Why the obsession with "tiny houses"?

**Shrek** · #**101** 02/03/13, 01:07 AM

I started trade negotiations yesterday with a friend for a new "tiny house". He has a 30 foot 2006 model toy hauler that sleeps 8 but still owes on it and he wants something that sleeps 12 and my 2002 fifth wheel appeals to him so we are negotiating.

Both have extended stay build and I dont ever use all the space in my fifth wheel plus I dislike having to give up bed space on the dually to haul it and prefer no steps and he doesnt use the toy haul option on his.

Condition wise my 2002 is in better shape than his 2006 because only gf and I stay in mine and he has 5 kids tracking in and out of his.

I dont haul toys other than my fiberglass duck boat and trolling motor and batteries and with his being a 1 bedroom tag behind and his kids having to sleep in the common area or toy haul section, we would both benefit from a swap.

Also now when we want to play cards at the campground we have to set the table up under the canopy so rainy day games are out. with the toy haul section I could have a in RV card room and as a tag behind I would have pick up bed space for my float fishing trolling boat without a second trip if hauling the camper and boat from the main campground to one of our alternate getaways.

He told me he got it on a 15 year loan so I would have to cover about half of his cost.

Oh well I got a few days to decide and if gf looks at it and says she can't clean the kid tracks out of it to suit us, I may end negotiations but I really do like that 11 foot long "rec room" and garage ramp on the back of it

ChristieAcres · #**102** 02/03/13, 01:58 AM

Here is a better pic of our $1,200 Cabin, figure $1,000 max would finish it off into a great Tiny House, is 200 sq ft, but has a loft over 1/3 of it. The porch is over an 8 ft wide deck. We would have spent less had we not bought the metal roofing new: DH had some of his equipment on the deck, didn't find one with it cleaned off. Reading this thread, makes me want to finish it off! We have another garden cabin, same size, but a single story. That one needs even more work.

Why the obsession with "tiny houses"? - Homesteading Questions

Why the obsession with "tiny houses"? - Homesteading Questions

**highlands** · #**103** 02/03/13, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Highlands, what is your roof made of?

Ferro-cement. See:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2006/12/10/f...er-of-roof-on/

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2006/12/17/r...struction-pan/

http://ferrocement.net/

Quote:

Originally Posted by City Bound

highland, why diud you choose a cement roof rather then an insulated wood one?

Strength for later earth berming the house - it is built in an alcove of the mountain so that we can do this. The arched ferro-cement roof will also take any snow load so no worry of collapse.

Permanence - the roof will never need repairs or replacing. It won't rot, insects don't eat it, mice don't chew holes in it.

Thermal mass - this helps with keeping the cottage cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulegirl

Not to nearly so small as you all--I'm a musician, as is he, and harps and banjos and violins take up space--but possibly smaller, even with one, soon to be two little boys. Being in Virginia, moving a number of operations outside is quite doable for us.

Go with the size that fits your needs. There is no magical number of square feet.

We are musicians too. We have three guitars, two banjos, recorders, flutes and an electronic keyboard. We had the chance to get my parents's grand piano but as you can imagine that would not fit

so it went to my sister.

cindilu · #**104** 02/03/13, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highlands

We all built it together. Even Hope, who was only three at the time, helped. Pretty much everything we do is a team effort.

There are several hundred photos, many of them interior, scattered throughout many posts. The page below about the cottage has links to some of those articles which will include some interior shots:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/home/cottage/

and see:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2009/04/01/p...mers-in-space/

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2011/10/27/pantry-shelves/

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2009/12/25/christmas-2009/

and the woodshed which is outside the cottage front door:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2010/10/22/launch-tubes/

This search pattern on Google will get you 'inside' both during the construction and since we've been loving in the cottage:

http://images.google.com/search?q=si...oCgCA&tbm=isch

Here is an interior panorama from during construction. I don't think I've done a similar one recently. I'll put that on my to-do list.

