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Post by doctork on Jul 8, 2012 13:17:05 GMT -5
I subscribe to an e-newsletter called Tiny House Living. I am sure this is a big surprise, right? Anyway, here is a very cool link in yesterday's newsletter. It is a detailed report of a small (68 sq ft) guest house in a Seattle resident's back yard. It's perfectly suited to a steep backyard, and even has a cool grotto attached. I had some thoughts along those lines for our Bellingham house, almost makes me want to move back there just to do something this cool. The owner/resident used mostly recycled materials for construction - not only green, but inexpensive as well! www.houzz.com/ideabooks/857113/list/Houzz-Tour--A-Guesthouse-and-Grotto-in-68-Square-FeetThere are a lot of other ideas, and hundreds of thousands of photos, at this same website. Dream away!
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 8, 2012 21:57:25 GMT -5
Very Cool. It's like using marine ideas and building it on land.
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Post by jspnrvr on Jul 9, 2012 5:51:31 GMT -5
Now......just figure out a way to put that place, grotto and all, on a barge. Though, I guess people live on boats so they won't have to mow their balconies.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 9, 2012 8:40:10 GMT -5
That certainly is one perk.
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Post by doctork on Jul 9, 2012 23:12:46 GMT -5
Now......just figure out a way to put that place, grotto and all, on a barge. Though, I guess people live on boats so they won't have to mow their balconies. OK, you ask, here they are, a whole bunch of tiny houseboats, the main one, and then the links, one of which is to the Sweet Pea HouseBarge: www.tinyhouseliving.com/2012/07/07/houseboat/tracy-metros-560-square-foot-houseboat-tour/All from the newsletter Tiny House Living, which seems to appear in my inbox more and more frequently. Must be a rapidly growing trend. I am starting to think in terms of building a Tiny House in Ecuador, or my newest favorite idea, Uruguay.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 10, 2012 8:31:22 GMT -5
I thought your newest, favorite idea was Alaska?
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 10, 2012 8:39:19 GMT -5
Well, Retro Metro is Cute, Cute, Cute! Not functional as a boat, but cute. We call those Floating Apartments.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 12, 2012 8:56:24 GMT -5
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Post by doctork on Jul 12, 2012 22:46:13 GMT -5
I thought your newest, favorite idea was Alaska? I am always getting newer newest ideas, they just keep on coming. Alaska is kind of far away, and if I didn't do well in Bellingham winters due to short days, imagine how hard it would be in Alaska where there are NO days in the winter! But here is what I like about Ecuador or Uruguay. See right now, we have two "summer" houses, when the wiser thing is to have one summer place and one winter place. Or a boat for summers in the PNW, and a land yacht for winters in the southwest. [BTW you might want to consider a permanent address at escapees in Texas, which is good for the mobile: www.escapees.com/Default.aspx]I do not particularly love very cold weather, though it is better than very hot, which I do not tolerate at all. So perpetual spring would be perfect for me. In Ecuador, one can live in the Andes, on the equator, but still a temperate climate due to the altitude. Winters there, summers in NC or WA. Plus Ecuador has Pacific Ocean beaches, Andes Mountains, the Amazon jungle, and if that is not enough for one country, then they have the Galapagos Islands too! Or consider Uruguay which is quite a bit south of the equator, meaning its seasons are the opposite of the US. Winters there, summers in NC or WA, but in actuality, it's perpetual spring. And it is stable and very diverse in population, quite European in feel. I have not been there yet, so will have to check it out in person.
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 13, 2012 0:22:43 GMT -5
Or consider Uruguay which is quite a bit south of the equator, meaning its seasons are the opposite of the US. Winters there, summers in NC or WA, but in actuality, it's perpetual spring. And it is stable and very diverse in population, quite European in feel. I have not been there yet, so will have to check it out in person. Great Idea!
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 22, 2012 14:45:40 GMT -5
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Post by joew on Jul 22, 2012 20:39:34 GMT -5
When is a home not a house?
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Post by BoatBabe on Jul 22, 2012 20:47:29 GMT -5
When is a home not a house? Ummmm . . . well, a house is not a home unless there is love in it. But a home is not a house when it's a boat . . .
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Post by joew on Jul 22, 2012 20:53:43 GMT -5
Some comments on the article also claim that under building codes in the US, it's not a house if it doesn't have a bathroom.
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Post by jspnrvr on Jul 22, 2012 21:26:59 GMT -5
Some comments on the article also claim that under building codes in the US, it's not a house if id doesn't have a bathroom. That house is about the size of some outdoor bathrooms I've used; all it needs is the half-moon on the door and a hole in the seat.
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Post by gailkate on Nov 16, 2012 9:14:56 GMT -5
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Post by BoatBabe on Nov 16, 2012 10:20:15 GMT -5
Ingenious, for sure. That's pretty outrageous. Personally, I wouldn't call that a house though, I would call that a camper. With a really bad view. And no way of moving it.
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Post by joew on Nov 16, 2012 12:41:42 GMT -5
I suppose it's a big step up from a prison cell.
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Post by doctork on Nov 16, 2012 18:51:34 GMT -5
Gee guys, the house is 3 stories!
