Tiny House Movement

[Dave]

I would agree. As has been mentioned here, tiny houses are more of a design exercise. They don't work for many people. If you're single, or are a couple with a good relationship, and want to remain mobile, then a wheeled tiny house would likely work for you.

But, if you have a hobby that you need a room for, or if you have kids, the tiny house probably isn't going to work very well for many. A small house, perhaps.

From what I understand, when Jay left Tumbleweed, it was over creative differences. He had a business partner who wanted to stick with the original premise, and Jay wanted to take things in a new direction. Personally, I think he's smart. He's seen the practical limitations of what can be put on a trailer frame, and has moved to a segment that will likely get more market appeal.

[PirateJohn]

Originally Posted by Dave

Personally, I think he's smart. He's seen the practical limitations of what can be put on a trailer frame, and has moved to a segment that will likely get more market appeal.

Actually ... Uh ... No. Most of those houses weren't even as big as a conventional travel trailer. No slideouts and most were less than 30 ft. long on an 8 ft. wide chassis.

With that said mobile homes and portable buildings go up to 16-18 ft. wide in many states. Even park trailers that aren't meant to be as mobile as travel trailers often go 10-12 ft. wide. You are perhaps best off getting a professional to move something like that but mobile home moves are generally dirt cheap.

I keep thinking that there has to be some scope for a truly modern, truly mobile home that is livable and affordable. Alas, I haven't found the ideal yet.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[cab591]

Originally Posted by lumpyrutherford

and resale might have a limited market, so the overall success of investment is questionable.

Originally Posted by Dave

I would agree. As has been mentioned here, tiny houses are more of a design exercise. They don't work for many people.

Pretty much exactly my point here. It's a cool design exercise, but a design exercise nonetheless. Which is why I'm more into the "small house" idea. Something sub 1,000 sq ft would still have some market / resale value in a college town. If anything, if I move elsewhere I could hold on to the property and rent it out to other students. But I have addictive hobbies that take up "space" at home... Mostly tools and car bits. Definitely couldn't do 8'x20'.

[madeouttaglass]

An unfinished basement with "walkout" french doors make our 1200 Sq. Ft. home perfect for my small business and working on motorcycles. That's a lot of fairly cheap storage space plus it keeps the house more comfortable year round.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by cab591

. Mostly tools and car bits. Definitely couldn't do 8'x20'.

Unless you put your tiny house on 12' posts and enclose the bottom.

[blacktruck]

I've lived in a less than 750 sq ft home for many years. It's just me for now but I have been there as part of a couple and it still worked well for us. You do have to figure out what you really need and use your space wisely. I see two substantial benefits from it along with many other smaller or almost intangible benefits. First is low utilities, I can heat and cool it very inexpensively, second is that my upkeep is very easy due to it's size. When I'm done here, I'm thinking about building an even smaller home just to take advantage of newer techniques and technologies. It ain't for everybody but I sure like my small home. If you come over thinking you want to stay for a night, I have no problem with that but you'll be on the couch. If you think you can't do that or want to stay longer than a night or two, the motel is down the road just a little ways. Not trying to be an ass but I see no reason to pay to keep extra rooms in my home for an occasional guest. If I did want to do that, I would have a hotel.

[overlandr]

Works well in Europe where pop density/history are major factors. Would it work in the US? Apols if 205.



Love the Storage/bedroom cube.

[garandman]

Very clever!

[Hannda]

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

I keep thinking that there has to be some scope for a truly modern, truly mobile home that is livable and affordable. Alas, I haven't found the ideal yet.

Saw these folks on a show called "Extreme RV."

http://www.andersonmobileestates.com/

If you had the ability to tow a trailer (ie, owned a semi rig) I'd think you could puchase a used trailer and do something pretty nice for far less than the cost of what they sell. 8x50 would make a pretty nice platform to work with.

[Manuel Garcia O'Kely]

Another approach to the small home that I think is ripe to be exploited are the SIP's. Come up with a decent basic footprint and exterior walls, floor, roof package, designed to drop onto a foundation - the foundation designed as dicated - slab on grade, crawl space or full basement, etc.

