SunRay Kelley continues to invent, design, and build a plethora of buildings and vehicles. I asked SunRay and Bonnie to send us the latest, and here are videos of his campers and electric reclining bike. I don’t know of any vehicle that combines diesel, solar, and electric power like the RV shown at the right.
SunRay was featured in our books Builders of the Pacific Coast and Tiny Homes.
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Photo shot in San Rafael, Calif. by Dave Covey
Bobby Heffelfinger created this rolling art studio in West Marin county, California, on a 2013 Ford F-350 truck with mostly recycled materials (left over from various building projects). He started with the truck chassis and built a flatbed with 2 × 2 steel square stock.
It’s immaculately built. It’s framed with 2 × 2 fir studs. Siding is 1 × 4 tongue-and-groove cedar. Curved rafters were cut out of fir 2 × 12’s. Roof sheathing is 1 × 6 redwood tongue-and-groove.
It’s 8 feet wide by 14 feet long. Inside, it’s 7 feet to the top of the arch. The roof is 18-gauge copper with standing seams. Windows were built out of redwood from an old water tank.
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“Imagine living in a place with your possessions, all within a 232-square-foot house. For one thing, you’ll probably need a lot fewer possessions. But Denise Ryals, who builds tiny homes with her husband, Tommy, said a buyer can pack their possessions — and the house itself — and drive it anywhere…”
Article at www.macon.com/…
www.hummingbirdhousing.com
“All models of the Portable Cedar Cabins are custom-built. We will work with your budget to build the cabin of your dreams. All models have a beautiful pine interior with a rich cedar siding. The models are from 144 to 400 square feet. Up to 400 square feet, the cabins are considered a park model or an RV. All Portable Cedar Cabins are inspected and certified like an RV and you will be given a vin number. If you want a custom-made unit beyond 400 square feet, it is no longer considered an RV. Please refer to the Workhouse Model if you want a larger, custom-built cedar cabin. Dave can also build cedar cabins on skids…”
www.tinyportablecedarcabins.com
Sent to us by Janet Thome
“It only cost the Morrisons $22,000 to build their dream home. They now live mortgage-free, which has improved the quality of their life and the closeness of their marriage. Thanks to a brilliant design, this 207 sq. ft. space feels much bigger on the inside. The Morrisons have everything they need. There’s a spacious kitchen, with an oven, fridge, and sink. Definitely no lack of counter and shelf space here! They also included a reading area and an office desk that doubles as a dining table. Under the stairs to the loft is a big ‘closet.’ Not a single inch is wasted.”
Article at news.distractify.com/abby-s-marino/itty-bitty-house
Stefan’s home measures just 215 square feet and his main aim when building it was to create a comfortable home while keeping the building costs down. While the home is sustainable, Stefan does not consider himself a dedicated greenie or tree hugger. He simply did what he had to given the circumstances. Repurposing materials to create a home is at the heart of any sustainable living endeavor. The tiny home recently built by Stefan Cook of A Biggish Tiny House is a prime example of repurposing and salvaging building materials done right. He’s a resident of Christchurch, New Zealand, which experienced devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Stefan salvaged the materials left behind by the devastation to build his own tiny home and recently gave a tour of it at Living Big in a Tiny House.
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This amazing transforming house truck, created by New Zealanders Justin and Jola, compacts into a street-legal truck (with turrets). Once parked, the house truck completely folds out, expands immensely, and transforms into a fantasy castle.
The truck in its compact, ready-to-roll form
The prolific Jay Nelson has just completed a new vehicle. Jay’s nomadic creations are in both Tiny Homes and Tiny Homes on the Move. Here’s how he describes his latest:
Golden Gate 2, named after the last electric camper I built, Golden Gate 1. It’s a car camper made with salvaged wood and bike parts. It has a 90″ × 42″ footprint. Sink, water tank, stove, cooler. The entire inside is a bed.
Peter Pavlowich’s Casual Turtle Campers were featured in TINY HOMES ON THE MOVE. He’s just built a new teardrop camper model: The Hatchling.
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Peter and Donna Thomas were featured in our book Tiny Homes on the Move with their gypsy wagon. They recently sent us this photo and caption of their vintage streetcar:
Tiny home campsite made with our 1926 converted Melbourne W-2 streetcar as living room.
See YouTube for more about the trolley:
–Peter Thomas
In 1988 I bought a 4-cylinder, 5-speed Tacoma 4×4 with the Xtra cab (meaning a 6′ bed). Then in 2003, I got a new one, same model. The engine is a bit gutless going up long hills, but will run forever.
By this time I knew exactly what I wanted:
A metal camper shell made by Tradesman in Winters, Calif. It opened on all three sides, was way stronger than plastic shells. I bought an aluminum rack from Hauler Racks. It came disassembled via UPS and I bolted it together and mounted it. It rests on the truckbed sides, not on the camper roof.
At Campway’s in Santa Rosa, Calif., I got the inside of the bed sprayed with a waterproof membrane to protect the metal. Also a “carpet kit,” with storage boxes along the sides and sliding middle panels inside the bed.
You can see the pull-out drawer and side storage boxes. I shot this photo on Hornby Island, BC on one of my four trips to Canada shooting photos for Builders of the Pacific Coast. I remember one afternoon collecting oysters way out on a reef (beyond the commercial guys and cooking them for dinner on a beach fire with aluminum-foil-clad potatoes, red wine, AND blackberries with …(ahem)… heavy cream and brown sugar.
I never mounted the rooftop tent. I bought a used pull-out canopy which is great for Baja surfing, sets up in a few minutes as opposed to 45 min. for the flea market tarp. On camper roof: Yakima Rocket Box, surfboard rack. I slept inside when it was raining or really cold, otherwise outside.
This is a fantastic setup for desert travel; the 4×4 will get you just about anywhere. A 4×4 van is another option, but costs about twice as much.
I can take the camper shell off (four quick-release clamps) to haul straw, topsoil, gravel, etc.
(Interesting factoid: The Toyota Hi-Lux trucks, beefed-up Tacomas, and mounted with machine guns, were used in the Iran-Iraq war and more recently by Afghani rebels.)
Sent to us by David Wills
Jake and Kiva have produced a YouTube series of construction videos documenting a tiny home build on Vancouver Island. The videos follow their tiny house project, from early design to completion and beyond showing materials, tools, and construction techniques. A 3D Google Sketchup plan is also available as a free download.
Check out their videos below:
In this episode, we introduce ourselves and catch you up on what we’ve done so far.
In this episode, we talk about the trailer that we have acquired for the project, why we chose it, and the process we went through to get it.
I thought you might get a kick out of this “Hippy Shack” I built on the back of a 1988 Toyota pickup. I use it as my ski chalet. It has a 7-foot-long ski locker and a heated boot locker. A domed skylight provides passive solar heat, but it also has a propane heater and a wood-burning stove.… Also a sink and a stove with an oven. Read More …
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