Off the Grid (120)

Joaquin and Gypsy's Housetruck

By Evan Kahn on November 7, 2017

Some years ago Joaquin De La Cruz traded his ’48 Triumph motorcycle for this vintage Chevy Flatbed — and with little money, much imagination, and found discards — set about making one of the most unique ever to roll along America’s roads.

For the last five years Joaquin, Gypsy, and their three kids — Heather, Bear, and Serena — have moved around the country and were last seen parked along California’s Feather River…

Categories: House Buses, House Trucks, Nomadic Homes, Vehicles  Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Sauna at Louie Frazier's in Mendocino

By Evan Kahn on November 2, 2017

After losing two saunas to high river water, Louie built this one on a one-ton Toyota truck frame. A pickup plus a few people haul it back from the river in the winter, with Donna steering the front wheels from the inside of the sauna. Woodstove built from 50-gallon drum gets fed from the outside…

Categories: Trailers, Vehicles  Tags: , , , , , ,
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The Spud Queen Built by Lloyd House

By Evan Kahn on October 18, 2017

The Spud Queen was a floating home with three legs, or “spuds” built into it. (Spuds are the legs on pile drivers that are used to raise and lower the pile driver.)

“I’d float in at high tide, jack the boat up, and squat like a trojan horse against the ownership of the property. I parked there and I lived there, and I didn’t pay any taxes!”

Lloyd lived on the boat for over 20 years, docking it in four different places on an island in the Strait of Georgia…

Categories: Boats, Nomadic Homes  Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Cabin on Lake Superior

By Evan Kahn on October 4, 2017

This disused, but still sound, cabin is located in the forest a few yards above Twelve Mile Beach on Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

We have hiked by for many years and it never seems visited. It is truly one of America’s most beautiful wild beaches. You can walk for miles and see no other humans.

–John

Categories: Tiny Homes  Tags: , ,
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Sauna on Haida Gwaii, BC, Built by Colin Doane

By Evan Kahn on September 21, 2017

Note whale jawbone front rafters, big bone door handle.

…That’s one of Colin’s buildings on the land we live on (North Beach, Haida Gwaii). Pictures never really did justice to this sauna, none that I’ve seen anyway.

We were in Victoria on Christmas Day when we got the phone call from our caretaker that the structure had completely burned down. Hard come, easy go…

Categories: Tiny Homes  Tags: , , , , ,
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Bicycle-Powered Tiny House

By Evan Kahn on September 1, 2017


Greatly inspired by the builders of the Pacific Northwest, Phil Reimers wanted to create his own tiny house paradise in Tofino. As an artist with considerable skill in working with wood, Phil was able to capitalize on the incredible resources around him including an abundance of driftwood to build himself an incredible home…

Categories: Bikes, Nomadic Homes, Trailers, Vehicles  Tags: , , , ,
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Alan Beckwith's Homestead

By Evan Kahn on August 18, 2017

…Alan did everything himself: carpentry, plumbing, wiring (solar electricity and hydro), and developed his own water supply. He drives a tractor, maintains several miles of roads, makes beer and wine, and raises pigs and ducks. A lot of people have started homesteads since the 60’s, but seldom have they got as far along as this…

Categories: Carpentry, Farming, Food, Gardening, Homesteading  Tags: , , , , ,
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