Small Home Weekend in Portland

This weekend is jam-packed with small house events! Some folks are even referring to it as Tinypalooza! The Build Small, Live Large Summit on Friday, Nov 6th will take place at Portland State University. I'm moderating the Space Efficient Housing Policy Roundtable, which includes a great line-up of panelists. On Saturday and Sunday Dee Williams' company Portland Alternative Dwellings (PAD) is leading a Tiny House Basics Weekend Workshop.

On Saturday, I'll be leading a Guided ADU Tour, showing off 11 fabulous ADUs in Portland. I've lead Guided ADU Tours a couple times now and they're always a blast. This one should be, too, because the ADUs on this tour are beautiful and use lots of clever space-saving tips which I get to point out. Coordinating the ADU Case Studies Project the past two years has been a fabulous experience! I've learned a great deal about the challenges related to ADUs as well as the creative solutions homeowners, designers, and builders have developed. It will be fun to share these tips, tricks, and cautions with the group of people joining me for the tour. My guided tour is sold out, but you can still Register for the ADU Tour and take yourself on a self-guided tour. If you can't make it, keep reading the ADU Case Studies to learn about how other people have created second dwellings to create community, housing flexibility, and additional income.

Finally, on Sunday Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel is hosting a Tiny House Tour and they've asked me to be there. It's always fun showing off Tandem, the tiny house I helped finish out for Orange Splot when I had my Summer Dream Job: Tiny House Design-Building.

I look forward to the chance to geek out with so many other small home lovers this weekend. Will you be there? If so, what are you most excited about?

Lucky Penny Open House

This summer, with the help of lots of friends, I've been building myself a tiny house on wheels called The Lucky Penny. It's time for my little house to make her public debut so we can show off our handiwork before she moves to her new parking spot in a tiny house community. (The house isn't done yet, so I'll continue working on it afterwards, but you'll get the big idea anyhow!) If you're in the Portland area on Friday, October 10th from 3-8pm, please swing on by the Lucky Penny Open House at Green Anchors (8940 N Bradford Street*) to see the house and wish us well before her maiden voyage to Simply Home Community.

And, of course, if you feel like lending a hand this weekend as one of my Tiny House Helpers, please let me know which day and time you can join us. I'll be hosting my last big work parties for The Lucky Penny at Green Anchors on Saturday, Oct 4 and Sunday, Oct 5 from 8AM to 6PM.

* The location is a little tricky to get to the first time. The site is called Green Anchors (8940 N Bradford Street) and it's located almost right under the St. John's bridge. Here's how to get there: from St. John's, take Baltimore down the hill towards Cathedral Park. When you get to the bottom of the hill the entrance to Cathedral Park will be directly in front of you. Turn right and there will be an orange and blue building on your right. Stay left and go along the railroad tracks. Just when you think you've done something very wrong you'll see the gate to the left that says Vintage Boats. Turn in there and drive (or bike or walk) until you see the purple tiny house on the left. That's the tiny house cluster and my trailer is right there.

Snow Day Catch Up

It's been three weeks since my last post, My Tiny House Starts with a Window, but it feels like it's been ages. What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! And, as is my way when I'm life switches from full to busy, I've written more posts than I've posted. Fortunately, Laura Klement has already posted about three of the big events in her post Tiny Chairs, Houses, and a Mixer, which leaves me to write about other exciting events from the past few weeks.

And what a perfect day to do it. Today is a snow day! The Snowpocalypse has gone so far as to drop several inches of snow here in Portland, OR of all places. So I have the perfect excuse to snuggle up on my window seat with hot cocoa and catch up on Little Life posts.

Two weeks ago I began working as the Living Building Challenge Assistant for the Breathe Building. I'll be doing material research and tracking as this community wellness center pursues the world's most rigorous green building standard. I'm looking forward to being part of the challenge.

Speaking of material research, the week I started up with the Breathe Building I also made a trip to Cotton Cloud to investigate options for my bi-fold mattress and I began researching my tiny appliance options in earnest. I've enjoyed swapping notes with Ben Campbell of Ben Builds a Tiny House. (It's amazing how much appliance options have changed since I first began exploring them four years ago!)

Last weekend I co-taught a Tiny House Basics Workshop with Dee Williams and Joan Grimm of Portland Alternative Dwellings (PAD). The workshop drew 22 people who are exploring everything they need to consider as they decide whether or not to create a tiny home of their own. It was fun to have them explore Sweet Pea through interactive activities. And, of course, I enjoyed talking with them about everything from applicable building, zoning, and RV regulations to electrical systems and community building. Their tiny house dreams were contagious and I can't wait to see the tiny homes they create! (I'm especially eager to watch Jeannie's house plans evolve since she's basing her wee abode on Baba Yaga's! Hopefully she'll keep me posted and I can keep you updated, too!)

Finally, Niche Consulting LLC now has a logo, thanks to my incredibly talented friend Jeanne McMenemy of Calligraphica - who was able to extract the idea from my brain and put it to paper - only better than I imagined!

Meanwhile, I've continued working on the ADU Case Studies Project and TinyHomes.com is now set up with daily contributors. Watch for catch-up posts over the next couple days!

Tiny Open House at Bayside Bungalow

Two years ago, my friend Brittany gave me one of the best gifts I've ever received when she offered to let me rent her tiny house on wheels to decide if the Little Life is really a good fit for me. I LOVED the little house and my first Year of Living Little, so I've been living in tiny houses ever since. Now Brittany rents her tiny house out by the night so other people can try on tiny. On Sunday, August 18th she's opening Bayside Bungalow up for anyone to come see for themselves. If you're in Olympia or can get yourself there, go check it out! You'll find her invitation below:

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Many people over the past year have asked if they could see the Bayside Bungalow and check out the tiny little house that I now rent out as a vacation rental.  Alas, the time has come for a (tiny) Open House!

Are you interested in exploring, testing, touching, trying, photographing, peeing in (the composting toilet - duh!), measuring & learning more about tiny houses?  Then this is for you!  Learn about how it was built, why I decided to build it, how it works, what goes in (water, electricity & food) and how it all comes out (gray water, urine-diverting toilet system), and most of all - does it fit YOU?  Bring on the questions!  Bring a sketchpad, measuring tape & camera & explore this tiny house.

What: Open House at the Bayside Bungalow tiny house vacation rental

When: Sunday, August 18, 2pm-6pm

Where: The Bayside Bungalow in Olympia, WA

Your host: Brittany Yunker, builder & owner of the Bayside Bungalow

For directions & more info, photos, or to make a reservation, visit www.baysidebungalow.com

Please invite a friend & swing by!  I look forward to meeting you.

Cheers,

Brittany YunkerThe Bayside Bungalow ~A tiny house on Puget Sound~ www.baysidebungalow.com Olympia, WA bbyunker@gmail.com 360.556.9719