Jay Shafer's Video on the Politics of Small Homes

There is a lot of chatter on the small homes front today.  This interview with Jay Shafer, founder of Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, and Guru of tiny homes in general, is definitely the lead story of the day.

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Tumbleweed Lusby For Sale On eBay

UPDATE:  BIDDING ENDED MARCH 28, 2011.

Check it out.  I met the woman who is selling this at one of Jay Shafer's workshops in NYC.  The house is finished and ready to move into.  Currently located about an hour from San Francisco, but able to be moved to the place of your choosing, or left right where it is. You can get all the details at the link below.

Walt Barrett's Micro-Home Video

Some of my readers may either know, or know of, Walt Barrett.  Walt is an enthusiastic member of the tiny and sustainable house movement, as well as sustainable living in general. As tiny homes go, they don't get much tinier than this.  This video shows that building a micro home is pretty simple and that it can be easily handled by two people in a pretty short time period.  All materials are easily obtained at any D.I.Y. home store.

It is my understanding that Walt has made considerable improvements to the design since this video was made, including an additional module containing a kitchen and bathroom.
Hey Walt, if you read this, can you tell us how we can learn more & give us a link to the latest video or other information?

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High Quality Bungalow Cottage on Wheels

Bungalow Cottage Exterior.

Todd Miller is an Oregon based architect who founded The Oregon Cottage Company.  It appears he's been bitten by the tiny house bug.  The photos and plan depicted here show what he calls the Bungalow Cottage, which seems to borrow heavily from the Fencl model designed and produced by Tumbleweed Tiny Houses (featured in my 02/25/2011 blog post, see the Fencl post by clicking here).  It is significantly different in it's interior layout than the Fencl however, and some people may find this variation suits their sensibilities better.  The unit is 8' x 20' and has about 130 sq. ft. of habitable space, plus a sleeping loft and a storage loft.  I like the way the loft ladder slides in a track and folds so that it can hang vertically when not in use, thus minimizing it's interference with usable space.

 

He also sells complete plan sets for $250.00 to anyone interested in building this design themselves.  You can learn more about this model and his other work by visiting;

Clever 12' x 24' House Design Video

Michael Janzen from Tiny House Design ( tinyhousedesign.com ) of California came up with this clever and efficient design.  It's 576 sq. ft. with a full loft, or 432 sq. ft with a half loft.   It would be very inexpensive to build due to it's diminutive size, basic shape, and simple foundation.  I asked him yesterday if he'd finalized the design, but he said that unfortunately he's put this one on the back burner for awhile.  Perhaps posting it here today will help move it back to a front burner so he can finish it up and make those plans available.  Many people, myself included, find this to be a very appealing design.  

Tumbleweed Fencl in New York

Me on the front porch of the Fencl 

My photos don't do it justice, but the Fencl is a great leap forward in terms of a sense of spaciousness within a small footprint.  For those familiar with the Tumbleweed Epu, this is essentially the same floor plan, but with a small bump-out near the entry, and a vaulted ceiling over the primary living space.  This results in a small expansion of usable indoor space, which many would argue is a significant improvement all by itself. It's the vaulted ceiling though that creates the increased sense of spaciousness.
You can learn a lot more about the house in the pictures, and all of Jay Shafer's other designs by visiting this website:

"Zero House" A Totally Self Sustaining House Concept

This concept is called the Zero House, and it was developed by a couple of architects who attended the Yale School of Architecture. 

Image © Specht Harpman Architects

 

Image © Specht Harpman Architects

Together, they have a firm called Specht Harpman Architects, with offices in New York City, and Austin, Texas.  The concept is extensively and remarkably well thought-out.  Absolutely no external hookups for electricity, water supply, or waste removal are required.  

It collects and stores up to 2,700 gallons of rainwater in a series of cisterns near the top so that the fixtures below can all be gravity fed, thus requiring no pumps. The water is filtered, then sterilized with UV light.  A 7,000 watt photovoltaic panel system on the roof feed electrons to an extensive battery bank that may not only meet, but potentially exceed the home's electrical requirements. Perhaps there would be a little left over to charge-up the electric car?  

It sleeps four adults and comes equipped with two king sized mattresses.  LED lighting, a Sun-Mar low flush porcelain toilet with remote composting chamber, tons of clever storage, a large flat panel TV, built-in furniture, a full-sized refrigerator, microwave oven, and an induction cook-top in the kitchen are all part of the package. 

Image © Specht Harpman Architects