Small Living

[NW-Bound]

Here's a later video of the same 8' by 12' house. Jay said the material cost was $17000, and the labor was 500 hrs.

The most interesting thing near the end of the video is that he admitted to needing a bit more room for his wife and newborn. So, that explains the more conventional 500 sf home in the same lot.

YouTube - A tiny home tour: living in 96 square feet

 

[bbbamI]

The most interesting thing near the end of the video is that he admitted to needing a bit more room for his wife and newborn. So, that explains the more conventional 500 sf home in the same lot.

Well, I can definitely see how easy it would be to get pregnant in that house....

 

[Westernskies]

Well, I can definitely see how easy it would be to get pregnant in that house....

Just like a jail cell, only different?

 

[NW-Bound]

Hmm... What about hammock? Er, never mind...

Well, there's this woman who lives in a similar tiny house. She looks perfectly sane to me.

YouTube - Woman Living In A 84 sq foot Home

 

[kyounge1956]

Hmm... What about hammock? Er, never mind...

Well, there's this woman who lives in a similar tiny house. She looks perfectly sane to me.

YouTube - Woman Living In A 84 sq foot Home

Without having watched the video (it's too late at night to wait for it to download on dial-up) I think I've seen this house online before. (KOMO is a Seattle station and the tiny house I am thinking of is in Olympia WA). If it is the house I'm thinking of, unlike Jay's, it has no sink and no shower. It's parked behind the home of some friends of the owner/occupant and she uses their facilities. IMO, if you have to go into another building to bathe or wash the dinner dishes, what you're doing is not "living" but "camping".

 

[heyduke]

pretty cool video and a nice little place dee has there... we will soon be downsizing as we sell our sticks and bricks house and move into an RV some one fifth of our house size and three times the size of dee's

 

[NW-Bound]

Without having watched the video (it's too late at night to wait for it to download on dial-up) I think I've seen this house online before. (KOMO is a Seattle station and the tiny house I am thinking of is in Olympia WA). If it is the house I'm thinking of, unlike Jay's, it has no sink and no shower. It's parked behind the home of some friends of the owner/occupant and she uses their facilities. IMO, if you have to go into another building to bathe or wash the dinner dishes, what you're doing is not "living" but "camping".

Yes, it is what you thought. I watched the video again, and saw that it had a toilet but no bath.

I think a small RV offers better amenities than these little houses. The RVs might not stand up to weather as well though.

 

[RonBoyd]

The RVs might not stand up to weather as well though.

In what way?

 

[NW-Bound]

I didn't say it right. The tiny conventional houses are easier to maintain using common materials. One can apply new shingles, slap on a coat of stain, etc... With RVs, it is nearly impossible to maintain the exterior, once they get old.

 

[RonBoyd]

I didn't say it right. The tiny conventional houses are easier to maintain using common materials. One can apply new shingles, slap on a coat of stain, etc... With RVs, it is nearly impossible to maintain the exterior, once they get old.

Oh. It probably would be much more expensive to upgrade the interior of a 10-year-old RV also.

 

[audreyh1]

I didn't say it right. The tiny conventional houses are easier to maintain using common materials. One can apply new shingles, slap on a coat of stain, etc... With RVs, it is nearly impossible to maintain the exterior, once they get old.

Seems like a full fiberglass exterior like in the Casita clamshell design with all rounded surfaces could last a really long time. Fiberglass boat hulls seem to last a pretty long time given proper maintenance.

Audrey

 

[ERD50]

Here's a later video of the same 8' by 12' house. Jay said the material cost was $17000, and the labor was 500 hrs.

Seems expensive. Material cost plus labor plus cost of the lot too.

$17000/100sf = $170/sf.

I think you could (round numbers) get a nicely appointed 2500sf house for $400,000 , constructed and on a lot in many areas. And that is less, $160/sf. And you wouldn't need to move if you wanted to share the space with someone.

Yes, I know, $17,000 is less than $400,000. But still.

Actually, thinking about the lady 'camping' in someone's back yard - it would make more sense to rent an 8*12 room. You would have even lower utilities with the common walls, and she's sharing a bath anyway. I bet what she is doing is prohibited by most zoning laws.


-ERD50

 

[flyfishnevada]

I saw these things a while back. They are called RV port homes. Usually a small area to store stuff, washer and dryer, whatever. Full hook ups. You live on the RV, but park it here when your not on the road. I've seen some that are like small homes and others that are nothing but for storage and utilitarian uses.

Saw some really nice stucco ones when i first saw them, but can't find them now. They were in a nice grassy development with plenty of room between them. Just a 20 x 20 foot building and an cover for the RV.

I think building one on a few acres in the woods somewhere, would be a great idea. Have a place to come home to after long RV trips that doesn't cost an arm or a leg.

