Meet Our New Builders in Colorado

When Dave Fisher says he has a family business, he means it. The Fishers grew up Amish in Pennsylvania, and true to their roots, are very talented when it comes to carpentry: they just finished building their first Tumbleweed Fencl in about two weeks.

Dave and his brothers have been in the construction industry since 1993. Believe it or not, his favorite project from the Montana days was a subdivision. They got to build all of the houses in the development, ranging from about 1,500 to 3,000 square feet in size. Now the brothers have scaled down significantly. Their company, The Shed Yard, specializes in high quality storage sheds, garages, gazebos, and other outdoor buildings and accessories.

Only recently, however, did it occur to the brothers to try their hand at a tiny house. "Someone approached me at a home show in Denver and told me to look up Tumbleweed. I went to the website, and thought, I'd love to build one of these."

After attending the Santa Rosa workshop in October, the brothers met up with Tumbleweed's Paul Farr. They talked for hours, and made a decision: the brothers would build a Fencl, and thus be added to the growing network of Tumbleweed builders- great news for Colorado! Given the company's experience with building small structures, tiny houses made a lot of sense. "The great part about building the tiny house was that we could do it inside the warehouse. We could stay warm in the Colorado winter, and didn't have to have any building permits- we'd never experienced that with other kinds of house building."

This is the first time they have built anything on a trailer, but it didn't prove too much of a challenge for the intrepid brothers. They've got team work down to a science: Dave's brother Ben handled most of the wood cutting, while Dave preferred the assembly portion. Ben also handled the wiring, having experience wiring large houses. Alan, Dave and Ben's brother-in-law, managed the interior and put some of the finishing touches on. Dave's sister and his wife helped also a great deal, running errands and handling other business. The only person to work on the house who wasn't related to the Fishers was the plumber!

Keeping warm inside- look at that beautiful wood!

While the house is nearly identical to the Fencl plans, they did make a few modifications. The house is wired to easily accommodate solar panels, and the low-flush toilet can be replaced with a composting toilet. Dave wants customers to be able to customize the house with ease, and to encourage off-the-grid living. If he can convince his wife, he might even build a self-contained Fencl of his own. 

To see more images of their Fencl, Click Here

You can check out their beautiful Fencl this coming Saturday, December 15 2012 from 1 to 4 at the Shed Yard in Colorado Springs. It's for sale, and it won't last long. 

Open House This Weekend in Colorado Springs

Hey Colorado! 

The brothers over at The Shed Yard in Colorado Springs are having an open house for their brand new Fencl this Saturday. 

This is their first Fencl ever, and it's a beauty. It's also for sale. 

The Shed Yard is located at 2108 Victor Place in Colorado Springs. Stop by between 1 and 4 pm on Saturday, December 15! 

Getting Tiny at UCLA

Last weekend's workshop in LA was a great success. Despite the rain and a series of confusing road blocks on the UCLA campus, we all managed to find our way to the De Neve plaza Saturday morning. The energy was high, and the conference room was lovely- it even came equipped with coffee!

As a new member of the Tumbleweed family, this was my very first workshop. I was thrilled to get a chance to meet some key players: the weekend speakers featured Jay Shafer, along with self-proclaimed "Tumbleweed poster child" Austin Hay.

 Austin talking about his house 

This was 18 year old Austin's third time as a guest speaker at a Tumbleweed workshop, and he was a big hit. He captivated the group with his tales of poorly measured couches and burnt cookies. Austin's supportive dad was also present- in addition to being a great sport about driving us around in circles on the campus, he fielded a number of questions about parenting, house building, and Austin's personal hygiene.

Hailing from as far as Alberta, Canada, to Atlanta, Georgia, this batch of tiny house lovers brought a ton of information to the table. There were couples, individuals, and some awesome parent-child teams. The most exciting part of the workshop was when the graph paper and pencils came out: with help from Austin and Jay, the participants got a chance to draw out their own floor plan ideas. 

 Austin was particularly helpful to those interested in designing spaces for young people

After we'd had a chance to brainstorm on our own, Jay led a group critique. I loved hearing some of the questions and ideas regarding innovative material usages and layout plans.

Critiquing plans 

Over the course of two days, stories were shared, friendships formed, and business plans hatched- what a great opportunity to network with fellow Tumbleweed fans. We can't wait to see what kind of wonderful projects you come up with!

If you attended the workshop and would like to leave feedback or if you have any questions about upcoming workshops, please feel free to write a comment below. 

MAKE Goes to Tiny House Camp

Our intrepid man of tiny house mystery,  Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, was in Vermont recently for a Tiny House Summer Camp. Thanks to MAKE, we have a little video to share. Deek is über-knowledgable about building tiny houses. Draw a tall drink from his well of knowledge at our Chicago and New York Workshops. Both locations are on sale until the end of the month, so act fast!

Tumbleweed Pinterest Contest #3

Here we go! Welcome to our 3rd Virtual Tumbleweed Contest. The theme this time is 'The Perfect Retreat'. We are looking for boards that showcase what your perfect tiny house retreat would look like. Here are the rules:

1. Build a board on Pinterest with "VTC3" in the title. That way, I can find it when I search.

2. Once you've build your dream virtual Tumbleweed, send an email to brett@tumbleweedhouses.com with "VTC3" in the subject line.

3. Pinterest pinboards can be submitted starting today, August 21, 2012 through Sunday, August 26, 2012.

4. Have fun!

On Monday, August 27, 2012, I will post the top 10 boards as determined by our staff. You can vote for you favorite board through Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 5:00 pm PST. The winner will be announced on Friday, August 31st, 2012.

And now the good stuff: The prizes! A copy of both the DIY book and the Small House Book, an official Tumbleweed t-shirt and a tote bag. 

I can't wait to see what you fine, tiny house lovin' folks come up with!