Every now and then someone comes along to remind us that just about anything is possible.  Take for example, Michael Janzen.  Janzen made a pretty big splash last year because of his work with a very tiny house.  Janzen decided to leave his traditional home behind… in favor of a smaller one.  Of course, as we all know, finding a unique small house is always something special.  However, what made Janzen stand out is that he got his small house for free.

Janzen has been earning his tiny house through sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness.  Thanks to Craigslist, Janzen was able to collect all the materials that he needed to build his small 80 square foot home.  His story was even featured in The New York Times. And the story about  his “free house” is still going strong. Just last week, Janzen posted an update about his project on his blog tinyhousedesign.com

Janzen’s story is a great one because it underscores what is possible in tiny housing.  Much can be accomplished with tiny housing for some obvious reasons.  By needing less materials and land, it is possible to re-envision home building.  Because fewer resources are needed, new possibilities are opening up for would-be homeowners.  Janzen’s ingenuity has carried over to his tinypallethouse.com website, which promotes the idea of using pallets to build quick, cheap emergency housing.

Of course, competing with “free” is a pretty hard act to follow.  However, there are many low-cost alternatives to consider when looking for a tiny home.  Take for example, Bungalow In A Box.  This innovative company  in Maine is building some cheap and very sharp looking homes that can be delivered to locations.  Their 12′ x 16′ Bungalow is about $14,000 if you live fairly close to Maine.  If you need delivery, it runs $4 per mile.

Obviously, if you live in San Diego, you might want to consider another kit builder.  But if you are in New England and are considering a tiny house, make sure you check these guys out.  They can do custom designs and have built homes as large as 4,400 s.f., and other structures as small as 60 s.f.

With a little looking you can find an amazing variety of tiny homebuilders and individuals who have amazing ideas where tiny homes are concerned.  The notion of building a home from free material found on Craigslist should spark everyone’s imagination.

Jay Shafer at Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has just release a new small home design, the New Vessica.

The New Vessica is designed with two options–the bedroom in the loft or downstairs.  It is 278 square feet or 372 square feet, respectively (not including the loft which is not considered “habitable space” in standard square footage calculations).

This tiny house is designed to be a stationary home, affixed to a foundation, rather than on a trailer like many of Shafer’s smaller designs.  It is also not a modular home, meaning it cannot be built and shipped to you like some prefab designs. This home is designed to meet International Building Code.  Estimated building costs are $100-$200 per square foot depending on the local cost of labor.

Through the end of March, the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company is offering a discount $200 on the plans for this tiny home.

Plans for this small house can be purchased through The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.

The world of housing is on the verge of being changed forever.  New attitudes, new designers and new techniques are set to merge with a global re-evaluation of how, where and why we build homes.  New visionaries are on the scene and they are definitely shaking up the concept of what a house should and can be.  Slowly the idea of lugging tons of wood, brick and mortar out to a home site is beginning to fade.

One very interesting company that is having an impact on the tiny home movement is kitHAUS.  kitHAUS has some striking designs and great ideas, with homes ranging from 187 square feet all the way up to 289 square feet.  Their largest design is the K1, is currently available in California.  If you like lots of sunlight and want that “wow” factor in your home, then this tiny house delivers a substantial punch.  One entire wall is an essentially a massive window, measuring almost eighteen feet high and seventeen feet across.  If that is not enough light for you, then consider that the K1 has windows that wrap around an  entire section of the house.

In addition to a great design and a very modern look, consider for a moment that the K1 kit, which largely consists of aluminum, comes delivered on a truck ready for assembly and can be assembled in just a couple of days.  There is even an off the grid solar option by Ready Solar.  K1 just has that cool factor that will grab most people’s attention.  At $75,000 dollars it may not be the cheapest small home on the market, but it definitely one of the most eye catching.

If you are on a tighter budget then maybe you’ll want to consider the K4, which is about 187 square feet and costs approximately $43,000.  While smaller than the K1, the entire K4 kit weighs a mere 7,000 pounds.  There is even a solar heating and air conditioning unit that has been designed specifically for the K4.  Much like its larger cousin the K1, the K4 has ample light exposure and a very innovative design.  Many will appreciate the prominent shutters and the maple plywood walls.

Take a peep at the K1 and some of their other innovative designs at www.kithaus.com.  If you are considering a tiny house or a modular home, these sleek, modern designs might be a fine fit.

