Parking space size 84 sq. foot home. $6/month to heat-electricity is 'free'

Olympia, Washington: Dee Williams wanted a simpler, greener life -- so she built her dream house, an 84-square-foot cottage on wheels, which is currently parked in a friend's backyard. Not only did she save money using salvaged materials (the front door came from a dumpster, for instance), but the entire house is small enough to fit into a standard parking spot. Says Williams, 'Right now, there's nowhere else I want to be.'
(Betty Udesen/AMERICA AT HOME/www.myamericaathome.com)


Grand Marais, Minnesota: Julie Keane lives in a tiny shack on the property of her ex-husband near the Canadian border. It’s her workshop (for basket weaving) and residence while she constructs an octagon-shaped log cabin nearby. With her ex’s help, Keane hopes to finish in time for her and their two daughters, Meadow and Cedar Adams, 13 and 11, to move in for Christmas.
(Judy Griesedieck/AMERICA AT HOME/www.myamericaathome.com)


Williams’ trailer cottage is surprisingly roomy inside, largely thanks to its clever use of height. For example, Williams’ bed is in a loft above her kitchen. Williams is proud to have fulfilled her goal of minimizing her ecological footprint. Her monthly heating bill is $6 and, thanks to solar panels, her electricity is free. Her approach goes against the national trend: Americans consume 40 percent of the world’s oil and 23 percent of its coal.
(Betty Udesen/AMERICA AT HOME/www.myamericaathome.com)

And Haruka and I would end up divorced.

:evilgrin:

I could deal with living in a space like that (is there a shower?) by myself but not with anyone else.

nt

etc

share that kind of space with anyone. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I could share a McMansion with anyone, either - I'm kinda antisocial. :crazy:

I would have to have cable, internet, a shower, and a flush toilet, though. Those are non-negotiable!

well, maybe I could manage with a spouse. Just not my own!

Seriously, though, what makes a home like this possible is the setting. Both look pretty bucolic. Crammed next to a thousand other units, that's another story.

other "rooms" are the great outdoors.

Park that sucker in a city, and... not so much.

If I were back in college, living in a dorm.

That's pretty much what this place looked like, size-wise.

There is a large family a few towns over that took over a motel setup and each member has their own little bungalow house with a central large one for meals.

lol

a real bathroom would be imperative. That's the thing I would need. I could make do without a lot of space - although living in such a small space WITH other people would be a challenge for me.

But I need my real bathroom!

Daniel Boone National Forest there are some small homes like that. They were quite cosy.

The climate doesn't matter, although I would gladly get rid of the lizards. Oh, and the one cat has to be locked away, if you're eating meat. Otherwise, he'll attack you and steal it. On the plus side, he's a good hunter.

That's not even mentioning our five large bookcases, plus the stacks of books scattered about the house.

I could definately handle that arangement with the Mrs.

Myes that wouldn't be so bad at all :D

I just sent these pics to her.

No way two of us let alone with the little one would this work oh and the books.... THE BOOKS!!!!

on this planet than they do. When my kids moved out, each of their rooms became a book depository. I suppose if things get bad enough, I could always put a "BOOK STORE" sign in my yard and start selling..

.... nah.

so about 250 hardbacks, found their way this week to a collection center for a book fair that Planned Parenthood has every fall. It was a sad day losing all those printed friends but here's hoping they'll give someone else the pleasure of an escape and/or the knowledge to make educated choices about their lives and bodies.(NO FLAMES PLEASE).

I'm old and I've been accumulating reading matter and music every year of my life. If I started again now, it would be music downloads and a Kindle, because they sure do take up a lot of room in the current format!

Not that I reside in a McMansion or anything, but even my hunting camp is 20' X 24'...

It is also quite expensive considering the size. There have been threads on this home before. I believe it's about $36,000.00

Although it looks like this...

no mowing the grass for cobalt!!!

Oh man that would be excellent.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/loring/

I could live in one of those after the kids are out on their own. Only downside is the kids would have to camp out if they came to visit.

65 sq ft for $37000...$570/sq ft...ought to be a freaking marble lined palace for that per sq ft cost...

sP

It's just a garden shed with a loft ffs!

they have to be built to a much different standard than say the shed in the backyard because they have to withstand the rigors of the road for the lifetime of the home.

my daughter is off to college and when she does leave we'll be living in a much smaller place.

