny house I post on Tiny House Design but it’s an excellent example of how a simple 8′ by 8′ structure can be built for very little money. Except for the corrugated roofing and patio door, which were freebies, Rick built this little shed with a hammer and a hand saw for just $550. Thanks for sharing this Rick!
Tiny Simple House is off the Back Burner
If you’ve been reading Tiny House Design for a while you might remember one of the long term projects I have on a back mental burner is the Tiny Simple House. While simmering back there it’s been transforming from a modified shotgun house to a more flexible yet equally as simple housing solution. The Tiny Simple House will be a low cost and easy to build tiny house design that most amateur owner builders could tackle because of its scale and simplicity. It will also be flexible and customizable to meet a wide range of needs from those of an individual to a family.
In this latest iteration the house begins as a core 12×12x12 box with a gable roof. Inside this space would be a bathroom, kitchen, loft, stairs, and small living area. The owner-builder would then add shed and gable roofed units onto the house to meet the additional space needs. The house could range from a coupe hundred square feet to a several hundred square feet. Continue reading to see a few of the details and configurations. I’ll continue to work on this concept at a more rapid pace and when I’m finished I should be able to offer the complete concept documented in a book. In the mean time enjoy these previews and please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!
Two Sustainable Sheds
Here’s a simple concept that builds on the tiny shed cluster concept. This time instead of four sheds it’s just two 8′ by 12′ sheds connected by a deck. The roofs are setup to collect water and fill one cistern that sits on the south side of the house.
One shed would have a bedroom and tiny bathroom. The other shed would be an open living area with a kitchen along the back 8-foot wall. On the roof would be solar panels for electricity and I’m even thinking of inserting a small trombe wall on each shed’s back wall to provide a fuel-free way to provide heat.
House of Cards -or- DIY Tiny House Kit
After posting the latest design variation for Nine Tiny Feet I got a few requests to make the house more lightweight. This seems like a pretty good idea since that project is really about getting the most value from the least amount of space. Initially I was thinking this only meant square footage but it seems perfectly logical to make it lightweight too. If I could find a way to make it super lightweight nine tiny feet could even be pulled by a bicycle.
But I digress…
These recent reader comments got my brain cooking up ways of building inexpensive ultra-lightweight panel walls. Then on Sunday night a very simple approach to making panels occurred to me. The design below is not for a nine square foot house, although I’m considering something like this for Nine Tiny Feet too. This design is 49 square feet and could be built for about $1200 in new materials, (less if you’re resourceful and scavenge a little).