A growing number of writers are beginning to cover the small home movement. This is fantastic news for people interested in the small home movement.  However, keeping tabs on the wide range of tiny homes being covered could easily become a full-time occupation.

Beginning this week Coming Unmoored will begin recapping the latest homes featured by tiny house writers.  Please keep an eye out for this every Friday, and plan on having some fun browsing sites when TGIF fever hits on Friday afternoons!

Tiny homes featured in the past week:

Old Place Cabin

Walt’s Micro Home

Kai’s German WeeBee

JB’s Tiny House

Free Spirit Spheres

Green Retreats

The Long Long Honeymoon (airstream trailer)

GreenPod Homes

Signal Shed

Tiny Cob House

Amanda and Tyson’s Tiny House

Trailerwrap Project

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

If you are considering a tiny cabin retreat,  you really might want to consider the Metrocabin from Cabin Fever.  The Metrocabin is a modular structure that is designed to be highly functional and sturdy. The Maximo unit is 16 feet by 20 feet and has a price of about $32,000 dollars.  The smaller Medio unit is 12 feet by 16 feet and cost about $20,000.  Cabin Fever can also build larger units on request.  The Metrocabin concept seems to offer a lot for the money and also has some nice modification options.

Part of what makes the Metrocabin concept so interesting is it happens to be extremely versatile.  Almost every aspect of the design can be modified, and the prices for all the options are easy to understand.  Everything from air-conditioning and heating, to wall finishes and electrical packages can be changed and upgraded.  Sometimes builders overlook the notion of being able to modify tiny homes.  The option to modify a tiny home is especially nice when considering that one needs to be highly satisfied with the interior space, due to the inherit lack of space.

Cabin Fever is definitely approaching the tiny home concept from the perspective of building homes to be tough.  Much attention is given to the issue of foundations, structural engineering and roofing.  Consequently, their design is pleasant but lacks some of the wow factor of other tiny home models.  Still, as a retreat cabin the Metrocabin is a fine concept. Since the Metrocabin is a prefab kit, built in a factory, it can be assembled and shipped anywhere in the country.

It is obvious that they have put a great deal of thought into the concept and have created a solid home kit.  Yet, in this increasingly environmentally aware era, it would be nice to see some sort of solar power option, especially as this advantage is so common in prefab housing and small homes in general.  However, this fact alone should not deter those who are considering buying a cabin retreat, for Cabin Fever has created a solid product with the Metrocabin.  Take a look at Cabin Fever’s website to see if the Metrocabin concept might be a good fit.  The overall cost of the kit definitely makes it an attractive contender in the tiny house market.

Don’t tell me that you don’t have your days where you think about just leaving it all behind.  If only you could get in your car or truck and tow your house away, start over somewhere a new…

Well, guess what?  You can do just that.  There are many tiny houses that you can quite literally hitch up to your truck and drive away with.  Lodge-On-Wheels does exactly what you might expect from the name, it is a tiny house that is on wheels.

The concept behind Lodge-On-Wheels was born out of the great American tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina.  Before Hurricane Katrina, the founders of Lodge-On-Wheels specialized in restoring historic homes.  After Hurricane Katrina, founder Julie Martin felt it was time to head in another direction and begin building small, portable homes.

This tiny house measures in at about 10′ x 20,’ but has much of what you would expect and hope for out of any house.  There is a surprisingly decent sized kitchen and bathroom, and a really fun sleeping loft in the rear of the home.  One of the main aspects of Lodge-On-Wheels that is bound to please, is how much like a “real home” the Lodge-On-Wheels concept feels.  The all wood interior design really does look like a lodge and the fact that there is enough room for a bed, table, couch, kitchen and bath is a testament to how much can be done with the available space.

The homey feel of Lodge-On-Wheels, combined with its $38,000 price tag, makes it a definite option to those looking to join the tiny home movement.  This is certainly a very green alternative to building a summer home, for example.    Many people are using Lodge-on-Wheels as an innovative Summer home.

Since its inception after Hurricane Katrina, Lodge-On-Wheels has been in numerous newspapers and magazines and even covered by the BBC.  See what all the buzz is about at www.lodge-on-wheels.com.  They also have some great photos, and include a glimpse into the building process itself.

Bill Kastrinos at Tortoise Shell Home has been working on a new design–the Zen Tortoise.