For weeks at a time? I have been down this road already.

Getting ready to have an addition put on here since after "my kids have moved out", because I need the room. They are multiplying like rabbits. Kids do that.

Don

I'll burn that bridge when i get to it and that day better be a long way away.

:D

Its like you wake up one morning and blammo! There are a few of YOUR grandchildren running in all directions and getting into all your stuff that you don't let no one get into.

Get prepared its a coming. Like a freight train.

Don

Not long ago, my wife got a call from an old high school friend...an old acquaintaince who was a graphics designer and song writer. In '05 we visited him in his modest apartment in Orange County...not much of a place and we were floored at the time when he told me he was paying nearly 1,000 a month for this poor excuse for a one-bedroom...but it was the best he could find and he was able to find jobs to cover his nut.

This last call, my wife was concerned, she had sent a holiday card and it came back "addressee unknown"...we found out he hadn't worked for over two years and was forced to moved from his apartment last year. At first he stayed with some friends but that didn't work and he said that for the past six months he'd been living out of his van...driving all over the coast and crashing in parking lots. He's too young and healthy for benefits and has to resort to food stamps to eat...and is totally dispirited.

It's amazing how in this day when millions have seen their incomes and savings crumble away, thousands of home defaults and foreclosures and we rarely heard about homelessness in this country. But it's very much there...and getting worse.

Laugh as you might as these people...we may be looking at similar places to live in the future if this regime continues to sell us out to the highest bidders.

built around the community garden, and possibly with a windmill or two. Probably never happen though, as cities strongly favor large houses for the tax revenue.

They call them KOA Campgrounds.

i definitely think that sustainable communal living is going to be the future.

that's a deal-breaker for me. I want my own bathroom. Preferably at a ratio of one toilet for each person!

Sharing that space was ok in college; I'm all grown up now and not too eager to repeat that!

I can't understand how anyone can live without books, although I understand the other two are more of an acquired taste.

I could take up going to the library for all my reading, but I have a stash of yarn and embroidery that would nearly fill that space.

But I couldn't live like that, my closet is bigger than her house. LOL!!!

I got a bathroom that is bigger than that.

Don

That's a box without amenities. Pass.

The shack in the OP wouldn't even come close to housing my book stash.

Then you can give them back!

I usually rack up heavy overdue fines when I check something out. Having to risk that with all my books? Pass. Plus, it doesn't allow for picking up something that a library might not have. Try getting Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein anywhere outside the New York Metropolitan Library.

These are vanity dwellings - the first woman lives in a friend's backyard, the other on her ex's land. No mention of sewage capabilities; merely putting in a toilet would nearly defeat the purpose of an ultra-mobile dwelling.

When I was a kid, we called these clubhouses. When they were in trees, they were called treehouses.

To maintain our crap.

Where does most of your money go? If you're anything like me it goes to maintain your crap that you have to have to maintain your crap job.

as an architect, i see these "homes" as counterproductive - they make people think that sustainability involves living like a monk.

I don't ask for much, but I would need a little more space than that. If the owners are happy, though, then so be it.

If he wasn't in the slammer.

Don

similar for the homeless that they could park in various places that were sheltered but unused. The government said no because of building laws and made them take them away leaving the homeless to the elements. There will be a lot of codes and other laws that need changing in many cities before you will be able to utilize this kind of housing. Also, you don't mention how she disposes of her grey and black water a sanitation concern.

when it's -40 degrees with 4 ft snow on the ground, hope it's insulated well. I live in northern MN

:bounce:

knock knock knock

:P

just so long as I have my music, smoke and internet I would be in heaven. :)

I first heard about it doing Katrina recovery. Thought the house on wheels was a great idea--your house can't get washed away if you evacuate with it. Or, people could live in these instead of FEMA trailers.

There are a lot of companies doing this kind of building now. One of my favorite companies is Ross Chapin Architects. His homes aren't as tiny as these, or on wheels, but they still have a pretty small footprint. This one is my dream home: Coho Cottage. Another company is Tumbleweed Tiny House Company--their houses are as small as the ones in the OP. If I was to build one of their homes, I'd choose their Ernesti design.

so that's right out for me!
LOL I want to shag, and if that's not feasible, than no thanks! :)

in all seriousness, it beats being without shelter, but i imagine with more than one person it gets rather rank pretty fast!