Interior layout could be one of several variations.

I would imagine that a pretty decent sized house could be delivered by two semi-loads of SIP's. They go up in a few days, then you finish as desired.

A 600 SF basement foundation holds up a two story 1,200 SF house - basic but you could have 3 bedrooms if you needed it.

And yes, the savings on utilities, construction materials and ease of maintaining a smaller home all pay off. My neighbor has a big house and spends upwards of $2,000. month on heat in the winter. I spend less than $1,000 on the entire season of heat and I buy wood and pellets retail. There are two people living in each house.

[JamesG]

Here's another Faircompanies one where she built a mobile tiny house from recycled materials (junk). Yeah, she's cute in that kooky hippie kinda way.

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by cab591

From the pics I've seen, the loft doesn't continue the length of the house (as it appears in the plans). Instead, there's a loft area over the bath / kitchen, and a second loft area over the front room, both accessed by ladders. The front room, while labeled "Bedroom", could really be used for anything. Or, put up a few curtains for privacy. They also have an "open" layout for this specific plan, where the kitchen is L-shaped, open to the living area. Much better in my opinion. More pics here.

EDIT: Here's the open version of the layout. Kitchen becomes more open. In pictures of the completed house, the vaulted ceilings and side windows bring in plenty of natural light to the main living area.

As I said, I'd probably change the plan around a bit. If it were me, I'd probably throw the kitchen up front, move the living area forward, and make the back of the unit the sleeping area, with 2 beds / 1 bath, and a sleeping loft up top. A single car garage, either attached to the kitchen-side of the plan, or detached, would be enough to hold tools, a bike, or a small car. I'd have to play around a bit to get the bedroom / bathroom layout right, but the idea is there.

Part of living in a small space is compromising. Some rooms will have to serve multiple purposes. For example, I lived in a small apartment with a few friends over the summer. And by that, I mean sharing about 300 sq ft with 3 other people. The only chick living with us got the luxury of having the 10'x10' bedroom to herself (though, we had to go through to use the bathroom, and we all shared the closet). The main room, about 10'x15', was our kitchen, dining room, living room, office, and bedroom for 3 of us! That was one hell of a summer. :

Truth is, all of us were perfectly comfortable with the layout and the compromises. But, life moved me (and later, one of the other guys) out of state, and the girl living with us got a job as an RA in the dorms on campus and moved out... Leaving one person in a 300 sq ft apartment that suddenly felt huge. :

The open floor plan version is imo nice. I'd have no qualms putting the bedroom up front, as it seems irrational to me to be worried about visitors in the middle of the night (I suppose I live in a nice enough neighborhood). I'm not exactly envisioning people dropping this house right next to a sidewalk in the city. It would be simple enough, imo, to just swap the sizes of the larger bedroom and smaller, and have the master in the rear.

The lofts are not functional as a master, per se. Sloping roof line would relegate standing height to an area about 5' wide in the center of the loft. It's storage--something any small space will need.

[madeouttaglass]

Originally Posted by DriveShaft

Sloping roof line would relegate standing height to an area about 5' wide in the center of the loft. It's storage--something any small space will need.

Dormers are your friend in those spots

[slackmeyer]

Originally Posted by JamesG

Here's another Faircompanies one where she built a mobile tiny house from recycled materials (junk). Yeah, she's cute in that kooky hippie kinda way.

I've been in that tiny house, that girl is the daughter of some family friends. Nice girl, and it's a cute little house, well thought out, and a lot of time and labor went into it. Like a lot of little jewel-box type places, you kind of wish for a chunk of solid colored wall without things on it somewhere, just to give your eye some place to rest.
I think she sold that house to go off to art school on the other side of the country.

[Tinfish]

Originally Posted by overlandr

Works well in Europe where pop density/history are major factors. Would it work in the US? Apols if 205.



Love the Storage/bedroom cube.

That's the nicest place I've seen in this thread, I think. I'm not sure I like the squeeze around the back up to the stairs, but I have wide shoulders and tight spaces like that make me feel a bit trapped. Good stuff.