Tiny House Living

Tiny House Living is a weekly newsletter that covers the world of tiny houses and the people that choose to live this simpler life. Each entry is a short summary that links to the original article. Subscribe by Email to Tiny House Living and stay up-to-date on the news and events in our community. You can also Follow us on Twitter.

Also see: RowdyKittens – Simple Living News Update

Read Now… Tiny House Living – Issue 23

Over the weekend I was contacted by a fellow named Neville Montgomery, a business owner in Cape Town, South Africa. He owns a high-end retail store in downtown Cape Town and has an employee that came to him asking if he had any spare plastic tarp she could use on her house to keep the water out.

Neville contacted me just looking for ideas on solutions so I gave him all the information I could think of and I’m now in the process of designing a tiny panelized house that is four times larger than the homeless shelter I designed last week. It will measure 16′ by 16′ (5m by 5m) and be made of 4′ by 8′ panels. Neville will be using all new building materials but wants a house that can be assembled and disassembled by the women that will live there. The house will also feature a sleeping loft, simple grey water system, rain water collection system, composting toilet, shower, kitchen, and a passive solar design.

If the design meets their needs and can be built within their small budget the house will be set-up in Khayelitsha, an informal housing community of two million people just outside Cape Town. Informal housing communities have a long history in South Africa which is better read about on wikipedia than explained here. In a nutshell they are incredibly diverse communities with every type of small house from cardboard shacks to concrete government built homes. Some have plumbing and power but many do not.

In a few days I’ll post the plans on Tiny House Design for feedback and hopefully generate more good ideas for making the house functional, simple to build, and low cost. If you’d like to learn more about communities like Khayelitsha here are some resources.

• Khayelitsha on Wikipedia
• Google Map of Khayelitsha
• A low-cost housing project in Khayelitsha
• Photos on Flickr
• Khayelitsha Struggles

Update: I’ve posted a preview of the house design at Tiny House Design.

Some recent news about the Sacramento Police rousting a group of homeless folks from their temporary tent town got me a bit riled up last week. Being someone who likes to take proactive measures when trouble brews I set to work on publishing a simple panelized structure that could be built as temporary housing for all sorts of needs including homelessness.

In addition to working on the house for Khayelitsha I’m working to revise the plans of this smaller shelter so that the walls, floor and roof will also be made up of individual 4′ by 8′ panels. This size is ideal for transporting in a pickup truck with the main draw back being that it uses a bit more lumber to construct. Keep you eye on Tiny House Design this week for the revised plan.

Simple Panelized Shelter

Designed by architect Manuel Villa this little house was built to augment a larger home on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. I really like the out-of-the-box design and the idea of a tiny dome home. Photo credit to Manuel Villa. I first spotted this on RowdyKittens.

Dome Home

The family riding the Tumblewagon stopped at an unusual hostle in Marathon, Texas that offers a variety of tiny house accommodations. It’s rumored that the owner sometimes lets other people build tiny houses on his property and that bicyclists stay free. Photo credit to Nathan.

Hostel in Marathon Texas

Here’s a very uplifting story of a fellow named Scott who traded his larger home for a Vardo; a Gypsy styled tiny house on wheels. Scott is a carpenter and took his time to craft this wonderful little house over a period of three years.

Living in a Vardo

A fellow named Bill is building a tiny solar house from one of the free house plans on Tiny House Design. He’s been making quick progress and intends to travel up to Alaska with the house and stay a little while when it’s complete.

Bill’s Solar Tiny House

I really like the classic style of these Shepherd huts. They are available in the UK from Artisan Shepherd Huts. While they tend to be a bit on the expensive side their quality it really top notch and would make a great home office.

Shepherd Huts

This is a new shipping container sized house that can be delivered and set-up quickly. It’s the creation of Green Horizon a start-up in California. While these homes are intended to be a LEED certified alternatives to FEMA trailers they look like very comfortable modern tiny houses to me. An example will be in display at Fort Mason in San Francisco October 1 – 3 2009.

On-Demand Housing

Tiny house and simple living websites:

• Tiny House Blog
• Tiny House Design
• Tiny House TV
• Shedworking
• Shedblog
• Natural Homes
• Tiny House Journal
• Small House Society
• Small Living Journal
• Coming Unmoored
• Rowdy Kittens
• This Tiny House
• The Tiny Life (Map) (Forum)
• Constructing a simpler life
• Gypsy Rose Tiny House
• Green Hamlet
• Small House Style
• Building With Awareness
• Shelter Publications

Tiny House Builders, Plans, And Kits

• Sonoma Shanty
• Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
• Tortoise Shell Homes
• Little House on the Trailer