Posts by Evan Kahn (433)

Margaret's Cabin Built by Jan Janzen

By Evan Kahn on August 17, 2018

This little cabin was built almost entirely from a cedar tree that had been lying nearby. Framing, flooring, shakes. Maybe that’s what makes the building so harmonious. Jan had told me this and, as I was climbing around inside and out shooting photos, I had a vision of a tree, a solid chunk of wood, cut up rearranged, and expanded to make this cozy place…

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Categories: Carpentry  Tags: , , , ,
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SunRay Kelley’s Two-Story Treehouse in the Woods

By Evan Kahn on August 9, 2018

The structure of the tree house is a two-story wooden yurt with the roof supported by a web of small branches and spiraling cedar boards. The walls are cedar and hand-plastered, tinted, gypsum over drywall.

Categories: Small Homes  Tags: , ,
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Electrician Builds Off-Grid Van to Surf the World

By Evan Kahn on August 8, 2018

Imagine waking up each day in a stunning new location, stepping outside your home, grabbing your surf board and hitting the waves. Kiwi electrician Johnny Johnston is living that dream, traveling and working all over New Zealand while hunting down the countries best surfing locations all in his converted van.

Johnny’s van is completely self contained, with toilet, kitchen, living area, bed and of course stunning and ever changing views. As an electrician he has installed an impressive solar system in the van to keep his adventures powered up and to help make his van home regardless of where it’s parked up…

Categories: Nomadic Homes, Vans, Vehicles  Tags: , , ,
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Mike & Sierra’s Home in the California Foothills

By Evan Kahn on August 6, 2018

All the buildings were built in the late ‘60s and had been vacant for years (there were lots of mice), so we gutted the house. When we tore out the walls and ceilings, we discovered that the house was eight-sided — an octagon. Which was so fitting for me, since my last small home was a pentagon.

–Mike Basich

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Chasing a Lost Sea in a Covered Wagon

By Evan Kahn on August 4, 2018

Chasing a Lost Sea in a Covered Wagon:
A Man, a Mule, a 21-square-foot Home. by Bernie Harberts.

I chose to travel by mule because it would allow me to voyage at the pace best suited to observing and socializing: the speed of walking. For this, I needed a tiny, movable home, small and light enough to be towed by one mule, but large enough to allow me a place to sleep, cook, film, photograph and write up my field notes.

Categories: Nomadic Homes, Trailers  Tags:
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Looking for Contributors for Our New Book: Hit the Road, Jack

By Evan Kahn on August 1, 2018

Photo by Kaya Lindsay

We are doing a book on adventure rigs, and we are looking for custom trucks, vans, cars, and trailers that you use for adventuring around the world.

Would you like to be a part of the book? Please send Evan an email with a little information on your rig — as well as a picture — to evan@shelterpub.com.

  • Pictured above is Kaya Lindsay and her beautiful Sprinter van, check out her Instagram, webpage and YouTube channel.
Categories: House Buses, House Trucks, Pickups with Campers, Trailers, Vans, Vehicles  Tags: , ,
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Categories: Carpentry, Tiny Homes  Tags: ,
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Timber Home Along Canada’s Sunshine Coast

By Evan Kahn on July 20, 2018

This home was built by Marlin Hanson (@hanson_land_and_sea) with Douglas fir logs from adjacent land that were milled onsite. Marlin is a marine construction carpenter and he utilized the strong construction methods used in building piers for framing this home.

This home is featured in our book Small Homes: The Right Size on page 36.

Categories: Carpentry, Small Homes  Tags: ,
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Shelter, the Classic

By Evan Kahn on July 19, 2018

With over 1,000 photographs, Shelter is a classic celebrating the imagination, resourcefulness, and exuberance of human habitat. It includes a history of shelter and the evolution of building types: tents, yurts, timber buildings, barns, small homes, domes, etc.

There is a section on building materials, including heavy timber ­construction and stud framing, as well as stone, straw bale, adobe, ­plaster, and bamboo. The spirit of the ’60s counterculture is evident, and the emphasis is on creating your own shelter (or space) with your own hands. A joyful, ­inspiring book.

To purchase go to www.shelterpub.com/….

By Lloyd Kahn and Bob Easton

Categories: Carpentry, Design, Homesteading, Small Homes, Tiny Homes  Tags: ,
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Off-Grid Cabin in Paradise

By Evan Kahn on July 16, 2018


Hidden away deep in the Baton Valley, nestled amongst the imposing mountain ranges of the Kahurangi National Park is a tiny, off-the-grid cabin which looks as though it could have sat there for hundreds of years.

Named the Honeywell hut, a tribute to its builder Jack Honeywell, this historic-looking cabin is the pride and joy of its owners Richard and Fiona, who constructed this unique getaway as an escape for themselves, as well as to help provide additional accomodation for their horse trekking business…

Categories: Tiny Homes  Tags: ,
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