Tiny House News

[timo2]

I saw this article the other day. i think it is an interesting idea.... perhaps even an investment opportunity to "build" an apartment unit for rental.

Stackable, Portable Apartments Are Tiny Homes for the Homeless

and if you don't stack them, they become Granny Pods
https://seniorcareadvice.com/my-mother-lives-in-the-backyard-the-granny-pod-evolution.htm

 

[timo2]

Here something different: 'housetruck'
"It’s easier to say what a housetruck isn’t than what it is: It definitely is not a motorhome or any other commercially produced camper. When Beck moved into his housetruck, motorhomes—or what he describes as “monster, marathon, glitzy, whore house-looking buses”—didn’t exist."

Look at These Adorable Tiny Homes on Wheels Called 'Housetrucks' | Atlas Obscura

 

[NW-Bound]

.

Fermion, a forum member, has built his own housetruck and will be living in it full-time.

A little update. We have taken a couple of trips now in our homebuilt RV truck camper. It drives great and is getting around 10mpg which is better than I thought considering we are usually tipping the scales at 16,000 pounds or better.

Recently we unloaded the pods in our backyard and took the truck in for full service. While we had the pods off, we decided to remove all of the old flatbed wood and we only added back three new pieces of apitong hardwood. We calculate we have saved over 600 pounds doing this and the pods are still fully supported and do not shift or slide. Slight downside that now the flatbed has openings but it is still pretty usable as a flatbed for hauling things. We could always toss some temporary 4x8 sheets of ply across it if we needed a solid bed for something. My wife has already calculated 600 more pounds of stuff we can take on our journeys .

Last week we took the truck camper to Mount St Helens. This is a great time of year to go as there are near zero crowds. We stayed at the Lower Falls campground on Lewis river and road our motorcycles on a beautiful route right up to the crater. Coming back from Helens we decided spur of the moment to detour over to Long Beach, WA for a couple of nights on the beach. We rode the motorcycles some 20 miles right on the beach (this is legal!) then washed them off very well . Yay for ER to let you take those roads less traveled...it makes all the difference.

 

[NW-Bound]

Here's the ultimate housetruck for the rich. This 8x8 Desert Challenger costs US$1.75M.

 

[pb4uski]

Sorry, $1.75 million in that would throw my AA out of whack.

 

[Major Tom]

Sorry, $1.75 million in that would throw my AA out of whack.

1.75 million is twice my entire stash! I think I'll be looking for an older Class C in reasonable shape when my tiny house on wheels time comes................

 

[REWahoo]

Here something different: 'housetruck'
"It’s easier to say what a housetruck isn’t than what it is: It definitely is not a motorhome or any other commercially produced camper. When Beck moved into his housetruck, motorhomes—or what he describes as “monster, marathon, glitzy, whore house-looking buses”—didn’t exist."

Look at These Adorable Tiny Homes on Wheels Called 'Housetrucks' | Atlas Obscura

Saw a version of one of these "tiny homes on wheels" in a Corps of Engineers park a couple of weeks ago. Looked to be custom built on a flat-bed trailer.

 

[pb4uski]

Something like that looks good as long as you don't have to travel with it very often or very far... sort of like a mobile home but much nicer and easier to move.

 

[capjak]

Apparently some places in Colorado are not tiny house friendly.

My Niece and her boyfriend evicted

Tiny House Eviction

 

[NW-Bound]

I am not surprised that they got evicted from a home backyard. But not allowed in a regular RV park?

Then, I recall that some commercial RV parks ban van or bus conversions, or home-built RV's. Some do look strange, like the one in the photo I link to below. They want to have conformity. It's too bad that they will not make exceptions for a well-built and good-looking home-on-wheel.

 

[pb4uski]

I would not necessarily say that they are not tiny house friendly. The subjects and the owner obviously did not check into zoning regulations before proceeding with plans to park the tiny house on the landowner's property. In our town, the zoning regulations are clear that a permit would be needed to park and inhabit a tiny home on your property and I suspect that in most cases it would be difficult to get a permit in a situation such as described in the link.

OTOH, if you had a lot and wanted to put a tiny home on it I suspect that a permit would be granted as long as the subject met the various zoning requirements (setback, etc).

Also, we have a septic system that is permitted for three bedrooms so having a tiny house on our lot that is tied into our septic would be a violation of our septic permit.

No disrespect, but your niece and boyfriend and the property owners seem to have been naive about the relevant zoning regulations.

