Monthly Archives: September 2012

1910 Dietz “Dollhouse” A Micro-Victorian House

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Great find by Don, a reader of Relaxshacks.com.  It’s a historic playhouse but I suspect this may inspire some people to doll-up their tiny homes.

“The Dietz Doll House is one of the Seguin Conservation Society’s most charming properties and like the others, comes with an intriguing history. It was built in 1910 by Louis Dietz for little Alice O’Brien, 5 years old, who had come to Seguin as an orphan train child.”

Read more at Relaxshacks.com: The 1910 Dietz “Dollhouse”….Tiny House Eye Candy- A Micro-Victorian House.

Building A Green Roof

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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There’s a lot of construction work going on at the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Ziggy reports on the progress:

“Just like building our cob house, the living roof of our new straw bale house has had me thinking for hours, and quite honestly, it’s been the source of a lot of anxiety throughout the entire construction process. Gobcobatron was a breeze in comparison — single story, low to the ground, not a huge roof area.”

Continue reading about Building Our Green Roof | The Strawtron Living Roof Design Details.

To Skylight or Not

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Derek ‘Deek’ Diedricksen shares some pros & cons of using skylights in a tiny home’s loft.

“This question has been posed at EVERY Tumbleweed Workshop Ive hosted… skylights – should i include them in my tiny houses loft?”

Read the full post at Relaxshacks.com: Tiny Houses/Tumbleweeds: To Skylight, or NOT to Skylight?.

Finely Crafted Caravan

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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I can’t even imagine the number of hours that have gone (and will still go) into this finely crafted caravan. Amazingly high level of quality here.

“As you can probably guess I have been very busy. I don’t have much time still and will do some much more detailed writing on the caravan project at a later date, however for now here are some photos of the trailer in its current state taken by the talented Thomas Lay.”

See all the photos and whats he building in there?: Update!

Nature Center Tree House + 78-Room Bird Nest

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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How would you like to be able to say, my other home is a bird house?

“Posting a birdhouse in the backyard is a great way to attract feathered friends, but some of the greatest fun tends to remain hidden from view behind wooden walls.”

See more of this Nesting Box: Nature Center Tree House + 78-Room Bird Nest | Designs & Ideas on Dornob.

Micro Homestead – Episode 24

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Kevin has posted an update on the tiny house he’s building. You can follow his work at kevinsmicrohomestead.wordpress.com.

“cuting out window opening and dry fitting . next is install tape off trim and side up the wall. getting close to done with exterior.”

via episode 24 front window and siding fall is here. – YouTube.

Little Yellow is Done!

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Another successful completion of a owner-built tiny house! Very inspiring.

“I might just write that again, because it looks so very nice. And this time, I shall employ caps to convey the enthusiasm as effectively as type can: LITTLE YELLOW IS DONE!!!! Alright, I’m freakin’ excited. But after a year of planning, more than a year of building, and what felt like 5 or so years of anticipation, I have a house. A whole house I. Have. A. Home.”

Read the whole story about Little Yellow.

DIY Timber Frame Cabin – Part 11

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Cody (Wranglerstar) makes chainsaw work look easy. The first half of this video shows him selecting and harvesting a tree on his land. The second half shows how he mills down logs into timbers.

“Episode 11 of the DIY Survival Cabin For Economic Collapse will cover fitting all four corner joints of the sill plate timbers. Working with big timbers is hard and a tight fitting joint takes a lot of time and concentration. The tools Im using today are two Robert Sorby timber framing chisels.”

via How To Build A Timber Frame Cabin Episode 11 – YouTube.

The Field Lab’s New Neighbor

Posted on by by Michael Janzen.
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Looks like John Wells is going to have more company out in the desert. Pictured here is her outhouse. I wonder what kind of home Dona Lu plans to build?

“My part time SW neighbor Dona Lu came out to work on her place for the weekend.  She pre-built studded walls for an out house building and needed a second pair of hands holding the parts so she could lag screw them together.  Quite impressed with her design and carpentry skills.”

via The Field Lab: HARDBOILEDEGGS.