# The Tiny House Movement



## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

Forgive me if there are already a thousand threads started with this topic.

I absolutely love tiny houses. I am curious how many of you are fascinated by them as well?

I would so love to learn to build one someday.


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## nailbanger2 (Oct 17, 2009)

Do you mean small scale models, or like doll houses? BTW, Cricket, I believe you are the one to thank for fixing LumberJocks, so, THANK YOU!


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

This?


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

It's a pleasure to meet you, nailbanger2. I am referring to tiny houses (small scale houses) like you see here.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

Yes, like that DKV.


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

Neat little houses Cricket. The price seams crazy in my opinion at 57k.


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

TravisH, I have talked to people on Facebook who built their own almost entirely out of reclaimed materials.


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

I think it would be a blast to build something like that. Reclaimed materials would be great for a lot of it. Good examples for sure in the link just was shocked at the sticker price.

Did a little google searching and they look even more fun to build now. Nothing appears to be too difficult about it at all. It will be interesting to see if anyone here has built one.


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## CANDL (Sep 18, 2010)

It doesn't move about …. but this one looks tremendous : http://lumberjocks.com/projects/87939

I am going to build one of these as an out building for storage….. the curved roof rafters will be intersting.


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

I think it would be neat to make one some day too. I've seen ad before where you can get a mobile home for next to nothing, sometimes for free if it's damaged. All I would really need to start is a chassis, beyond that, a lot of time!


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## Maggiepic (Aug 26, 2010)

A local building company tried to have these as another option for clients but it went nowhere. So many local ordinances will not allow any home to be built that is less than 1000 sq ft. Probably why they are on trailers…i.e. a camper.
It is a neat concept for those that could live a simple needs type of lifestyle.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Well, with the prices ($400,000) I have seen some people pay for 200 sq. ft. apartments in NY they look like bargains.
I would love to have one at the river or a lake.
But if it was our only house I would still need at least a 400 sq. ft. shop near by.
I think my wife would complain if my shop was twice as big as our house.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Are we talking about "Colorado" houses or whut"? There seems to be a disconnect. Less than a mile from me 10×20 sheds can be had for $3,000. Are we talking homes for the mechanically inept?...

I do understand that there are a number of Nor'Easter's and the like on LJs, but give me a break! Even THEY should have at least some mechanical skills… right? So just who is pullin' our leg then?...


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

Pulling your leg? I wasn't recommending the company to build tiny houses. I was simply expressing my fascination with the idea of them. You can see more ideas doing a Google image search.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Cricket,
I wholeheartedly support what you are saying, being and old Park Ranger and minimalist! I think the idea is great, I just do not think it has to cost and arm and a leg to accomplish same. Being an old subscriber to "Mother Earth News" from the '60s this WAS how it was done!


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

If you are here, then you are capable of building it. First search for plans for such a building and then build it. We're always here to answer questions. Do a blog on it and you'll get more "helpful" suggestions than you ever knew you wanted. If you are located near any of us, we might show up and give you lots of moral support.


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

HorizontalMike, I couldn't agree more. I would much prefer to build it over time with reclaimed materials.

Monte Pittman, I have no doubt in my mind that it is something I will be able to do one day. Right now I simply have too many things on my plate so it is hanging around in my dream file for the moment.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

If you're helping run this site then you have plenty to do. Hope you are enjoying what you are seeing.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Cricket Walker, at one time in my life I was homeless and lived in a van with a bed in the back and a 44 gallon barrel which I had converted to a wood stove with the chimney sticking out the roof of my van. That was in Alaska. I used to go to work and on the way, I would stop and pick up chunks of wood on the side of the road to stay warm at night. I would put the wood in the stove, get a fire going and drive at about 30 miles an hour to create enough draft to get the fire roaring before I parked the van and went to sleep. The tourist would follow me all over the place just for a picture. When I got back on my feet, and continued following my dreams, built a home for my family and kept on going. If you are interested, here is how I built my humble home: 
http://www.earthartandfoods.com/loghome.html
P.S. I will never forget my homeless times, not because it was so bad, but because it was so free.


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## Vincent (Mar 10, 2009)

Count me in. Always had a fascination with smaller houses, especially small bungalows from the Arts & Crafts period. I had a McMansion is California at one time and couldn't wait to be rid of it. Also am very interested in kit homes like Aladdin and Gordon Van-Tine. A pile of lumber and all of the trimmings delivered to your lot with a set of instructions. Wouldn't it be great?