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/uploade...Pan-793709.jpg

An interesting comparison is that our van is the same length as our cottage and half as wide as the cottage while our butcher shop is six times larger than our cottage. The carcass chiller is almost the same size as the van but nearly three times as tall.

I am loving your home and blog, thank you so much for sharing your lives with us. It gives inspiration and hope.

akaRach · #**105** 02/03/13, 05:37 PM

The tiny homes built on the trailers, the point of those escape me. However, to be free of 'stuff' does have its appeal.

We recently started building a cabin in the woods. It will be our off grid solution should systems begin to fail. In good times it will be my escape I think. It will be wonderful to use in the spring while sugaring.

Its 10'x16' with a small porch for now, and a sleeping loft thats about 10'x10' and a steep peak so lots of headroom. It will have a washroom with either compostable toilet and/or an outhouse, a few solar panels, wood stove for heating and cooking.

simplegirl · #**106** 02/03/13, 07:25 PM

Mamita~ thank you for pointing out that not everyone has a problem with love wearing thin. My DH and I are doing just fine.

Also, to those who have a problem with me living in an RV.... too bad. We aren't stupid people, we have dealt with a lot of the issues that have come up with it and it is not going to be forever. Lighten up.

JackDeePeyton · #**107** 02/03/13, 08:01 PM

We took a storage shed 16x32 and converted it into a weekend retreat. Actually its a work in progress with full kitchen, full bathroom, wood stove, A/C unit and plenty of room for all.

okiemom · #**108** 02/03/13, 08:18 PM

I want housing that can expand and contract on needs. with dh and two small kids didn't need much room. as the boys are getting bigger and band is a part of our life, the house needs to be bigger. I am now taking care of my mom and she is almost housebound and so our house which is large is now getting supper small.

we built our house large to be able to have hallways and doors oversized. doors are 32" and halls are 4' wide. I had back problems and surgery and have been afraid I would become somewhat "house bound" myself due to olderage pain. Thankfully I am fine but 3 generations of family sometimes dont mix really well. boys like nerf guns and mom fusses at them. we only have one great room and there is no place to excape for the boys. life changes and I wish my house could be expanded and contracted for money and space reasons. Once a stick houses is built it cant get smaller, but sometimes u want it bigger for a time. then when everyone is gone it can reduce. I dont want to clean a huge house for just 2 people.

ChristieAcres · #**109** 02/03/13, 08:48 PM

We live in a double-wide mobile home, was remodeled and on our property, when we bought it. Our initial goal was to sell it (was cared for, newer roof, double paned windows, in good shape). When the market collapsed, we decided against building a home just yet. DH has built 2 of those Cabins (pic I posted). My goal is to finish off the 1.5 story one first, as a guest cabin. Then, finish the other one as a 2nd guest cabin. You can see where this is heading... Then, when we are ready to build, send this mobile home down the road, and build a modest home here. We could live in one of the existing guest cabins! When DH's parents need more assistance, they could live in one of the guest cabins. We can always build more... I am going to encourage DH to build a log cabin, 10 X 20, with an additional covered porch.

fatrat · #**110** 02/03/13, 11:06 PM

Tiny houses cost less to build. Tiny houses cost less to furnish. Tiny houses cost less to insure. Tiny houses cost less to repair. Tiny houses cost less to maintain. Tiny houses cost less to pay taxes on. Tiny houses cost less to heat. Tiny houses require less time to clean.

Everybody has different priorities. Some don't need or want much space. Cost to them may be a priority and space may not be. Everybody is different. I would prefer a tiny house to any other size for all the reasons above.

ChristieAcres · #**111** 02/04/13, 12:02 AM

Like it has been brought up, a tiny house can be wonderful, but one should also have a shop, if needed, a garage, and a few outbuildings for specific uses, too.

