Jay Shafer is the Godfather of the modern tiny house movement. I say the modern movement, because for the vast majority of human history, we have lived in small, simple shelters. It was almost 20 years ago that Jay designed and built his first 90-square-foot (8m²) tiny house on wheels and that moment sparked the very beginning of the tiny house movement and a trend towards reclaiming the human right to affordable simple shelter.
The affordability factor is a big one. In recent years, we have watched the average price of a tiny house on wheels creep up as the movement grows, more builders get involved and the spec of tiny homes ever increases. It’s not uncommon for a tiny house on wheels to now cost over $100,000 (US) – still a relatively tiny price tag compared to the cost of a “normal” house in some areas, however still a price too far out of reach for many.
We are having a sale on Tiny Homes! Come take a trip with us through the world of tiny houses. See firsthand the current trend in scaling back, reducing living expenses, and escaping bank mortgages or high rents.
There’s a grassroots movement in building smaller homes these days. The real estate collapse, the economic downturn, and the growing scarcity of resources, have caused a sea change in thinking about shelter. Here are some 150 builders who have created tiny homes (under 500 sq. ft.).
Homes on land, homes on wheels, homes on the road, homes on water, and homes in the trees. There are also studios, saunas, garden sheds, and greenhouses.
Here is a rich variety of small homemade shelters, with 1,300 photos, along with stories of people who have chosen to provide their own roofs overhead.
We recently had Dr. Chris Ryan over to record an episode of Chris’ podcast Tangentially Speaking. Click the iTunes link below to hear Lloyd discuss his life, what got him into building, publishing books, and what’s up next for Shelter Publications.
Chris Ryan is an author, podcaster, world traveler, and an all-around amazing guy. Check out his bestselling book Sex at Dawn; look for his next book coming out next year called Civilized to Death.
“The Flying Tortoise is a 1977 KD Bedford bus built in New Zealand by Hawke Coach Builders. Originally it was used in forestry areas to carry work gangs to remote bush sites, built high off the ground and with a short wheelbase for tight turning, there’s hardly a hill it can’t climb, and with its off-road tires, it’s almost a ‘Go Anywhere Vehicle.’”
Chasing a Lost Sea in a Covered Wagon:
A Man, a Mule, a 21-square-foot Home. by Bernie Harberts.
I chose to travel by mule because it would allow me to voyage at the pace best suited to observing and socializing: the speed of walking. For this, I needed a tiny, movable home, small and light enough to be towed by one mule, but large enough to allow me a place to sleep, cook, film, photograph and write up my field notes.
“The treehouse was designed as a collaborative effort between Green Line Architects’ principal, Stephen A. Novy, AIA, and David of David Rasmussen Design.” (p. 150)
The entire structure is built with salvaged material.
…The theme of our eco-resort has always been Adirondack Style, which translates to “built with time and no money.” Our resort is surrounded 56,000 acres of New York State Forest lands and each year we renew our contract with the state to harvest “dead and down trees.” It’s like building structures in the middle of Mother Nature’s lumberyard.
The newest edition is The Sugar Shack, nestled in the wilderness, but with homey conveniences. The floor plan is 12′ × 16′, and includes a bedroom/living room, kitchenette, gravity-fed spring shower, composting toilet, and a cozy fireplace…
Montana Mobile Cabins is a family-owned-and-operated family business located in Whitehall, Montana. The cabins we produce are not kits. We build your cabin on our site and transport the completed cabin to your site.
Each cabin we build is as unique as its owner, because the owner actually helps design the cabin. Individual preferences and the unique coloring of our hand peeled logs make for a truly “one-of-a-kind” cabin…
…Walls are cob and straw bales, structurally bonded (“BaleCob”). Almost all of the materials are either from the site — the ground under our feet, or snatched from the commercial waste stream. The foundation is “urbanite” (recycled sidewalks), most wood is unmilled roundwood or is reused…
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…
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.
