HI Folks,

Macy over at Minimotives – “Less is More” has a page that links to over 200 tiny house blogs! This is a fantastic resource if you are researching building a tiny house of your own. Here’s the link: TinyHousers One section links specifically to a cob house and another to other useful sites. Her whole site is filled with useful information – check it out.

Just to let you know, I am planning on catching you up soon on the finishing of my house and aspects of living in it and what my future plans are.

Happy Trails,

Robin

Hi Folks,

I wrote this entry as a comment to a post on the Tiny House Blog regarding “Things I Don’t Like About My Tiny House”. There is a lot to learn from such posts and the comments if you are thinking of building and living in a Tiny House. I hadn’t found articles like this before I planned and built my home so I feel very grateful that my house suits my needs so well.  I spent months drawing and re-drawing. I day dreamed about being in my house, what I wanted it to feel and look like and what I wanted to do there. I laid out the space in the yard with string and walked around in it and tried to imagine it in 3D with my things in it. Still, I didn’t really know how it would be in the end. I’m happy to say that I truly feel at home in my home and it’s perfect for me.

Here’s a link to that post: http://minimotives.com/2013/09/06/things-i-dont-like-about-my-tiny-house/   Now follows what I wrote:

I’ve built my own tiny house that I designed (I’m 61 and had a lot of the same concerns as the other “older” commenters) and I must say that I love how the space has turned out and works perfectly for me. I spent many months figuring out just what I really needed and wanted to make sure I’d actually have room for it. This includes that I can do yoga in my living room, I have an electric piano and actually enough room so that another musician can join me in playing music at my house. I can’t do the yoga and have a cellist playing in my living room at the same time though!

My house is 8’6″ wide and just under 13’6″ tall – fitting most of the “down-the-road” no-need-for-a-permit limits. I used a larger flatbed trailer (28′ long and then 8′ of gooseneck) so my bedroom is up a short flight of stairs (5 steps and I have a hand rail) and it is an actual bedroom with a closet and a chest of drawers and double bed. I definitely did not want to sleep in my living room or climb up a loft ladder every night and have the shortened head room over my bed. I have a totally workable kitchen, plenty of storage and a bathroom with a composting toilet and RV-type shower/tub. It isn’t palatial, but it works for me and has worked for my guests.

Speaking of guests and possible visits by eventual grandkids – I have a loft with two twin mattresses in it and a ladder and also a double bed sofabed for my elderly guests – or me if I can’t even make it up the 5 steps to my bedroom because of illness or injury. I even have a built in wine rack and a collapsable trampoline.

I also have radiant floor heat run by a dual water heater that heats the floor glycol and also provides the insta-hot for my domestic water needs. I have a 100gal water tank in another storage loft and can run my electricity from my solar or by running my propane generator or by plugging into “shore” power if I need to. I fill my water tank about every two weeks – more often if I am doing laundry by hand in my large, deep kitchen sink. I got a laundry plunger and a hand wringer and have set up some hooks in my living room (I have a retractable clothesline) so that I can hang laundry there to dry if the weather is bad.

It does tweak my laziness button at times when I have to empty my urine bottle and the compost from the solid waste side of my separating/composting toilet (Nature’s Head). I have two of the urine bottles though so one is always empty and I never have to deal with it in the middle of the night. The compost is emptied about once every two months. The urine is every 3 days or so.

It does take planning to figure out where to put my house. I’ve been in one beautiful place for over 7 months and now need to find another place. Fortunately I don’t have to leave in a hurry so I have had time to hunt for the right spot and meet the people whose land I will be on. This summer we had a fire nearby too and were evacuated. Though in theory I can move my house, ironically the fire fighters wouldn’t allow me to get into the evacuation area with my truck to move it. Luckily it didn’t burn down. Sadly, many immoveable homes did burn.

I think building on the larger gooseneck trailer is the main thing that allowed me to have what I really wanted in my house. Goosenecks are more stable and easier to maneuver to drive down the road too – which is important since my house is quite heavy and tall.

That’s it for today!