But BoatBabe is right, I want a tiny house that is mobile. And I am not crazy about the merged toilet and shower, though I am fine with no bathtub since they take up so much room.
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Post by gailkate on Nov 16, 2012 19:54:32 GMT -5
I suppose it's a big step up from a prison cell. heh
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Post by gailkate on Jan 27, 2013 19:48:19 GMT -5
www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=254009988058826&set=a.241930959266729.56914.241929422600216&type=1&theater I can't seem to copy the actual pic, but hope you can follow the link. This is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Saw on FB, something called Creative Designs.
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Post by doctork on Jan 28, 2013 13:02:22 GMT -5
I agree - way cool!
BTW, I am going to the Tiny House "How to build one" workshop in Santa Fe at the end of February. First step. And it occurs to me that one very good reason for attending in Santa Fe is that it is relatively close, a half day drive. Maybe those in the workshop will become friends and help each other with our projects.
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Post by doctork on Nov 27, 2014 22:06:39 GMT -5
I found a really cool, zero-energy small house. At 800 sq ft, it's not really tiny: www.solar.arch.vt.edu/design/index.htmlI'll have to say that Virginia Tech did a great job on this innovative design (even if it goes against the grain for a Mountaineer to say anything good about Hokies!)
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Post by BoatBabe on Dec 6, 2014 11:49:26 GMT -5
Wow! That is one heck of an interesting design. That makes much more sense to me than that "moveable, tiny, house" genre. However, it seems to me that the "moving" part is from manufacturer to permanent installation, and then the ability to move all sorts of walls, doors, windows, stairs and room configurations after the permanent install. It would be difficult to uninstall, but given enough time I'm sure it could be done. The lumen HAUS seems to be more focused on energy efficiency, green living and the ever popular "small footprint" with walls that tell you how the house is performing, than continuing to be quickly transportable. I think it is very cool! Clean lines, all high techy, with enough surfaces for Joe's stuff stacking.
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Post by BoatBabe on Dec 6, 2014 12:07:17 GMT -5
And, like gk, I apologize for taking so long to scroll down and see your post, Doc! That's one thing that still throws me in this new forum: When there are posts in several different threads in the same category, if I read just one thread the NEW thingy goes away for the whole category out on the home page. I need to remember to click on each category and then SCROLL DOWN.
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Post by doctork on Dec 7, 2014 11:05:31 GMT -5
Yeah I think the LumenHaus is meant to stay put once you set it in place. But the moving walls and furnishings make it flexible, adaptable and sustainable, plus it is beautiful. I love the Zero Energy concept and the openness to the surroundings.
Most Tiny Houses are meant to stay put once built; they are on wheels only because so many municipalities have minimum foot print requirements for permanent dwellings, but exclude "trailers" from size requirements. So if you put your home on wheels, you are allowed a smaller home. Zoning laws often prohibit a place with "only" 600 or 800 sq ft, let alone 100 to 240 sq ft, but that is enough space for many.
The moveability appealed to me because of my locum tenens assignments - I could take my own house with me to a new location. The hourly pay for locums is much higher if you don't need a house and car supplied for you. And I like the appearance of a Tiny House as opposed to a trailer/RV, though many locums docs live in their RV.
A Tiny House could be installed permanently on either our NC or WA property. We could live in the Tiny House and rent out the "Big House" for retirement income if needed. Or a caretaker could live in the Tiny House while being available to care for us if needed. We've had health issues so it's a good idea for us to be realistic about planning for the future.
Thom's clients in Arizona have demonstrated that older adults may find they do not necessarily need huge spaces, or even the 1500 - 2500 sq ft homes they owned when raising their children. Tiny Houses can be an alternative for some, and a place like LumenHaus could be a great choice for anybody, especially in this era of diminishing resources.
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Post by BoatBabe on Dec 7, 2014 11:35:32 GMT -5
I really liked the 9-minute documentary as it showed much more of the flexibility and different functions of the house. I was also surprised that all of the "guests" were drinking martinis instead of wine.
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Post by doctork on Dec 7, 2014 12:53:15 GMT -5
I really liked the 9-minute documentary as it showed much more of the flexibility and different functions of the house. I was also surprised that all of the "guests" were drinking martinis instead of wine. Martinis!!?? What are those Hokies up to anyway? The video really displays how the house "works." It took me quite a while to explore that website and figure out all there was to see. The house is truly a remarkable design achievement.
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Post by doctork on Dec 13, 2014 14:08:42 GMT -5
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Post by BoatBabe on Dec 13, 2014 20:10:06 GMT -5
Yup. Living on a boat qualifies for Tiny House Status. That's a cool link there, Doc. I see that a lot of the stuff that she calls "hard work" is because 1) they are on a sail boat and 2) they've only lived aboard for one year. Here's another cruising link that is really fun. These folks are from our neck-of-the-woods. They are cruising with their two kids and a cat and they are on a power boat. Adagio is the boat name. They've gone down the west coast and are now in Mexico. I think this link will take you to their latest post. You can go back and read more. They are a HOOT.adagiocruising.blogspot.com/2014/12/december-12-2014-bahia-de-tortuga.html
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