Lee's Community Build in D.C. - Part 1

Lee Pera and a group of tiny house builders attended a Tumbleweed workshop last year. This year, they broke ground on their tiny house community in Washington, D.C. Below is an update from Lee who will be guest blogging her tiny house community adventure with us regularly. If you're interested in starting a group build in your community, drop us an email and we'll work with you to connect with other tiny house enthusiasts, builders, and suppliers in your area. 

We’ve been doing preparatory work this week meeting with other tiny house builders, scoping out materials and prices, looking at designs we like, and helping Brian out on the lot and garden beds.  Making decisions usually stresses me out, and all the decisions that go into a tiny house have been overwhelming me, so it felt good to already decide on a couple things while looking at materials.  For instance, I love the look of the interior of the Protohaus and have decided to go with bead board rather than the knotty pine that the Fencl tiny house plans call for (saving a significant amount of money as well).  I have also decided I really like the look of cork flooring and many of its benefits and will most likely go with that for my flooring – whew…two decisions made effortlessly!

The biggest news this week is that I may end up downsizing even more.  Originally I planned on building on a 22 ft-long x 8 ft-wide trailer, extending the Fencl out by 4 feet in length and one foot in width.  But this week we were out for beers with our new tiny house friends Margaret and Zach – who are building an amazing tiny house in South Carolina – and Zach told us about an ad he had seen for a tiny house shell.  It’s a fabulous deal, but the main issue I had with it is that, while built on an 18-ft trailer, the shell is just 16 feet long and 7 feet 10 inches wide.  Could I really lose 6 feet of interior space?  That’s a lot of room in a tiny house.   Still, the price is less than what my trailer itself will cost, and the seller was excited that we even knew about tiny houses.  Tony talked with the builder/seller and he seems to have done solid work, and Zach checked it out in person for us.  It looks like I’ll be buying the shell all built out!  We will finish the roofing, siding and interior starting in June.

Next, Tony and I went to spend some time hanging out in the Fencl (18 ft long x 7 ft wide).  After spending about an hour, moving about in the rooms, hanging out in the loft, scoping out storage, I think I can make a smaller unit work.  It will require getting creative about storing my stuff (or getting rid of more), but I’m excited about the challenge.   I like to think I adapt easily to wherever I live and the size will be fine, but if it’s too small I can design and build a larger one over time.  It will be useful to spend some time in one first to get an idea for what I really want and need in size and design.  I’ll post more photos of the shell soon.

Happy Trails II

I've met so many great folks in every city (and at every gas station) I visit. Some folks have driven more than 6 hours just to see the house. Thanks to everyone for the enthusiasm and support.

I look forward to Pittsburgh this evening and Philadelphia tomorrow. Then it is off to New York for the final workshop. It took me nearly an hour to back my way out of a narrow Iowa City driveway with low branches, but, other than that, the house has been pretty easy to tow.

Keep it tiny,

Jay

Happy Trails

I'm writing from Cheyenne, and I'll be in Boulder by lunch time. Thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm. I get recharged every time I pull into a city and see all the smiling faces or get the thumbs-up from other drivers. Special thanks to Ginny, Sheila and Judy for letting me stay at their place in Salt Lake, and to Mark, Jodi, Scott and the good cop for spontaneously coordinating the parking and all.

I meet so many good people through these open houses.

Thank you all.

Happy Trails.

Jay Shafer

California Nevada

Utah

Utah again

Wyoming

Victoria Challenge

Unfortunately, we've hit a snag in the road crossing the border to Victoria, BC. On the road, one of the taillights on the house was broken, and Jay was not able to board the ferry with a broken tail light. He rushed to the auto parts store and got a replacement, but was not able to return to the ferry on time.

Jay is scheduled to take the evening ferry and arrive at 11:00 pm. He will host an open house from 11:00 pm until midnight in the ferry parking lot.

What to expect at an open house

Our West Coast Tour began today as Jay left this morning for Seattle, Washington. Tomorrow, he'll host his first open house from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Habitat for Humanity. Over the next three weeks, Jay will host a total 12 open houses.

Each one is two hours long. We've picked locations that are off the beaten path to keep traffic down. We recognized that we could attract much more attention by parking in busy locations, but decided that it was more important to meet our loyal fans. We wanted to keep the passer-bys to a minimum, and have more time with you, our supporters. We hope the crowd will be small and Jay will have time to answer questions. Please keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to see the house and ask some basic questions, but Jay will not have ample time to answer a long list of questions.