Inventing Tiny House Community

It’s always fun for me to ask people at a tiny house workshop (like our recent Tiny House 101 Workshop in DC) or events (like the Tiny House Conference last weekend) whether they are interested in living in a Tiny House Community someday. Typically, about half of them enthusiastically agree. And when I ask those folks if they’re pretty sure they invented the concept of tiny house communities, most of them nod and laugh.

Yeah, me, too. For years I was certain I invented the idea of tiny house community.

And I’ll admit I was downright proud of myself for this particular invention. I come up with wild ideas all day long, but this one was a brilliant idea.

For tiny house lovers, the only thing better than a tiny house is putting a bunch of them together!

Simply Home Community, the tiny cohousing community I live in, has been a twinkle in my eye for a decade. You can read all about my initial concept in Lina's Vision for Tiny Cohousing and learn more about My Journey to Cohousing.

When Lee Pera and I spoke at the Tiny House Jamboree in 2015, we bantered about which one of us invented the concept of a tiny house community. In the end, we decided we both invented the idea independently. Although I may have come up with the idea before she did, Lee's tiny house community, Boneyard Studios, was created first. The Boneyard folks became my heros the moment I realized they were actually doing it!

If we focus just on tiny houses on wheels, Boneyard Studios may have been the first tiny house community. And Simply Home Community is the only tiny cohousing community we know of. But we certainly weren't the only ones to create tiny house community. If we include recreational vehicle parks, canal boat communities, liveaboards in the marina, wagon trains, tipis, yurts, and many other collections of small, portable dwellings, it becomes evident that community-minded nomads throughout time and all over the world have located their little homes close to each other so they can share food, time, energy, materials, and fun.

Still, I think it’s okay for all of us to be proud of inventing the idea. It is a great idea. And there are many more tiny house communities still to be created. So let’s not worry about who invented the tiny house community concept. Instead, let's high-five about how great minds think alike and then get on with the important work of creating more fabulous communities!

I've now had the pleasure of Visiting Orlando Lakefront Tiny House and RV Park, where my pal James Taylor lives. They have begun welcoming tiny houses into a 1950s RV park. Earlier this week on my Tiny Tours near Asheville, I visited High Cove, an intentional community that intends to add tiny houses on wheels. And I keep hearing of others that are working on similar projects. You can find a list of tiny house communities at TinyHouseCommunity.com. If you know of anyone else who is inventing tiny house community, please tell us about it in the comments!

Tiny Tours Near Asheville

I'm spending this week following the Tiny House Conference in Asheville, NC and working alongside fellow work-from-homers, Matt & Laura LaVoie. The past couple days they've been gracious enough to also take me on a couple of tiny house tours.

On Monday we drove to High Cove in Mitchell County, NC, about an hour northeast of Asheville. High Cove is an intentional community that a couple dozen households are creating on a lovely swath of land which emphasizes art, science, and lifelong learning. We enjoyed touring the common house and two of the homes on the property (both under 400 SF) before settling down for a good chat about community and tiny houses over a scrumptious homemade lunch.

High Cove provides guidelines for creating sustainable dwellings on the land, including a size maximum of 1200 SF. However, ADUs are allowed on each lot so you could, for instance, build an 800 SF house and a 400 SF accessory dwelling. One of the founders, Olga, is a city planner, so I enjoyed having her talk us (and, actually walk us!) through the plan for the community, which will include a village center. There are also plans for a tiny house cluster near the creek. It's a lovely spot and I think it would be great fun to be here with several other tinies nearby. Now I have fantasies of spending time in a wee abode in this community someday! I look forward to seeing how this community evolves. Meanwhile, if you're committed to community living and love the Asheville area, get in touch with Olga!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Laura and Matt's tiny house, also in the mountains near Asheville, but closer to the city. Matt and Laura built their home over the course of three years and Laura's been blogging about it at 120 Square Feet. It was one of the first tiny house blogs I came across and it's been fun to follow along all these years. So it was a real treat to get to tour Laura and Matt's tiny house yesterday along with Kristie Wolfe and Kelly and Chris of Just Right Bus. They did a beautiful job constructing their little home and it was fun hearing about the little changes they've made as they've enjoyed their wee home over the past 4 years.

As so often happens when I'm exposed to new and fabulous tiny homes, I'm inspired all over again. And the timing couldn't be better because when I get home I'll begin building my tiny house (again)! Isha, The Guy Next Door, and I will begin construction of our new tiny home, starting in April. If you'd like to join in on the fun, please check out our T42 Build Blitz or Tiny House Helper.

2016 Tiny House Conference Recap

This was the third year of the Tiny House Conference and my third year speaking at the event. There were around 350 people in attendance this year and the conference was split into two tracks with one focused more on lifestyle and one focused more on technical considerations.

I presented on Tiny House Design twice on Saturday and led the Open Space session on Sunday afternoon. The rest of the weekend was devoted to visiting with fascinating folks from all over the world, exploring the dozen tiny houses in the parking lot, and attending other sessions on everything from funding a tiny house to off-grid living. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with folks I'd met at previous conferences or through the tiny house network.

