High School to Build Tiny House

Sue Danic spent summers in her gram’s pre-World War I cottage and ever since, she’s wanted a tiny house. She’s seen it all: straw-bale, cob, rammed earth, cabins, sheds, tree-houses. Or, at least, she’s bought the book, visited the website or attended the workshop. In 2009, Sue traveled to New York City to attend Jay Shafer’s tiny house building seminar. Eureka. She hit gold. Since, she couldn’t build on her gram’s land, a tiny house on wheels would solve her first problem. Problem Number two was building the thing. Sue has almost zero talent in building. Sure, she’s built a table and even a bench, but a project of this size was beyond her grasp.

Enter Bob St. Cyr who teaches construction and cabinet making at Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School (KCI). This was a project that Bob thought his construction and cabinet making classes could accomplish under his guidance. The plan is to build the entire structure in one semester. The students will not only build and finish the interior, but they will blog about their accomplishments while building the Fencl.

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 [Read more]

VIVA LA TINY REVOLUTION

All of our midsize houses (250s.f.- 800s.f.) should meet all IBC size restrictions, and the little ones should get around such building codes because they are not buildings; they are vehicles.

Laws dictating how small our homes can be were introduced back in the 70s and 80s by lobbyists from the housing industry. It had become clear that, as the number of houses being sold by the industry leveled off, fiscal growth would remain possible only so long as the size of their product was increased. Size restrictions were thus written into building code at the federal level and adopted by municipalities throughout the US. Banks quickly followed suit by providing loans only for houses large enough to warrant the cost of the land on which they would sit. Local zoning, in turn, ensured exorbitant land costs by generally demanding that each little house sit on a parcel no smaller than one required for a large structure. [Read more]

Viva Victoria!

Thanks to your continued requests to host an open house in Victoria, we have se aside the time from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on July 14, 2008. When we planned our tour, we had no idea we’d receive so many emails and so much interest. It was fantastic, and we’re greatful for your enthusiasm. We received requests for so many more stops, and we wish we could stop everywhere, but we need to keep to our time frame. We are already discussing another trip sometime next year. Your feedback will definitely play a part in deciding where we stop on our next tour.

Our largest house yet!

Over a dozen new green home designs are almost here. Pictured to the left is the updated Enesti. Jay has added an optional bedroom on the ground floor. These plans are complete, and the new  house measures a tidy 774 square feet for the 3 bedroom version (ground floor pictured on top). When you purchase the plans, you’ll receive plans for both the 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom versions. The bottom picture features the side view of the house with the additional room.

The following five houses will all be updated shortly:

Harbinber

Bodega

Loring

New Vessica

Sebastarosa

…with more plans to come next month.