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!

There seems to be growing interest in the small home movement to use steel or concrete pipes as the shell of a tiny home.

There is an interesting discussion on the subject that’s just begun on the Tiny House Forum.

Alex on the Tiny House forum is exploring the idea of using a T shaped section of corrugated pipe as the shell for a living space. I think the idea has some interesting potential and would fit right in to the modern architecture aesthetic. (Can’t you just see lovely round windows or a funky curved doorway at the end of each section?)

There also seems to be a lot of interest around Scotty’s vertical design on the Tiny House Forum using a concrete pipe.

And as I’ve previously written about, sewer pipes are currently in use as hotel rooms at the Park Hotel in Ottensheim, Austria.

If you find the concept of using pipes in tiny home construction interesting, I encourage you to join the discussion over on the Tiny House Forum.

As part of planning how to better use the available space in my tiny bathroom, I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at bathroom fixtures. Ikea has just come out with their new line of sinks and cabinets and there are a couple that I think would be of interest to people building or remodeling their own tiny homes.

I’m really excited about Ikea’s new LILLÅNGEN sinks and cabinets. I think they are very clever in their use of space including their inset soap dish and towel rack. The smallest model (featured in the picture below) is 15 3/5″ x 16″. I have a feeling that I’m going to be using the next largest size (23 5/8″ x 16″) in my own bathroom.

It looks like Ikea doesn’t have the smallest size of ÅNN sink available for purchase on their website, but keep an eye out because it should be appearing shortly. I think this would make a perfect sink in something like a Tumbleweed or Tortoiseshell tiny home bathroom.

The Lagan sink is 17 3/4 ” in diameter and comes with both sink strainer and stopper.

If you’re looking for a slightly larger stainless sink, the Boholmen is 18 7/8″ x 19 5/8″. There is no pre-drilled hole in the sink unit, giving you free choice in placing the faucet. (Which is great news if you wish to place it in the corner.)

I’m sure these are just a start in terms of what’s out there for do-it-yourself tiny home builders. Has anyone else out there found anything they’d like to recommend?

Those of you who are interested in earthships might enjoy following Jessica Reeder’s experiences as an intern at Earthship Biotecture.

In August 2008, Jessica sold or gave away most of her possessions and began traveling to learn “about sustainability, organic farming, green building, and ecological innovation.”

Jessica is an engaging writer who’s life seems to be a series of never-ending adventures.  Recently she’s written about her experiences visiting 611 Ecovillage, learning about Phenology (the study of reoccurring natural phenomena), and trying Rideshare as a means to get to Los Angeles.

Jessica has just began completing a month-long internship on earthships in Taos, New Mexico.

You can read her first few posts on earthships and follow her continuing adventure at Uprooted: An Eco-Travel Blog.

“Henry David Thoreau is a singular character — a young man with much of wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and somewhat rustic, although courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks

Henry David Thoreau may be a minimalist who died over a century ago, but he apparently is hip enough to be using Twitter.   Twitter users who are as a big fan of Thoreau as I am may want to consider checking out ThoreauPage.

On Twitter, Henry describes himself as “an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist”.  His twitterfeed includes photos of places important in his life, quotes from his writing, and a variety of intriguing links.  Recent links have included books and poetry inspired by his work and a link to the Thoreau Farm Trust.

As someone who deeply regrets not having the opportunity to have had tea with Mr. Thoreau in his humble cabin, I think it’s great fun to have little snippets from Henry show up in my TweetDeck.

Thank you to Shedworking for this Friday discovery.

As you well know, there is currently a movement afoot to go smaller.  After decades of being told that everything must be bigger, from our houses to our cars, more and more people are beginning to move in the opposite direction and go smaller.  This change is happening with cars (thanks in part to the gas crisis) and it’s happening with homes as well.

There are more choices in small, eco-aware housing than ever before.  Take for example, the weeHouse.  The people at weeHouse have designed studio homes that measure only 14′ x 26′ and take up a rather wee 341 square feet.  They have a multitude of other configurations and sizes as well. Sizes range from 341 square feet all the way up to an impressive 2,150 square foot model.  Their smaller designs, in additional to their 341 square foot model are 672 sf and 812 sf.

The price for the studio at 341 sq ft is about $64,000 and the largest model costs about $255,000.  This is not a bad price at all considering that it is for a brand new 2,150 sf home.  Of course, this does not include the land, the cost of laying down the foundation or other additions.  However, for those interested in both small homes and modular homes, a weeHouse is a definite option.

The weeHouse concept is an interesting one. The weeHouse team has attempted to create a modular home that looks nothing like what most people expect.  The weeHouse team has created over a dozen size options and possibilities.  This is a home that will appeal to those who are looking not only for something different, but also something that is perhaps a little more on the smaller side of the housing spectrum.

Part of what makes the weeHome so attractive is that in this day of ever increasing home energy prices, the units have been designed to be very energy efficient.  The typical American home uses around 700kWh per month.  weeHouse has recently teamed with Fusion, an alternative energy provider.  The plan is to drastically reduce the amount of energy that a weeHouse can use.  Through Fusion’s add-on solar and wind energy kits, a typical weeHouse will use on 260kWh per month.  This is a striking difference when compared to the 700kWh per month number racked up by the average American house.

The weeHouse home designs look very modern, and have the additional benefit of being modular in design.  One has to appreciate the effort that weeHouse has put into finding a way to make their design even more eco-friendly through their partnership with Fusion.  The energy packages that weeHouse and Fusion have created for the weeHouses only makes the process easier for those looking for a eco-friendly small home.  If the weeHouse concept sounds like a good fit, check out their site at www.weehouse.com.  The site has all thirteen models options shown complete with floor plans.