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

Now Collecting ADU Stories from Across America

Now Collecting ADU Stories from Across America

Calling ADU Owners, Dwellers, Designers, and Builders from across America to share ADU stories for an exciting new project with AARP. The many benefits of ADUs - especially for multigenerational families - have caught the attention of AARP. They've commissioned a publication about ADUs, which will feature half a dozen case studies of ADUs with various configurations and uses. If you're an ADU owner, dweller, designer, builder, or city planner and you believe you can help with this project, we'd love to hear from you! Just send me an email at accessorydwellings@gmail.com by February 28th, letting us know which of the four items above you'd like to assist with and send along a photo!

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Dinner for Six

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This weekend Isha and I hosted our first dinner party for six here in T42. And it turns out it was actually trickier in our house than it had been in Bayside Bungalow, but we made it work and had a great time, too!Isha and I spent most of the afternoon Saturday prepping things up, using mostly ingredients from our winter CSA from Full Plate Farm and we had fun working in kitchen together.

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Tiny House & ADU Design Workshops in Feb at PCC

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Tiny House & ADU Design Workshops in Feb at PCC

Winter is a great time for your design process if you'd like to get your project launched this coming spring or summer. 

This Winter Term I'm teaching two fun weekend design classes through Portland Community College: 

In these intensive two day workshops we cover many of the considerations for designing a small space, visit with special guests who have created ADUs or tiny homes (respectively), and go through a set of design exercises to help you develop a design of your own. 

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A New Job in the New Year

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A New Job in the New Year

The weeks between Winter Solstice and New Years Day are often reflective time for me anyhow, but that's been especially true for me this year. For one thing, I have my new spouse to dream and scheme with. Isha and I have been making our lists and checking them twice as we identify our goals, what we're going to commit to, and what we're going to let go.The other big life change this year is that I am delighted to be starting a new job as the Operations Coordinator for Green Hammer tomorrow!

Containers, Cabins & Cottages

Containers, Cabins & Cottages

Now that Yestermorrow is offering both the Tiny House Design-Build course in July and the Tiny House Design-Build Certificate in April/May, which both cater to the on-wheels crowd, we've decided to try something new, which is transforming the Less is More class into a week-long Containers, Cabins, and Cottages class, focusing on simple, creative small solutions that are NOT on wheels. 

Testifying in Support of Small Homes in Oregon

Testifying in Support of Small Homes in Oregon

The week before last I caught a ride to our state capitol Salem, OR with Kol Peterson... We went to the Oregon Residential & Manufactured Structures Board to testify regarding the provisions drafted by BCD regarding HB 2737 - the small housing bill in Oregon. I can't make it tomorrow so instead I sent the following letter today.

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ADU Design Workshop Fall 2017

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ADU Design Workshop Fall 2017

This past weekend I taught another round of the ADU Design Workshop through Portland Community College. Nine students from Portland and the surrounding Metro area participated in the workshop this weekend, bringing projects ranging from garage and basement conversions to backyard cottages, additions, and renovation of a pole barn. Some of them had relevant professional backgrounds (appraising, real estate, amateur drafting) and some of them were brand new to design, development, and building.

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ADU & Tiny House Design Classes at PCC

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ADU & Tiny House Design Classes at PCC

Have you been dreaming about an ADU or tiny house for years now? If these long rainy days have you noodling and doodling, come join us for a design class to start making it more real! Fall is a great time to begin your design process if you'd like to get your project launched this coming spring or summer. This Fall Term I'm teaching two fun weekend design classes through Portland Community College!

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Tiny House Jamboree 2017

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Tiny House Jamboree 2017

I had a great time getting inspired by people in the Pro Session I facilitated on Friday and the Design Tips & Tricks session I presented twice on Saturday. On Sunday I really enjoyed picking the brains of people living in vans and skoolies and attending sessions like the Diversity Panel at the Village Stage and Courtney Carver's Project 333 presentation. I spent most of Sunday morning exploring tiny houses in DIY Village with new pals Kim and Stephanie, whom I'd met in my sessions.

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Skeletons in the Code Closet: Obsolescence & Opportunity in Trailer Home Regulation

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Skeletons in the Code Closet: Obsolescence & Opportunity in Trailer Home Regulation

This paper was originally written by Lina Menard of Niche Consulting LLC in June of 2012 as a term paper for a course she took as part of her Masters of Urban and Regional Planning Masters program at Portland State University. The course, USP 510: Planning & The Housing Market, taught by Dr. Lisa Bates, focused on the intersection between planning, regulation, and affordable housing. This version of the paper was updated in January 2015.