It's so fascinating to see the Tiny House Movement shift over time as the number of reasons for going tiny increase. It's also interesting to see how innovative tiny house designs and products are as people invent new ways of living little while living well.

Next year's Tiny House Conference will be held in Portland, OR on April 8-9, 2017, so if you're interested in coming to the event in my corner of the world, mark your calendar!

Tiny House 101 & Tiny House Conference

Hooray! Today a new adventure begins!

I'm headed to Washington, D.C. this morning to co-teach a Tiny House 101 Workshop with the other fine folks of the Tiny House Collaborative. We have a nearly full house and it's going to be fun to share our tiny homes and our lessons learned with the workshop attendees as we help them noodle through some of the major considerations for their own tiny homes. We'll be doing sessions about inspiration and aspirations, the tiny house lifestyle, systems (including water, electrical, propane, etc.), trailers, project planning and management, and building basics. I'm especially excited to be doing a design session with Vina Lustado of SolHaus Design!

I've also never been to D.C. before AND it seems it will be peak cherry blossom time, so I've got to say that's pretty exciting as well. I've given myself an extra day in D.C. to explore the city after the workshop.

Then I'm going on a road trip. Most of my East Coast time has been in Vermont since I teach for Yestermorrow Design-Build School. So I'm really looking forward to traveling by car from D.C. to Asheville for the Tiny House Conference. The conference is the first weekend of April and I'm going to be sharing some design tips and tricks as well as leading an open space session. This will be my third year speaking at the Tiny House Conference and it will be great to see Ryan Mitchell and reconnect with these awesome speakers: Laura LaVoie, Matt LaVoie, Andrew Morrison, Lora Higgins, Ethan Waldman, and Zack Jones. (And I'll get to meet Jody Brady & Bill Brady, too!) Will YOU be there? I look forward to meeting you, too!

Let the adventures begin!

Cilantro Poncho Build Blitz: Day 5

If you’d like to come see what we accomplished during the Cilantro Poncho Build Blitz, please come visit us for Cilantro Poncho's First Open House at 5:30 pm on Friday, March 11 at 4674 N Kain Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705.*

Yesterday was Day 5 of a week-long build blitz for the Meyerhofer’s tiny house, Cilantro Poncho. Day 1 was a prep day, Day 2 and Day 3 we worked on wall raising, and Day 4 we got our final wall panel up and prepped for the roof. Yesterday we finished up roof prep, applied liquid flashing for the windows, and got the first two roof panels up.

We also had a special lunch and dessert for Richard, who was celebrating his birthday. It’s so cool that he chose to spend his birthday week helping Courtney and Kurt to get their little house started! His help has been invaluable this week and we’re so grateful for him! Richard’s birthday presents from me were enrollment in my upcoming Tiny House Considerations Course and a design consultation, so I’m glad that I’ll get to help him move his tiny house dream forward, too.

The day’s tasks included:

• Beveling perimeter framing for roof panels
• Leveling the trailer
• Applying liquid flashing around the exterior of the windows
• Cutting and attaching “outriggers” to the end roof panels
• Hoisting the first panel into place
• Squaring up the panel
• Attaching the first roof panel to the top plate with SIP screws
• Installing the first spline into the second panel
• Installing the second panel

It was hot yesterday so we were mindful of staying hydrated and sunscreened. We also took breaks in the shade whenever we needed them, but we still made good progress. After all the head scratching related to the trailer camber on Day 3, it was exciting to see how nicely the house settled onto the trailer and leveled out once we removed the shims and lowered the stabilizing jacks. Having the top plates attached at the top of the walls really helped and we expect the additional weight of the roof panels will make the house level out completely.

Mark, Richard, and Kurt worked on ripping, beveling, and mitering the remaining framing for the perimeter of the roof panels while Courtney prepped the roof panels for the framing by removing a little excess foam with the 6” foam cutter. Meanwhile, Andrea worked on liquid flashing on the windows. All those years of cake decorating have made her our go-to liquid flasher! She’s good! Courtney and I joined Andrea for window flashing a while later and I enjoyed visiting with Courtney while we passed the sausage gun back and forth. With so many power tools going all week long, it was nice to have a little quiet time to visit!

Getting those first two roof panels up was really exciting and we were tempted to do more, but it had been a long, hot day and Andrea and Mark had a special invitation to have supper with some friends of theirs, so we decided to end on a high note. And by a high note, I mean that Kurt and Courtney climbed up onto their roof to admire the view of the Santa Catalina Mountains!

Tomorrow we’re eager to get the last of the roof panels on, do some touch ups on the water resistant barrier, and install a window so Courtney and Kurt know how that’s done.

If you’d like to come see what we accomplished during the Cilantro Poncho Build Blitz, please come visit us for Cilantro Poncho's First Open House at 5:30 pm on Friday, March 11 at 4674 N Kain Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705.*

*If you’re reading this after Cilantro Poncho's First Open House and you’d like to visit, please be sure to contact Courtney and Kurt to arrange a day and time. They can’t accept unannounced visitors because they’ve got work to do finishing their little house and they need to make sure everyone who visits can do so during a time that’s safe. Thanks!

