July 2010 was a Huge Month for Tiny Houses
July was an amazing month for the online tiny house community. A video story featuring Jay Shafer, from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, was on the Yahoo homepage for three days. The story introduced thousands of people to our growing tiny world.
For a couple weeks emails poured-in with questions and stories of people continuing to be caught by the economic woes we continue to face. The reaction to tiny houses has been overwhelmingly positive because people are consistently seeing it as a beacon of light in our shared financial fog. Tiny Houses really are icons of freedom.
So I wanted to welcome all my new readers and let you know you’re in good company. People from all walks of life, backgrounds, and regions are finding answers by exploring the world of simple living and downsizing. I think you’ll also find that the wider community is inclusive and focused on the issues that we face together.
Below is just an example of the traffic spike I saw on Tiny House Design.
Jay Shafer in the Cover of Parade Magazine
Jay Shafer, of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, is featured on the cover of Parade Magazine this week. This is the magazine you’ll find inside many Sunday newspapers and has an estimated readership of 70 million people. It’s always great news for the tiny house movement when one of us is featured so prominently in the main stream media.
Jay Shafer on the CBS News
It’s always exciting to see someone from the small house movement in the main stream media. Here’s an example of CBS News telling the story of Jay’s cross country trip this past summer.
Jay in New York
Well Jay Shafer has completed his journey across America pulling the Tumbleweed tiny house. I haven’t heard his final report yet but I bet it was quite an adventure. Kent at Tiny House Blog kept close tabs on his progress and I bet he will have the story in the next week or so. In the mean time read about Jay’s final stop.
Progress Report: Jay Shafer’s Coast to Coast Tour
Jay Shafer left Tuesday May, 26 2009 on his Coast to Coast tour pulling the newly built Fencl Tumbleweed Tiny House on a cross country open house. By the end of the week he’ll be in New York. To see the construction photos visit Tiny House Journal. Photo provided by Grant and was taken when Jay stopped in Chicago. Thanks Grant!
Also see:
Jay will have 14 open houses and and several workshops along the way. Here is the schedule:
- Tue May 26 – Reno, NV 6:00 pm
- Wed May 27 – Salt Lake, UT 6:00 pm
- Thu May 28 – Cheyenne, WY 6:00 pm
- Sat May 30 – Boulder, CO 5:30 pm
- Tue June 2 – Omaha, NE 6:00 pm
- Wed June 3 – Des Moines, IA 12:00 noon
- Wed June 3 – Iowa City, IA 6:00 pm
- Sat June 6 – Chicago, IL 5:30 pm
- Mon June 8 – Indianapolis, IN 6:00 pm
- Tue June 9 – Cinncinati, OH 12:00 noon
- Tue June 9 – Columbus, OH 6:00 pm
- Wed June 10 – Pittsburgh, PA 6:00 pm
- Thu June 11 – Philadelphia, PA 6:00 pm
- Sat June 13 – New York, NY 5:30 pm
Progress Report: Jay Shafer’s Coast to Coast Tour
Jay Shafer left Tuesday May, 26 2009 on his Coast to Coast tour pulling the newly built Fencl Tumbleweed Tiny House on a cross country open house. This is the first completed Fencl built from Jay’s plans; visit Tiny House Journal to see the construction process.
Jay will have 14 open houses and and several workshops along the way. Here is the schedule:
- Tue May 26 – Reno, NV 6:00 pm
- Wed May 27 – Salt Lake, UT 6:00 pm
- Thu May 28 – Cheyenne, WY 6:00 pm
- Sat May 30 – Boulder, CO 5:30 pm
- Tue June 2 - Omaha, NE 6:00 pm
- Wed June 3 - Des Moines, IA 12:00 noon
- Wed June 3 - Iowa City, IA 6:00 pm
- Sat June 6 – Chicago, IL 5:30 pm
- Mon June 8 - Indianapolis, IN 6:00 pm
- Tue June 9 – Cinncinati, OH 12:00 noon
- Tue June 9 – Columbus, OH 6:00 pm
- Wed June 10 - Pittsburgh, PA 6:00 pm
- Thu June 11 – Philadelphia, PA 6:00 pm
- Sat June 13 – New York, NY 5:30 pm
For more information see these blog posts:
- Jay’s Fencl in Boulder – Tiny House Blog
- Jay’s Fencl in Cheyenne – Tiny House Blog
- Jay’s Fencl in Salt Lake City – Tiny House Blog
- Jay’s Fencl in Reno – Tiny House Blog
- Happy Trails – Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
- Cheesecake, beer, and a tiny rolling home – Project Rolling Freedom
Jay Shafer’s Fencl is Nearing Completion
My friend Kent Griswold took a drive over to Jay Shafer’s place to photograph the latest Tumbleweed Tiny House under construction. These photos are hot off the press. There are now over 30 pages of construction photos of this tiny house and I suggest starting with the most recent photos and work your way backwards.
This is also the house Jay is planning on taking on his coast-to-coast tour. He’s going to take this tiny house from San Francisco to New York and is scheduled to begin May 25, 2009. Visit Tiny House Journal to see more tiny houses under construction. Photo credit Kent Griswold.
Tumbleweed Fencl & Coast to Coast Tour
Jay Shafer and crew are busy building a Tumbleweed Fencl that he’ll take with him on a coast to coast tour this summer. Last summer he did a border to border tour and traveled from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. This summer he’ll take this new house from San Francisco to New York. Jay will stop in 14 different cities along the way for house tours. He’ll also be teaching workshops in Boulder, Chicago, and New York. Be sure to visit the Tumbleweed website for more details.
Small Cool Coolest 2009
The folks at Apartment Therapy have a content running right now on the coolest small house designs for simple living. They consider small up to 1,200 square feet but there still are a few cool tiny houses like Jay Shafer’s house. Be sure to vote at Apartment Therapy. I first spotted this on This Tiny House.
