ADU, Travel, Community
Lina Menard
Maui, Hawaii

After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.

Maui, Hawaii
Tiny House, Travel, Planning
Lina Menard
Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla

A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.

Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla
Minimalism, Workshop
Lina Menard
Downsizing Tune Up

As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…

Downsizing Tune Up

Laura Klement

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Kicking Off Spring with Tiny House Prep

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giant chair and tiny house I returned home from teaching Less is More: Designing the Small or Tiny Home at Yestermorrow in Vermont to find that Portland had greeted spring in a cacophony of cherry blossoms! So it is time, officially to begin my tiny house build.

I celebrated the first day of spring with lots of tiny house prep. In the morning Laura Klement and I went to Green Anchors to check it out as a potential build site. Laura and I met in the Tiny House Design-Build class at Yestermorrow last October and she moved back to Portland to build her tiny home because, well, Portland is the epicenter of the tiny house universe! Laura and I are interested in building together because we are on a similar timeline and can help each other out and make things go more quickly.

Green Anchors is an alluring option for these reasons:

  • it's right under the incredible St. John's bridge
  • there are storage lockers available
  • there are other talented people who are up for skill sharing
  • the river is right there, which will be very tempting the summer
  • there's plenty of space to move comfortably around a tiny house
  • there's no need to worry about making a racket with power tools

The only big disadvantage is that it's a 9 mile bike ride from my house. And that's not such a big deal now that the weather is beautiful, but it's going to be a royal pain if I'm hauling things! I've considered buying a truck, but so far I haven't quite figure out how to make it pencil out.

In the afternoon, I went to Iron Eagle Trailers so I could talk to Rob and get exact measurements for my vardo trailer so I can refine my design. Rob told me that someone was coming down from Alaska to pick up a tiny house trailer. It seems like a long haul, but Rob is truly the tiny house trailer expert in the Pacific Northwest and he builds stronger, lighter, smarter, and less expensive tiny house trailers than anyone else I've found. I've been very pleased with the trailers Rob has built for me and I refer people to Rob all day long, so we recently set up a deal. If you tell Rob I sent you can get $50 off your trailer order! If you're thinking of building this summer, it's time to get your trailer into the production line! You'll be right behind Laura who placed her order last week.

I also made a trip to the hardware store to pick up my glue, clamps, and glue applicator so I can begin building my arched rafters for my vardo. Stay tuned for more about Building My Arched Rafters.

In the evening I went to PAD's Tiny House Mixer and it was a lot of fun to visit with fellow tiny house enthusiasts. I also loved seeing the update on Ben's tiny house. He's done a fabulous job with his tongue and groove interior siding. It looks beautiful!

Three cheers for cracking open the tiny house. Are you building this summer, too?!