That said, I am surprised that they were not welcomed at the campground, especially for just a few nights.

 

[timo2]

OTOH, if you had a lot and wanted to put a tiny home on it I suspect that a permit would be granted as long as the subject met the various zoning requirements (setback, etc)..

One would think, but that must not be the case or else the OP regarding the tiny house rezoning in Walsenburg, CO wouldn't have been newsworthy.

Also, here are tiny houses, Japanese style. Muji is making tiny prefab huts, and they’re as Muji as you’d expect - Quartz

 

[Bestwifeever]

I don't think our town has minimum home size requirements so one could build a tiny house as long as it met all the requirements. One couldn't build a separate tiny house on a lot that already has a residence on it, though, and one could not live in a mobile residence anywhere. I think that is pretty standard zoning around here. Even the new zoning in the OP's article requires the tiny homes to be built on a foundation, so capjak's niece would have been out of luck there too.

I think tiny homes are fun to read about it and see but our not-so-big house is small enough for me.

 

[timo2]

I think tiny homes are fun to read about it and see but our not-so-big house is small enough for me.

+1

Our current house of 20 years is 1332 sq feet. DW and I can't go any smaller and still stay married. Actually, DW is retiring in December and wants to sell our house and rent a bigger one until I retire in 2018, just so she can have a giant kitchen for once in her life!!

 

[NW-Bound]

As empty nesters, we rattle loose inside our home of 2700 sq.ft. But I see no point in downsizing, as we would not save that much money to downsize. Smaller homes in good locations are not cheap, and do not have a yard large enough for my wife's garden. So, I am going to die in this home.

One of my younger brothers just bought a house of 3900 sq.ft. It's a move up from his current home of 3300 sq.ft. We all shook our head, wondering what they are doing. They soon will be empty nesters too. We believe it's peer pressure from the circle of friends that they keep.

 

[W2R]

As empty nesters, we rattle loose inside our home of 2700 sq.ft. But I see no point in downsizing, as we would not save that much money to downsize. Smaller homes in good locations are not cheap, and do not have a yard large enough for my wife's garden. So, I am going to die in this home.

As you point out, smaller homes in good locations do not necessarily represent a cost savings at all. But I gather from your past posts that you could really afford to downsize to a small home in a good location with a large yard, if you really want to do that.

After your recent health scare and issues, I would imagine that (like for many of us) there is much appeal to living the good life while you can. So the question is not so much, "Will this save me money?" as it might be, "Is this potential move something that I think would add to my quality of life?" Nobody knows but you.

 

[FIREd]

We've been in downsizing mode for a few years, getting rid of a lot of stuff, moving from a 2,500sqft house to a 2-bedroom apartment. I swore that I did not want to go back to a large house. Ever. But, the 2,500sqft house is not selling. It's been on the market for a long, long time, and we have recently cut the price to blue light special level just to get rid of it (by far the cheapest house for sale in the neighborhood), no takers, not a single visit in fact. So we may be heading back to the house. But with a lot less stuff to furnish it -and no desire to acquire more than we already have- we might have to find creative ideas to use some of the empty rooms. I am thinking a yoga studio - empty room with a gym mat in the middle. The anti tiny house concept.

 

[NW-Bound]

Unless one has a really big home like the one my brother is getting, I don't think too many people downsize after they retire. Moving takes a lot of work, and selling costs money. People also get used to their area, and not too many people move in retirement. If they move, then there is more of a chance they rightsize to a home more suitable for retirement.

I have been in my suburban home for 27 years and know the area very well. The suburban lot is not large, but enough to have left-over areas after a good-sized pool for vegetable gardening. And the front yard is not that big, but enough to keep an RV up to a smaller class A on the 41' auxiliary driveway. I have no HOA, which is rare nowadays, and the city only requires that RVs are off the streets. New homes now come with smaller lots, and most smaller homes are townhouses. If I want a small home on a large lot, I may have to have it built.

So, I am staying put and looking to use the extra rooms for hobby activities. I am going to tear out the remaining carpet to put down a wood floor. There's enough work to keep me busy for a month or two early next year.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Johnsonville deploys Nonnas in mini-homes to deliver free meals - redeyechicago.com

The trifecta? Superfecta? So many popular elements in one event!: encased meats and pasta meals, cooked up by genuine Chicago Italian nonnas, delivered in tiny houses, by Uber drivers, free.