Biggest problem with those tiny houses or living in a hanger or whatever is the local building dept. Some places you can live in just about anything, others get real picky. A friend of mine who has since passed away bought his lot in the next county. It took my exactly two hours to get my house plans approved. He was building a quonset hut for storage before he built his home. This thing was pre-engineering and his county ran him through the ringer. Took him two months to get it approved.

 

[REWahoo]

I saw these things a while back. They are called RV port homes.

Looks like you may have missed Audrey's thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...pter-in-audreys-great-rv-adventure-47430.html

 

[Purron]

Looks like you may have missed Audrey's thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...pter-in-audreys-great-rv-adventure-47430.html

Audrey's is much nicer!

 

[Dawg52]

Here's a later video of the same 8' by 12' house. Jay said the material cost was $17000, and the labor was 500 hrs.

The most interesting thing near the end of the video is that he admitted to needing a bit more room for his wife and newborn. So, that explains the more conventional 500 sf home in the same lot.

YouTube - A tiny home tour: living in 96 square feet

Not bad. Similar cottages were purchased by people on the gulf coast after the Katrina disaster. As they have built back permanent homes, some of the cottages have been sold to hunters for their weekend retreat. I know one guy who bought a couple and put them on his leased hunting land. I think he paid $8k each.

My neighbor bought one of these for his back yard. He uses it for his get away when the grand kids come over or his wife wants him out of the house. He has a window air unit to keep it cool, has a set of drums inside, tv, recliner, and small refrig for his med's. Looks pretty sharp too. I was going to take a picture of it but a car has it blocked at the moment.

Wooden Storage Sheds, Wood Storage Buildings, Barns, Virginia, VA

One thing I have found by living in my aunt's old house, small is the way to go. The house is roughly 1100-1200 sq feet, but half the house I use for storage. So I use around 650 sq feet which is plenty.

 

[MasterBlaster]

here is a picture of the Unabomber cabin stored in a warehouse in Sacramento:

replica of Henry David Thoreau's House at Walden Pond:

 

[Purron]

here is a picture of the Unabomber cabin stored in a warehouse in Sacramento:

replica of Henry David Thoreau's House at Walden Pond:

OMG!

 

[harley]

Without having watched the video (it's too late at night to wait for it to download on dial-up) I think I've seen this house online before. (KOMO is a Seattle station and the tiny house I am thinking of is in Olympia WA). If it is the house I'm thinking of, unlike Jay's, it has no sink and no shower. It's parked behind the home of some friends of the owner/occupant and she uses their facilities. IMO, if you have to go into another building to bathe or wash the dinner dishes, what you're doing is not "living" but "camping".

Well, actually, if she lives in an 84 sq ft house, that's only 4 sq ft bigger than the tent I use when I'm car camping. For myself. It's got to be big enough for my queen size aerobed, cooler, camp table, and clothes. We hang out in it and play cards if it's raining too hard to drink around the campfire. And I don't have the biggest tent in our group, either.

I do pack a little lighter when I'm backpacking, though.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Looks like you may have missed Audrey's thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...pter-in-audreys-great-rv-adventure-47430.html

I guess I did. Going to read now.

The other benefit to an RV is you can take it where it is warm. If it's warm outside it like a whole other living space outside. I couldn't do a tiny house or RV if I was cooped up inside by the weather for a few months. If, however, I was in Arizona in the winter and Montana in the summer, for instance, your real living room is under the awning on a warm evening. Your backyard is down at the trout stream or at the golf course. I think that is what helps make 350-500 sf livable.

 

[kyounge1956]

here is a picture of the Unabomber cabin stored in a warehouse in Sacramentosnip)

I gotta ask. Why is the Unabomber's cabin being stored?

 

[REWahoo]

I gotta ask. Why is the Unabomber's cabin being stored?

Depressed real estate market?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I gotta ask. Why is the Unabomber's cabin being stored?

Evidently it was stored as "evidence"

Slice of history on view in Unabomber's cabin - The Boston Globe

When FBI agents found Kaczynski, they also found a live bomb in the cabin. Over nearly two decades, his homemade bombs killed three people and injured 23 others. Visitors can look inside the mostly bare cabin's front door and envision the Unabomber sleeping against the wall.
"You can still see the outline, we think, of his body from the soot and smoke that built up from the wood-burning stove," said Cathy Trost, a Newseum official.
The cabin was stored in an FBI evidence facility after Kaczynski's bombing spree from 1978 to 1995. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.

CNN.com - Infamous Unabomber cabin saved at last minute - May. 2, 2003

 

[Koolau]

Thanks for the explanation. A very impressive use of space to say the least.

A room so small you had to go outside to change your mind!

 

[Andre1969]

Aren't those 8.5' wide motorhomes banned in California and some other areas? I thought I read awhile back that they were, but things may have changed since then.

Back in 2000, I came close to buying an old motorhome...a 1974 Travco 220. For only being 22 feet long, that sucker packed a lot into it. It even had a full bedroom in the back. I dunno if I could live in something like that full-time, but it would be fun to go camping in!