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

mrjinx007, thank you for sharing the story behind your home. I enjoyed reading it and seeing the pictures throughout the process.


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## basswood (Dec 18, 2013)

I built this garden shed out of mostly salvaged materials









several people have told me they would like to live there:


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

Small houses are pretty cool, depending on your lifestyle. I've recently seen a 9000+ Sq Ft house offered up as a prize, locally. 4 BR, 3 bath or so. Talk about conspicuous consumption. I have about the same with less than 1/4th the area, and would like the shop to be bigger than the house.

BTW, when I first saw your name, I thought that you had some really small leashes leading to those crickets, while walking them. No offense meant, as it probably isn't the first time you've heard it.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

The kids in vermont went truly tiny.
That is a bit TOO tiny for my tastes - especially with a family - just 70 square feet on a 5X8 trailer. But it is pretty high tech
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/02/11/high-tech-meets-low-tech-in-tiny-house-movement/?intcmp=features


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

For under 300 USD this could be yours!


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## wseand (Jan 27, 2010)

when I was young we stayed outside all day and it didn't really matter what size the house was. 
Since then I lived in many many different places, even a camper shell for a while before going off to Basic training. I have to say the smaller the places I lived it seemed I enjoyed the most, probably because i spent most of my time outside the home. Now I live in a 4 bedroom house and only 1 of them is used for living in. I could probably get away with a 800 SF house easily and triple the size of my shop instead.

All that BS aside I like the little places but in all reality I have lived in small places and it really wasn't that enjoyable. I wouldn't go less than 900 SF any thing smaller really isn't all that comfortable.


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## reedwood (Jan 27, 2011)

Hi Cricket walker,

do you get paid to walk these crickets?

I built this 12×16 woodshop with a 12×12 sleeping loft in our back yard

when I was 15, way back in 1974.

anything to escape. still wasn't far enough

but, for awhile…it was mine.



















left home the next year.

Now, my parents are renting it out cheap to UT college students! they love it! we lived on Lake Austin too.

I have been remodeling a 1800 sq. ft. 1957 cape cod for the last twenty years. It's just me and the wife and I have to say it's more than enough, but I wouldn't want to go smaller.
But, it would be fun to build a small guest house for company or changing clothes next to the pool…yea right,, like I got time for that!


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## nicholasrhall (Aug 19, 2012)

The year after I graduated high school, I spent a winter living in an 8'x16' cabin with a loft in Berlin, New Hampshire. I was working for the Appalachian Mountain Club trail crew, and they wanted a winter caretaker to keep an eye on a much larger cabin on the property, which was a 3 mile hike off the Appalachian trail. There was no electricity, and water had to be brought in from a nearby stream. It was just me, a woodstove, and a few hundred books for 3 months.

That was probably my favorite house of all time, and the best winter I ever spent. I've loved little houses from that day forward. I can remember getting my hands on a copy of "The Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka shortly thereafter and I've been dreaming about building a little house/getaway ever since.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Nicholas Hall,
you can do it and take some pictures of the progress and we will cheer you on all the way. Good experiences you have had so far. Keep it alive and real.


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

This is kind of a cool story about a tiny house.


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

I love the story behind this one and it includes lots of pictures.
http://www.viralnova.com/sick-of-divorce/


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

Cricket - I thought Austin's hous was neat - but mostly because he did it as a teenager which was impressive.

For tru sustainability - I really enjoyed a link in his story -
http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/mortgage-free-tiny-home-on-a-housekeepers-salary/

Mortgage-free tiny home on a housekeeper's salary)

Which I think is much more "long term sustainable - independant and livable" having a foundation and being 20X24.

He used a clever approach - he bought a lot for cash… the had plans drawn for the "typical" house with a detached 2 car garage.
Built the garage, and got all the utility hook-ups and sign offs, then never built the house - - just turned the detached garage into the home. If I were a single person I could envision living in that size space.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

Very "Interesting" Post.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

When I was growing up in upstate NY, I would occasionally see "houses" that seemed to be no more than a basement. There would be a stove pipe protruding with smoke coming out, so someone was under there.

I always wondered what the stories were. Was there once a house that burned down and the people stayed in the basement? Did someone plan to build a house but never finish more than the basement for financial reasons? Was this the plan from the start?


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