I was shooting photos of the old one and Louie said, “Hey, the one across the street is identical.” Sure enough. Twins. On the ocean side of the highway in Fort Bragg.
Derek “Deek” Diedricksen is a self-proclaimed lover of all things tiny home. The Massachusetts-based builder is the author of numerous tiny home books; organizer of tiny home building and design workshops around the country; and has been featured on more than one HGTV series and the DIY Network. His latest book, Microshelters, features 59 of the country’s most creative small structures — cabins, tree houses, stilted shelters, backyard huts, and tiny homes on wheels.
The Conestoga Hut uses minimal materials, is simple to build, and provides durable shelter well suited to the Pacific Northwest climate. The Conestoga Hut emphasizes keeping people dry and secure.
They range from a 238-square-foot backyard cabin you can rent on Airbnb to a 135-square-foot trailer on wheels that one couple is driving across the country for a year. Read More …
I built a hut with a tiled roof, underfloor heating and mud and stone walls. This has been my most ambitious primitive project yet and was motivated by the scarcity of permanent roofing materials in this location. Here, palm thatch decays quickly due to the humidity and insects. Having some experience in making pottery I wondered if roof tiles could feasibly be made to get around these problems. Another advantage of a tiled roof is that it is fireproof. A wood-fired, underfloor heating system was installed for cold weather. A substantial wall of mud and stone were built under the finished roof. It should be obvious that this is not a survival shelter but a project used to develop primitive technological skills.
The first part of the complete reorganization of our “social media” is now up and running: shelterpub.tumblr.com. To start, we’ve posted 10 photos from our building books. This was set up by Sean Hellfritsch. Tumblr will be our photography platform.
We have over 7,000 photos in our 6 building books, and I have something like 15,000 photos (film and digital) dating back to the ’60s, maybe a third of them on building(s).
We are currently working on redesign of my blog, The Shelter Blog (this blog), Twitter and Facebook pages, Shelter’s website, and getting Instagram rolling.
With all this going on, I’m not posting very often these days, but I intend to get rolling with Instagram soon, and coordinate my Instagram photos with this blog.
The size of your home has a tremendous influence on your cost of living, environmental impact, and general well-being. The demand for space-efficient housing continues to grow exponentially as people of all ages discover that a smaller home might be the key to a larger life.
That’s why leading designers, builders, developers, realtors, policy makers and community members will gather for the Build Small Live Large 2015, a unique, one-day housing summit, to share what’s working, what’s new, and what’s next. Alan Durning from the Sightline Institute and tiny house pioneer Dee Williams will lead off the day with inspiring keynote speeches about how building small can lead to broader community action and how positive change really does begin at home.
Join us to learn how to build and rent out a backyard apartment, see successful examples of cottage clusters and small house communities, and become inspired by space-efficient and energy-efficient designs. End the day with an energizing look at the beautiful and inventive small spaces in the “Best of Small” Design Slam, and network with pioneering builders and designers of small houses throughout the event! Find out more at: Build Small Live Large Summit 2015.
–Dee Williams
Portland Alternative Dwellings
Build the life you dream … TODAY!
In 1973 we published Shelter, which turned out to be station central for people interested in creating their own homes. Now, in the 21st century, we continue this dialog here online on shelter, carpentry, homesteading, gardening, and the home arts with this blog. We hope you will join us and contribute.