The Zen microhome was designed with the assistance of a feng shui master.  The home is 8 feet x 12 feet in dimension and can be built using either a wood or steel tech frame.  The home features a 30 Amp entrance panel, 1212 Romex wiring, Pex plumbing, a Lakso ceramic heater, and Hardee Panel silica siding.

The home (without kitchen) starts at $28,500.

Additional information can be found on Tortoise Shell Home’s

Hillary at This Tiny House has just launched the Tiny House Village Network a private online community of small home enthusiasts.

Hillary is hoping to use the forum to help like-minded aspiring tiny home owners connect, particularly with supportive landowners, and begin planning actual communities across the United States.  She writes: “Though many laws prevent us from manifesting this vision, we are actively creating a commons as a response to the escalating housing and debt crisis.”

I’ve been on the forum for a few weeks now, and it hosts a pretty fascinating mix of people.

If you’re looking for a way to meet and interact with other tiny home enthusiasts, I encourage you to check the forum out!

When you think about small housing and making the most out of a tiny amount of space, it is natural to look to Japan.  The island nation of Japan may appear fairly large on a map, but consider for a moment that much of the nation is too mountainous to build upon.  Add to this the fact that much of the remaining land is allocated to farming, and you begin to understand the Japanese obsession with maximizing small living spaces.

With this obsession in mind, many Japanese architects are building upon the Japanese tradition of “going small.”  Much like the elegant Bonsai Trees, these architects are paving the way with some very innovative and tiny homes.

The Schemata Architecture Office’s entry into the small houses world is definitely a striking one, not soon forgotten.  Schemata’s outrageous 63.02 house in Tokyo is a stellar example of how to build a home big on character and style in a surprisingly small space.  You would never guess by looking at the 63.02 house that it is only about 260 square feet.

You may be wondering where this strange name originated.  The 63.02 derives its name from the fact that the house is inclined 63.02 degrees.  The 63.02 is a stunning piece of architecture and design inside as well, proving once again that much can be packed into a small space.  Check out Yanko Design to learn more about this fantastic concept.
Another tiny home coming from Japan is the ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ by the Japanese architecture firm of Kochi Architect’s Studio.

Now the ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ could sort of be described as the slightly evil twin of Schemata Architecture Office’s 63.02 house.  Both tiny homes take advantage of the visceral use of unexpected angles and slightly off-balanced, yet paradoxically harmonious shapes.  Two big differences do exist between these two small wonders.  ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ has a dark exterior whereas 63.02 has a white exterior.  The second most striking difference is that the ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ has a rougher exterior, where the 63.02 is smooth.  ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ and several other very innovative designs can be seen at the Kochi Architect’s Studio.

Both of these homes are impressive examples of both what can be done with a small spaces, and  how Japanese architects are addressing the issue of space maximization.  With these talented architects, the tradition of building elegant and small structures is in good hands.  63.02 and ‘Atelier for calligrapher’ are definite inspiration for anyone wanting to build a standout home with a small footprint.  These Japanese houses have a small footprint both in the amount of land used, as well as in their overall impact upon the environment.

Thanks in part to the economy, the small home movement is receiving increasing attention in the media. For those who are a little less obsessed than I am about the small home movement, it’s growing increasingly difficult to keep tabs on everything that’s going on. So, beginning with this week, ComingUnmoored will begin offering a weekly index every Monday of recent tiny home coverage in the news.  (I’m a little ahead of schedule with the first listing due to Twitter announcing this post before I had intended.)

Media:

Very Little House on the Prarie, The Economist
Small House Movement Gets Bigger, Natural Home Magazine
Little Home on Wheels Can Oil for Cheap Mortgage, Times Online
Small But Perfectly Formed, The Financial Times
Tiny House Movement, ApartmentTherapy
How to Downsize and Live Debt Free (Written by RowdyKittens), Times Union
Simple Living, Oprah
Living Large in a Tiny House, Yes! Magazine

Websites and Blogs:

Design for Nine Square Feet, BoingBoing
Tiny Free House, ApartmentTherapy
How Tiny Houses Work , HowStuffWorks
Tiny House Roundup, Shedworking
Tiny Homes Are on the Move, Amarillo Texas Real Estate
15 Houses Under $6,000, This Old House
Heating Your Tiny House, Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

There are also a growing number of wonderful writers covering tiny homes. Starting this Friday, we will also begin providing a weekly summary of blog entries on tiny home options. Stay tuned!