Whittled Down – Adventures in a Covered Wagon
Libby and Tristan build this tiny covered wagon on a shoestring and have now completed the finishing touches, now they can really begin to enjoy their tiny house adventure. Their plan is to move to New England after living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for some time. You’re catching them at the beginning of their cross-country trek.
The house is built to be light enough to be towed by a small car with a 1000-pound tow limit. It sits on a 4′ by 8′ trailer and has a canvas covered roof. This should work well while the weather is warm but they have not ruled out a future winterizing modifications.
You’ll notice a lot of nice design touches like the dutch door, solar panel on the roof, ample storage, simple solar shower, and cat comfort zone.
I first read about this project on Tiny House Blog.
Be sure to see all the tour photos at Whittled Down.
CLEAR VILLAGE Call For Entries
I must admit I was a little disappointed to see so few tiny homes in the list of finalists for the Design It: Shelter Competition. It just seemed like a perfect opportunity for tiny houses to emerge; although I admit I didn’t make time to draw up an entry so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
Luckily next Wednesday, September 23rd 2009, is the extended entry deadline for another design competition called CLEAR VILLAGE. The challenge is to come up with an ideal vision of a sustainable village. While I have a lot on plate right now, the House for Khayelitsha and Simple Panelized Shelter plans are nearly complete; so I should be able to whip up a tiny house village design for this upcoming competition.
In the mean time read more about the competition at Inhabitat and the CLEAR VILLAGE website. Photo credit wikipedia commons.
Just in case you’re curious about the photo… it’s Taos Pueblo and will be the inspiration for my CLEAR VILLAGE entry. The community has been continually inhabited for 1000 years. This particular structure was probably built between 1000 and 1450 A.D and is still the home of 150 people. You can learn more about this extremely sustainable village on their official website and wikipedia.
Tiny Adobe Casita
Three months out of the year this is the home of Samuel Gray. This adobe casita located near Abiquiu, NM and in just a few years will be Sam’s full-time residence. It measures 12′ by 10′ on the exterior but due to the thick adobe walls has only about 86 interior square feet. He built it for less than $3000 and it’s powered by a simple low cost photovoltaic solar system. Continue and read about this Adobe Casita in Sam’s own words. There are more photos too.