Cilantro Poncho Build Blitz Prep

We’ve had a lovely spring in Portland (read: plenty of rain!) so I felt parched the moment I stepped out of the Tucson airport. I immediately wheeled my tool-laden suitcase over to the nearest drinking fountain and began the hydration process that will ensure survival during our week-long build blitz in the desert.

Kurt and Courtney are the homeowners for this tiny house (tentatively named the Cilantro Poncho) and I’ve been working with them since they signed up for The Package Deal in the fall of 2015. They took my Tiny House Considerations E-Course, my Downsizing E-Course, and we worked through a custom tiny house design together. (Their design is based on the Skyline tiny house built by Eric Bohne, which they stayed in at Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel last fall – and we tailored it to suit their needs. Thanks, Eric!) For the past 6 weeks we’ve been working through project management together: getting quotes for trailers, SIPs, windows, water resistant barriers, and roofing so that we can get their little house dried in.

As they wrapping up Friday afternoons at work, I hit the ground running with a list of errands. My first stop was reserving scaffolding at Sunbelt Rentals so that we can get the SIPs roof installed on this tiny house safely. Then I headed to the build site to receive deliveries and finalize the tool, material, and supply lists.

Once Kurt arrived we walked through what materials and supplies we have on hand, which are arriving with Kurt’s dad, and which we need to pick up. We were just wrapping up when the trailer arrived. Damon and Natalie of Trailer Made went the extra mile (literally!) to ensure an on-time delivery for the trailer, driving it themselves from Denver to Tucson. I met them at Tiny House Jamboree last summer so it was a delight to see them here in a different context. Kurt was as swoony about his new trailer as Natalie and Damon’s dog Ruby was about Kurt! We admired it for a while, Kurt walking around “in” his new house to get a feel for how it will be in now that he has a life-size foundation. I told him that the house will go from seeming really big to really small to really big again as we add the layers. The window delivery from Window Depot arrived shortly after Courtney did and it was especially exciting to see the tiny windows that will go in Kurt and Courtney’s “away room.”

By evening we had all the major components we’ll need for the Build Blitz: trailer, SIPs kit, windows, and water resistant barrier. So we headed out, list in hand, to the hardware store so that Courtney and Kurt could select and stock their tool belts and a few basic jobsite tools. The part I’m most excited about for their sake is the impact driver and drill set they picked out. My Makita impact driver and drill set was one of the best presents I bought myself for my build and I’m sure they’ll appreciate having this great tool set for their own build and beyond.

By the time we wrapped up at the hardware store it was late, but I still stayed up talking with my host for the week, a friend from college whom I haven’t caught up with in way too long. She has a sweet little house not far from the built site and it feels splendidly serendipitous that she also has a guest room at the moment. Hooray for the week ahead! We can’t wait for everyone else to arrive! (And we still have a couple A Day at the Tucson Build Blitz spots available later in the week if you're in the area and want to join us!)

Tiny House Design Workshop in Asheville, NC (April 4-8, 2016)

I'm delighted to be speaking again at this year's Tiny House Conference in Asheville, NC about tiny house design considerations and strategies.

I'm also excited to be teaming up with Laura LaVoie of Life in 120 Square Feet and John Labovitz of Polymecca to teach a week-long design intensive in Asheville from April 4-8, immediately following the Tiny House Conference.  If you'd like to join us, please register for the Tiny House Design Workshop in Asheville, NC.

If you're planning to build your tiny house this summer, the week you spend in this design intensive with three instructors who designed and built their own tiny homes will prove invaluable to you. You'll be able to learn great tricks, learn from our mistakes, and save yourself a lot of money, not to mention headache and heartache!

Registration Deadline: Monday, March 21st 

Here's more info: Are you dreaming of a tiny house of your own? Are you trying to figure out the best way to maximize the space? If so, this workshop is for you! In this workshop you will develop a well-considered design for your tiny house in all three dimensions.

We'll talk about inspirations and aspirations as we discuss layout, size, and shape. We'll take you on fun tours to see tiny houses in a community and a tiny house builder's facility. We'll dig into design considerations related to windows, doors, kitchens, bathrooms, and built-ins. You'll have plenty of time to ask questions, work on your own design, and get feedback.

Your three instructors - Laura LaVoie of Life in 120 Square Feet, John Labovitz of Polymecca and Lina Menard of Niche Consulting - have all designed and built their own tiny homes. Laura and her partner Matt live in a tiny off-grid ground-bound home in North Carolina, John has parked his tiny house truck in the orchard at his family farm in West Virginia, and Lina lives in her vardo in a tiny house community in Oregon. We are excited to introduce you to tips, tricks, strategies, and information to help you design a fabulous tiny home of your own!

This one-week design intensive will take place in Asheville, NC on April 4-8 immediately following the Tiny House Conference. If you sign up with a buddy, both of you will receive a $50 rebate! If you'd like to join us, please register for the Tiny House Design Workshop in Asheville, NC.

Registration Deadline: Monday, March 21st