Underhill is an incredible hobbit-home eco-cave house built into a hillside. The off-the-grid house is cleverly constructed to resemble a cave. With no electricity in the house, the stone, wood and rustic features truly make you feel like you’re stepping back in time.
For more information on this house, visit www.livingbiginatinyhouse.com.
One of the most common questions we get asked is “How do I learn how to build a tiny home?” A very superior answer would be the Yestermorrow School in Waitsfield, Vermont offering over 100 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft including a variety of courses concentrating in sustainable design and green building. Yestermorrow is one of the only design/build schools in the country, teaching both design and construction skills. Hands-on courses are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country.
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Jay Nelson is a gifted artist/builder. His mobile designs were featured in Tiny Homes and Tiny Homes on the Move: an electric car on bike wheels; an 8′ dinghy that you can sleep inside (and carry a surfboard on the roof); a motor scooter with surfboard rack.
What’s surprising is that his carpentry (and building design) are also outstanding. I especially like the way he uses used wood.
This is a treehouse he built on Kaua‘i. It’s not finished (but close).
We don’t mean to brag, but according to Heavy.com, Shelter Publications has two of the top 5 best tiny house books:
The Tiny House Movement is growing rapidly in the United States. There are a lot of cultures around the world who have already discovered the greater simplicity, freedom and happiness that comes from minimizing your “stuff” load and living in a small home. In the U.S., though, the trend for years has been toward McMansions and the “more is more” philosophy: more space, more stuff, more debt, more hours at work, the list can go on and on. The Tiny House Movement provides an outlet and an alternative for people looking to have more creative control over their living spaces and, in turn, their lives. These five books are a good starting place if you are interested in tiny homes and want to learn more, are looking for some inspiration and ideas, or if you are an experienced tiny house dweller or builder.
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Mike Basich is the star builder of our book Tiny Homes, here is a cool video featuring his cabin in the Sierras.
Tiny Texas Houses were featured in our book Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter. Here are examples of more of their work. All materials salvaged. “For us, a Tiny House runs a 160 sq. ft. up to about 750 sq. ft., including the lofts and an insulated back porch. The Teeny Tiny House is generally under that mark on the bottom floor, going as low as 63 sq. ft. Here are a few of the tiniest houses that we have built that are great for a guest house, or for a child living at home that you do not want to become totally independent of the main house. Here are some of my favorite Teeny Tiny Houses that we have created so far.”
In 2007, we got an email from Yogan, a young carpenter in France. He said he’d started out with a Volkswagen van, worked alone, and was following in the footsteps of old carpenters, using “…noble wood.” He had a large Mercedes van that contained his portable tools, as well as a bed and kitchen for working away from his home territory. He’d seen our book Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, and wanted us to see the treehouse he was living in. We featured Yogan in both Tiny Homes and Tiny Homes on the Move. Here’s a new creation from Yogan, a ship-shape elevated 450 sq. ft. tiny home located in France, with a deck shaped like the prow of a ship.
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I’ll be giving a slideshow and talk this Wednesday, Jan. 21 on the garden island of Kaua‘i, discussing our most recent book, Tiny Homes on the Move.
Got friends on Kaua‘i? Let ’em know.
At the Princeville Library, 6 to 7:30.
“…They live and work in this 120 sq. ft. cabin in the mountains of Asheville. Inside you’ll find a storage loft, sleeping loft, open living/dining area, bathroom with composting toilet and manual pump shower, and a kitchen…”
Article at www.tinyhousetalk.com/laura-matts-120-sq-ft-tiny-house-asheville-nc
Video by www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com
“This 11′ by 14′ tiny cabin in the woods was built by carpenter Dave Herrle for only $4,000 in about 6 weeks. He used as much salvaged materials as he could find to complete it and was deeply inspired to create a simple way of life. After graduating from college Dave got a desk job that he did not enjoy. In 2007 he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail when he was 27 years old and it absolutely changed his outlook on life. He knew he had to make some changes. The hike gave him the perspective on living simply that he needed to make a positive change in his life. In his words, ‘It was in the woods that I promised myself that I wouldn’t spend a lifetime doing a job I didn’t enjoy…’ ”
Article at www.tinyhousetalk.com/4k-tiny-cabin
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Another great video from Kirsten Dirksen of Fair Companies on tiny homes:
Deek’s website: www.relaxshacks.blogspot.com
Check out our good pal Deek “Whirlwind” Diedrickson’s latest video:
“…as a tribute to the alpine experience and the famed writer, Swiss studio Bureau A has sited their project ‘Antoine’ within the vast, mountainous expanse of the Alps. commissioned during an artist residency at the Verbier 3D Foundation, the architecture-cum-sculpture is inhabitable and structurally functional, comprising an indoor cabin with a fireplace, bed, table, stool and window. literally hanging on the rock-fall field, the small wooden dwelling hides its internal features within a projected concrete rock, deriving its shape from natural elements in its surrounding environment…”
Article at www.designboom.com/…
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I built a cottage for the local suburban farm outside Cleveland, Ohio. It took 2.5 of us and some weekend volunteers about three months to build. It is 200 square feet plus a bump-out window-bed and a 100-square-foot loft. The round poles and lumber came from the firewood pile on the property. We had an Amish miller come out with his trailer band-saw and slice up the bigger logs into live-edge boards for the ceiling and window bucks.
The walls are insulating clay-straw. The windows came from the local Habitat Restore. The interior is plastered with tinted drywall compound. The floor is local clay and stones sealed with hemp oil. The heat source is a small rocket mass heater. The chimney goes back and forth through the clay floor to heat it and keeps the building warm long after the fire is out.
…We used the clay — excavating to dig a swimming pond just behind the cottage. This summer we will do a two-week cottage building workshop at the same site for anyone who wants to learn how to build their own. Email Info@unclemud.com for more information.
–Chris McClellan
aka Uncle Mud
The thriving tiny home movement is a double-edged sword for companies selling their vision of small living, as it’s tougher than ever to stand out from the crowd. Oregon City–based small home firm Heirloom aims to get noticed with a luxurious off-grid tiny house on wheels that boasts an excellent finish and more amenities that you might expect, considering its size. In addition, an interesting automated house control system that’s controlled via an iOS or Android smartphone will soon be available at extra cost too.
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