Who lives in a "tiny house"?

That is more than 11x what we spent to build our house of comparable size (252 sq-ft foot print with loft in front and back). It took us two months from bare ground to closed in during the late fall and early winter - would have been faster in the summer. If you don't know how to build a house, build a model, then a dog house, then a tool shed and pretty soon you will know how to build a house. No need to spend 10x too much.

Realize that the more you spend the more insurance will cost every year, the more real estate taxes will cost every year, etc. It will keep costing you for the rest of your life.

While you're at it, use good materials and build something very durable and energy efficient. Since it is small it can be very well built for very little money. Provide the labor. It's fun and a great family project.

-Walter

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We live in less than 400 square ft. It's a 39' fifth wheel travel trailer with four slide outs. We've lived in an rv for over 8 years now.

The rv does have most everything a standard home has but many things a lot smaller. The kitchen is probably the most challenging when trying to do any serious cooking or canning or prep work for freezing, that kind of thing.

Honestly, if we could find the right piece of land to park the thing on, it's likely how we'd start our homestead since we already own the rv.

We really would like more space, though. The biggest thing we need in a home is a good functioning kitchen. Next biggest thing is a comfortable bed. No need for formal living areas or dining areas, just not needed. Oh, and a couple of comfortable chairs. A basic functional bathroom would be nice. Most of the rest if pretty much negotiable.

Living in the rv for so long has given us some lessons. We learned that we don't really need a lot of space to be happy. We learned that we don't need a lot of stuff to be happy. We learned that we don't need nearly as much water or electricity as a modern home to live quite comfortably. So it's not an experience I begrudge. Would we like to change it? Sure! Mansion? Nah. 800 to 1,000 sq feet would feel like a castle! LOL!!

Conh I saw that documentary on Netflix and was thinking along the same lines as you. It cost the guy an awful lot to build that little thing. I am not sure where all the cost adds up. All that fancy wood on the walls, floors, and ceilings must add up. I would think it would be cheaper to just drywall and carpet. I am not sure how much that fancy looking stove cost but it looks like it cost a lot. I have seen propane wall heaters going for $150 that would heat that place but they do not have that slick look that I am going assume some people want.

If you look close when you watch little house on the prairie the house is small and designed well. There is no living room but parents bedroom could be used as a living room/bedroom if a fold out couch was used.

I live in a tiny apartment and I can sympathize with otter. My total space is 204 sq ft. The kitchen and living area is 154 sq ft, the bathroom is 10 sq ft, and the tool room is 40 sq ft.

I have no space to do anything. Like otter storing blankets and clothes for the winter is a problem because they are so big. If I make wine or cook a big meal a mess builds up quick and you cant walk away from the mess and leave it for tomorrow because the mess is basically in the same room as you. Wall in the kitchen is right at my back and makes me feel trapped when I cook. It is easier to heat because it is well insulated. haha, money saved on heating goes to buying beer to cope with the stress of living so cramped, so no savings there.

oddly enough, the small space irritates me in the summer but in the winter the small space feels like a cozy den or a burrow and I like to be home.

I am getting my 12x36 ft deluxe loft cabin next month. Of course it's just the shell and will be building the inside up. Should tke about 4 weeks doing it paycheck by paycheck. My question is :insurance. Does traditional homeowners insurance cover this? How do you insure your home and belongings if not? PS: even looking on the web, I am just not finding a mini pellet stove. It seems what I find seem to be not in the USA. Am I looking in the wrong spot? I did find a wood stove that is made for only up to 450 sq feet. But I REALLY want a pellet stove. Especially a bonus if it has a top I can cook on with a small pot or pan or kettle.

I am unapologetically reviving this thread to share this link. I could easily live in this bus: my concern would be heating (the biggie) and cooling here in the extreme NE.

http://tinyhousetalk.com/diy-short-school-bus-cottage/

I could live in that bus. Very nice conversion.

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“Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago.”
― Erma Bombeck

I've been thinking (dreaming) of a not-quite tiny place for ages. My current layout is for a 16x16 cabin with a basement, since the foundation would have to be at least 3' anyway. Two bedroom, one bathroom. The kitchen was a slight struggle, because there wasn't room for a fridge and stove, so I think I'll go for an under counter fridge and a full size one in basement or garage. BAsement is 'wasted space', with a pool table, small pantry, and over half the area labeled 'Critter cave'.

I'm hoping it will be less than $10k to build. I've made tentative price calculations, and I've come to $4k for the basement, 3k for the house. This is for the shell, not including counters, flooring or furniture. Wiring will be another $2k, and plumbing hopefully less than that. I can post pictures of the layout later, if anyone wants to see. It's more or less just lines on graph paper though.

Here is the 14X18' hunting cabin my dad and I built. Wood heat, propane cook stove, back up heat and propane lights. Water storage (toted in) and pumped from tank with an RV pump that runs off a 12v marine battery hooked to a solar charger.

Half loft with a queen sized bed.


Gene

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For several reasons, but primarily to get all my outbuildings on the same level as the house (instead of up or down-hill, which can be dangerous in wet or cold weather), and to reduce the use of firewood by incorporating passive solar heating, I'm getting ready to start building a very small (not tiny) house on my 3 1/4 acres half a mile from here. Still working on possible floor plans, but it will be smaller than this house, so under 800 s.f. -- probably quite a bit under.

It needs to have an attached woodshed and greenhouse, but as they will be unheated I don't think they'll add much to the property taxes. I'll make the hay shed, goat shelter, and chicken shed no more than 200 s.f. each so they shouldn't bring the taxes up, either.

The land has good southern exposure; I already have approval for a standard septic system and a preliminary site plan, and the well shouldn't be more than about 150' deep. I plan to use solar power (hope the building department doesn't force me to hook up to the grid anyway, as just getting power dropped to a pole on my property will cost $4,500, even though the power goes across my land). I want to use a construction method that is pretty fire-safe, after the forest fires last summer, including one in our community that burned a number of homes. My land only has a few trees, and I will be removing most of the sagebrush, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

It is 'interesting' trying to design something that small that will accommodate two people who need separate sleeping quarters, canning and sewing supplies, books, a couple of dogs and a cat (all are inside/outside), and so on. But, it can be done! I'm just trying not to have long narrow spaces where two people can't pass one another (the biggest issue we had with the old fifth wheel we lived in for a while). I'm also staying on one level, as my daughter is handicapped, and I'm pushing sixty, so need to consider the future. Right now I'm trying out a 12' by 48' design, with a greenhouse the full length. The back (north) side of the house will face the road, so the entry is there, with the woodshed there, between the house and the driveway (attached to the house, with a through-the-wall woodbox). I'm hoping to cut our firewood consumption down from four to five cords to maybe one or two cords, since I have to buy wood.

I'll try to figure out if I can post pictures here from Sketch-up.

Kathleen

...............WHY , have so many pictures disappeared from this thread ? , fordy

for a few years when I was real little my family lived in a 12x24 ft cabin, no power, hand pumped water, outhouse instead of inhouse, Then we got a big house built. It was 24x24. I lived in an 8x14 cabin I built for myself for several years, then moved in an old motor home. When I find someone to live with I'll see about getting into something larger, but not too big. I'm thinking maybe a 20' dia yert with fireplace in the middle would be big enough. I spend my daylight time outside just about all the time anyway, don't need much space inside since most of the time I'm inside is sleepin time anyway.