Anyone have a house, plus small getaway cabin?

[farmwife]

I didn't know how to title this!

We have a small farm, but have a place where we could build a small cabin on the same property. It would be used for us, our out of state friends. It would be very primitive, but would be like going to a cabin faraway for a getaway.

We would like a kitchen area,(just some cupboards and a table) but with no running water. We might consider a saw dust toliet, have sleeping area, and sofa. Than have a fire outside with hammock ect. It would be very primitive.

We don't want to spend a lot of money on this, but yet be fairly nice. Did you use any type of building plans? Anyone want to share pictures of the outside and inside of yours?

With gas prices and farming we can't get away. We thought this would be a nice option, because it wouldn't be close to the house, but yet convient to feed and fun for our kids, with no phone or the clutter of other things.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

[Timeless Rogue]

Say, good morning, FarmWife ... The June/July issue of Mother Earth News is dedicated to what they title 'The Cozy Cabin' with some pretty neat ideas from simple and cheap to more complex and a little pricier but nothing palacial. You might want to check it out ... that article is also at http://www.motherearthnews.com/top_a...his_Cozy_Cabin online.

[Belly Acre]

What you describe is exactly what I have been wanting for years! I am working toward getting it but I have much resistance from my husband, he is afraid (and not without cause) that when this "Suga Shack" is installed down in the hollow of our farm he will seldom see me! So his suggestion is to get the shed that we currently have in a different location moved. I like that suggestion but am afraid I will need to do some excavation work to get a "road" to the hollow to move the shed. One of my summertime jobs this summer is to get the shed cleaned out so it could be moved.
Love your idea!
Emily

[mtman]

our house is just about done we have picked a spot in the woods and starting clearing a trail to it we will have the cabin up in time for hunting season

[Hip_Shot_Hanna]

When I saw this thread I had to grin. Why? Because just this week I told DH that we could put a cabin hidden back under the trees on the wooded portion of our place. Then, when we wanted a vacation we could go there and leave all the "stuff" including phones etc at our house and just pretend we were gone on vacation.

GMTA!

[mpillow]

Our cabin is 77miles away....and none too small...nearly as big as our house and shower w/ outhouse. We have land about 47miles away that we will soon be building on....I've wanted to build a log cabin here for guests but havent yet....we built a barn instead....and the poop piles are sitting where the cabin will go

check this out

http://www.shelter-kit.com/unitone.html

[susieM]

We compromised, and got a camper. Same sink, different view.

[danb98577]

Well....I am living in the cabin! Heck with the house. It is 13X25 feet. Years ago it was a fire tower shack set up on standing douglas fir logs-back in the days when they were MANY feet in diameter. It fell into neglect and was hauled down and used for a long time as an explosives storage shack. Eventually it was hauled here and set on piers, again neglected, till I stumbled across it. I must confess to adding a 21X28 foot addition with bath and basic creature comforts, but the addition is blended nicely with the old.
The little trailer idea is worth looking into. Out here they are tumbling in price because people are getting rid of their Canyonero towing monsters. Nice little 14 footer about a mile from me, propane stove, tiny icebox, rude toilet(aren't thry all?) for $350.00 or best offer. Needs some attention but certainly not a disaster either.

[Ramblin Wreck]

Some neat ideas. Thanks for sharing.

[frazzlehead]

These are the guys I got my house package from ... they have cabin packages as well, some very tiny.

http://cabins.ca/

Not cheap, but you will at least get some ideas!

Other ideas: Neighbour down the way took a garage package and converted it to a gorgeous house. I lived in a Home Depot garden shed for 4 months (and if I had to do it again, I would build from scratch - it cost more than it was worth, besides, I now believe a sleeping loft to be essential to any decent cabin).

Have fun, it sounds like a great idea!

[DrippingSprings]

Well I have a cabin on Lewis SMith Lake. The area used to be isolated but developers are moving in hard and fast. SO I will probably seel at a good profit and look for something more secluded like this one used to be.

I also have a small 12x50 mobile home down on Warrior River. Its nice and we use it primarily for fishing.

Had two small one room 20x32 cabins on the edge of Bankhead Natl Forest I used to rent out to campers but have since sold them.

Im seriously thinking of building a small log cabin on the back forty as some would call it. No danger of encroachment there as I own all around it. Just somewhere to go to get away from the phone etc.

[tallpines]

We built the cabin first. It's 16 X 24.
And we lived in it for 2 1/2 years while the house was being planned and built.


Its only 50 feet away from the house--------and tends to be more of a catch all for clutter, rather than a "guest house".

[susieM]

Wasn't there a book out, called 'tiny homes'?

[Alice In TX/MO]

We do. We have the homestead in Texas (coastal plain.) Cabin is in the Missouri Ozarks. It's a long one day drive between, but well worth it.

[wy_white_wolf]

We're building our cabin now:

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...te_wolf/Cabin/

Plan on using it on weekends and holidays as we build the rest of the homestead. It's a little over 300 mi from our present location. While I did have a couple of different plans for A-frames none seemed to fit just what we wanted so I'm making it up as we go. Also paying as we go. Just need to find a roofer now. One job I really don't want to do myself seeing as I've already fallin off it once already and my bro wrecked is bike last weekend.

[Lynne]

Goodie I get to show my cabin off . Not on our property but 10 minutes away, still like being in a different world! Before we got this place we had a campground at the back of our property on the creek that friends and family would use.

This cabin is T1-11 inside and out, with roll paper on the flat part of the roof and shingles otherwise. Plywood floors and old decking are covered with cheap peel and stick tiles. Septic holding tank is basically an oversized trash can and water is drawn from the creek, and gray water runs out a different pipe system. I carry in all drinking water, and carry out all trash. The 1 large bedroom upstairs has sleeping platforms for sleeping bags or cot matresses, enough for 4 people; the other 2 bedrooms(1 up, 1 down) have regular beds. The living area is 10X15 and joins the kitchen and breakfast nook that measures about 8X18. There is even a full bath, yet I want a outhouse. Then we could use it year around, plus the water tanks(3 fifty five gallon drums) would not get drained down when the city-slicker friends come to visit.
Dripping Springs this place have doubled in value in just one year, the dynamics are changing. When we came here most people were business owners and people that just like to fish and enjoy the peace and quite, now the politicans, lawyers and doctors have found our little haven.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by tallpines

We built the cabin first. It's 16 X 24.
And we lived in it for 2 1/2 years while the house was being planned and built.


Its only 50 feet away from the house--------and tends to be more of a catch all for clutter, rather than a "guest house".

We have nearly the same as Tallpines. There's a 16x24 cabin (right) that I used for years and then after I married WIHH we built a "real" house next door (left).



Our 16x24 cabin has no electricity. We use Aladdin lamps and a PetroMax lantern for lighting. It is heated with a wood burner. We have a hand pump well outside for water and an outhouse. We use a Coleman stove for cooking.







See more of our guest cabin photos at: Cabin Fever and WIHH's Guest Cabin

[Jerngen]

Check out the plans on this site for ideas (or you can order the plans) www.countryplans.com/plans.html they go as small as 10 X 14. Also visit the forum. There are several discussions and pictures of people actually building these or similar plans.
We plan on doing what tallpines and cabinfever have done. We'll build a 16 X 24 cabin on one corner of our property, live in that for a couple years, then build our main house towards the middle of the property (10 acres).

[Marilyn in CO]

We can never get away either, here on the farm, so we put our travel trailer in various places around the farm and pretend we are on vacation. My favorite place is in our windbreak of Austrian pines, Nanking cherry bushes and blue spruce mainly because they are the only trees on the whole 500 acres.