MushCreek · #**112** 02/04/13, 06:02 AM

I'm currently living in a 600 sq ft cabin (due to the unbelievable generosity of folks at my new church), and my wife and I could be very comfortable in a house this size if we had to. The down-side is that the cabin has dozens of code violations, and if one of us were ever in a wheelchair, it would be unworkable. You couldn't legally build this cabin today in this location. The insulation is so poor that it was 50 degrees in here the other morning. My super-insulated 1200 sq ft house that I am building will use much less energy than this leaky old cabin.

**highlands** · #**113** 02/04/13, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akaRach

The tiny homes built on the trailers, the point of those escape me.

The tax regulations in some location, most I think, read that if it is moveable it is taxed lower or even not at all. The zoning and building regulations are also typically less or non-existant if moveable. Putting it on wheels proves it is moveable and thus building codes and taxes don't apply in most cases.

myheaven · #**114** 02/04/13, 08:38 AM

When dh and I started out, we had a 16x24 cabin. Loved it. Kept what we had to a minamum. We currently have 10 peoPle in a 1,200 sf house. By the governments standards we should only have 2 people in our house. Our house is easy to heat. You have to get creative for storing stuff and be very choosey on what you store.

AngieM2 · #**115** 02/04/13, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngieM2

And this is a favorite idea...

a 20 x 20 home depot shed that has living room and kitchen in the bottom and a bedroom upstairs. I asked the owner about it, I have not seen inside.

I went by this one Saturday afternoon and there is a for sale by owner sign out on it.

Now, I need to go back and get the phone number - or talk to the people, 1. cause I'm curious
2. it could be a far out maybe (it's about an hour from work).

But I thought it interesting that it is for sale now.

emdeengee · #**116** 02/04/13, 01:11 PM

These tiny houses remind me of when I lived in Europe. All apartments and houses were small and there was no storage space. We shopped for groceries every day. I get the impression that people living in these tiny houses will be spending a lot of time driving back and forth to the store.

I like small houses for many reasons. People can easily LIVE in small spaces but storage is always the problem unless you design for it. Better to spend a little extra money in the construction (make the small house a little larger or add a basement) than to find yourself having to store your shoes in a box on the front porch and only buy one lb. bags of sugar because your kitchen is the size of a closet.

chewie · #**117** 02/04/13, 03:11 PM

love the idea, and I think I could do it, well I *have* done it whilst single/alone. but we live out of town a ways, so stocking up (as in, using my tahoe filled to the roof!) is better for us then going to town ever few days.

and I also have my art studio plus a frame room, make cheese and milking equip., etc.... our living areas aren't large and now that we've built and are living in our home, I can see where I'd of shrunk it down a bit more too.

I think with all the lower costs of lower sq. footage are pretty easy to see and pretty appealing.

hiddensprings · #**118** 02/04/13, 04:14 PM

while my little home doesn't qualify as "tiny" by some standards, we went from 3,000 sq feet to 800 sq feet so it did feel tiny to us originally. Now, I can't imagine being in anything bigger. Plus,the best part is we do not have a mortgage on it. Hubby did the majority of the work, I helped, and we hired folks to do a few things. A lot of folks think we are crazy but those are the ones with 4,000 sq ft homes, with 4 bathrooms and only two people. I mean seriously, how many bathrooms does a family need? I grew up with 6 kids and 2 parents and we never had more then 1 bathroom.

cindy-e · #**119** 02/04/13, 08:56 PM

Well the smallest I have ever done is 900 sq. ft. But there are 7 of us. It was fine. It was actually pleasant. =0)

ItchingDuck · #**120** 02/04/13, 10:25 PM

My dad has a 900 sq ft log cabin his friend had built himself. I have never seen a sturdier home nor better workmanship. It has a loft ofe half of it and a beautiful useable basement. My family of 8 could have lived there in cozy comfort. No real extra room, but enough for storage. I love his home more than anything I have ever seen.
I definitely see the allure of a well planned "tiny house".