Inside the Bodega

Over the years, we’ve accumulated a catalog of interior photos for our tiny houses on wheels. However, since we don’t build the larger houses (250 square feet or more), but only sell the plans, we simply haven’t had the photos to show. We’ve begun creating 3d drawings of the interiors, and will add more photos for our other “small houses” over the next few months.

Bodega House Plans on Sale

The Bodega has a fireplace, a full bath and kitchen (261 sq ft), and also has the option for an add on bedroom (356 sq ft). Designed with cost savings in mind, the house is proportioned just right. Charming and bright, the simple use of space and building materials keeps construction costs low without sacrificing design. The plans come with an option for a full loft over the great room, kitchen and bathroom, or a 1/2 loft with a cathedral ceiling over the great room.

Estimated Material Costs: $22,000

Inside the XS-House

In 2005, Jay lived in the XS-House, our smallest model on wheels. HGTV filmed him inside the house. Jay sold the house after living in it for just 1 year, and this video is the only peak inside. The XS-House has a kitchenette and bathroom.

Proposal to amend

Proposal to amend IRC Code Restricting House Size:

Analysis:

Environmental Costs: The International Residential Code dictating how small our homes can be has helped make our houses the biggest in the world—four times the international average. At well over 2000 square feet, the average American house now emits more than 18 tons of greenhouse gasses every year, consumes a quarter acre of forest in its production and dumps seven tons of construction waste into our landfills.

Economic Costs: Excess and economy are mutually exclusive. We can have exorbitance, or we can have the serenity that a sensibly sized home affords, but we cannot have both. Like anything else that is not essential to our happiness, extra space just gets in the way. It requires maintenance and heating, and ultimately demands that we exchange a portion of life for the money needed to pay for these extras. Mortgage payments can appropriate thirty to forty percent of a household’s income not counting taxes, insurance, or maintenance expenses. [Read more]

Building the Fencl

Over the spring of 2009 we built our largest home on wheels, the Fencl. This little house is 130 square feet and features a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping loft, fireplace and much more.

How long did it take to build?

Jay Shafer, the designer, and a crew of 4 others built this house over 10 weeks.
We spent 825 hours to purchase materials and build the house.

How much did it cost to build?

When all was said and done we spent $19,148.
Jay shopped around and shaved almost $2,000 from the cost when he found a trailer 100 miles away at a much lower cost.

Build one myself?

Depending on your skill level and determination it is possible to build one for a fraction of the cost of buying on already built. We do recommend hiring licensed contractors for the plumbing and electric work. When we build a house we hire specialist for those tasks. Typically, the electrician and plumber are the highest paid people per hour, so we keep the amount of their work limited to just those two areas. We spent less than $2000 to have that work completed on the Fencl.

When we build a house we usually hire a finish carpenter as the job foreman. We keep the number of workers at any given time to 2 or 3. Aside from the finish carpenter and electrician and plumber, the other crew doesn’t need as much experience.

Buy this house from Tumbleweed?

This house can be purchased for $53,997 plus shipping and applicable tax.

Is the price negotiable?
We price our homes with a very low markup. We do not leave room in our pricing for a discount. Our expenses are subsidized by selling ad space on our website and by the sale of our books. We are proud of the fact that we pay our crew a fair US wage with insurance.

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