I met Cyrus while we were working on our book Tiny Homes on the Move. He is a talented filmmaker, surfer, traveler, van hacker and an all-around awesome person. He is in the midst of a new van build using a dually diesel Dodge Sprinter van and chronicling the journey for Reef.
I first moved into a van 10 years ago. It was a practical decision. I’d been commissioned to make a 16mm surf documentary and failed to negotiate a living wage for myself during the three years it took to make it. This oversight had me surviving on cans of kidney beans and needing a rent-free place to sleep while I traveled between Australia and Los Angeles shooting and editing…
This is an incredible resource. Richard Harris, English architect, former director of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex, and longtime friend, sent this link to early shepherd’s caravans. This led me to explore some of the other links at this incredible website.
[Inadequately translated from French by Google Translate. Got a better one from “Roulotte No 7” here?]
This shepherd’s cabin trailer is preserved at the National Sheepfold of Rambouillet near Paris, where it was presented to the public at an exhibition in 2010. It consists of a small house with two gutter and two gears joined boards under a gable roof, house that sits on two parallel rails extending to the front of the machine in the form of two arms between which articulates a metal wheel on an axle.
Two iron hooks attached on top of the two arms were to be used to tow the vehicle. Another fixed axle with two wheels in iron, is located under the rear part of the cabin, freeing enough room in front to accommodate an entrance closed by a door hinged on the left against the forearm. This gate is formed of contiguous vertical boards fixed on two large horizontal cross. The roof seems to be covered with waterproof canvas.
On the wall of the front sprocket is fixed a sort of open storage box on the front. one notes the presence of the nearest spar of the observer, two rings, one on the front and one on the back: without hold they used to tie the dogs.
I met Jeremy a few months ago in Bolinas, meeting young talented builders is probably my favorite part about working with Shelter. Jeremy’s attention to detail is on par with master carpenters twice his age. Here are a few words and builds by Jeremy.
Hi Evan,
Just got your message on Instagram and thought I’d share some photos of my projects with you.
The first two are custom pickup truck campers. I drove one out to Bolinas last year.
The other is a 1961 Winnebago trailer remodel in Colorado.
My latest project is a tiny home on wheels, currently under construction in Sonoma county. The tiny home is still several months away from completion. I will send more photos of that one when it is finished. Hope to have a website up and running by then as well.
This looks like a charming little cabin. And it is … but it’s so much more than that. Trust me.
If you think that what you see below is just an adorable log cabin, you’d be dead wrong. Sure, it looks like a quaint cabin (in almost every way) but thanks to some sneaky architecture that’s just a disguise. Kelly Davis, the architect who created this faux-cabin at Canoe Bay Escape, is a visual trickster (and quite possibly a magician)…
This is our funny USA building in Humboldt County. Menthé and I built it in about 10 days.
We used old first-growth cedar for the frame and old yellow shakes for the roof. The timber is a mix between French and American techniques; the low wall in shingles and the high wall in colombage. The roof is curved like the “Philibert Delorme roof”; we didn’t use a lot of wood to make the curve because we screwed the inside of the plank on to the top of the curve, a cheap beautiful technique.
The upper little roof is where you can watch from the bedroom mezzanine — just for fun. The gypsy Dodge does not have a motor, so it needs to be moved with a tractor on the property. It’s a friend’s bedroom, 6 ft. high!!!!!!
This is my friend Travis in Olympia. He made this trailer for $7,000. He lives in it full time so he can move it when he wants. He is an excellent wood carver as well as a metalworker.
Tiny home may not be much but it could mean the world to some.
“If you ride along in Wheeling, you see a bunch of homeless people. In the winter time I’m sure they are freezing and I know the Salvation Army helps but I know some of these people want their own home,” said Howard Scott, owner of Scott’s Home Construction in Wheeling.
The average tiny home measures 8 feet by 20 feet and comes equipped with a loft for a bed. The humble abode Scott’s Home Construction plans to build would be energy-efficient, meaning it would be cost-efficient — perfect for their target clients.
I met Mike B. when we started working on the Tiny Homes and Tiny Homes on the Move books. Amazing builder, snowboarder, traveller. This guy does it all, one of the most inspiring people I know. Here is a newly released video by GoPro and him detailing the build and trip to Alaska.
John’s house truck was featured earlier this year when Tiny House – Giant Journey came across John and his house truck in southern CA. My friend Jesse who lives on the Mendocino coast had photographed him the other week and told me John and his truck were coming my way. Here are a few pics of the exterior while he was in Bolinas (was not able to get inside at the time.) Read More …
My name is Erin, and I live on this boat, Jenny, outside Bristol in Southwest England. I am a printmaker and relocated here about a year ago. The boat is about 6 feet wide by 42 feet long, around 300 square feet of interior space. There is a real sense of community in houseboat living; we all look out for each other.
–Erin MacAirt
This is Sneak Preview #6 from our forthcoming book, Small Homes, to be published in October, 2016.
I fall in love with buildings from time to time. It happened again last week when I spotted this little Airstream. Everything looked right. Bambis are single-axle, lightweight (3,000 lbs.), superbly designed tiny homes. New ones start at $44,000. (Ouch, yes, but how much do homes cost these days?)
It’s brilliant inside. There’s kitchen, bath, 2 beds, table with benches. Spacious-feeling even though it’s less than 8′ wide, around 110 sq. ft. interior space. The interior of this one was designed by architect Christopher Deam in conjunction with Airstream. (There are wonderful architects in this world.) Read More …
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.
