Simple Living vs. Intentional Living

This post has been lingering in draft mode, but I feel compelled to share it today because I just read Kate Goonight's post on Naj Haus called Doing Justice to Complexity. It resonated with me because she writes about how complexity and intention help us understand ourselves better. Thank you Kate for articulating so beautifully why we do difficult things that help us examine our intentions and get better at figuring ourselves out!

Someone dear to me recently pointed out that my so-called simple lifestyle isn’t always convenient – or even simple, for that matter. And he has a good point. In my attempt to simplify there are many things I’ve added into my life. Several of them actually make my daily life more complex.

For instance, I because I do not have access to laundry facilities where I live I make a trip to the Belmont Eco Laundry every week or so. This entails the following actions:

1)   Filling either my 35 or 50 liter backpack with laundry (depending on whether or not I’m washing bedding)

2)   Biking 15 minutes to the Laundromat (or bussing on rainy days)

3)   Running a load of laundry through the washer and dryer

4)   Loading my backpack back up

5)   Biking or bussing home

6)   Putting my clothes away

The trip takes me about an hour and 15 minutes. On rainy days it takes an hour and a half unless I time the bus really well. During this time I cannot make myself a lunch or tidy up my Home Sweet Yurt. However, there is free wifi at the Belmont Eco Laundry so I often catch up on emails, do research, or prep a blog post. (I’d also like to point out that the only steps unique to my laundry set up are steps 2 and 5 when I’m transporting myself and my laundry to and from a washing machine and dryer, though since I'm not home my multi-tasking ability is limited.)

There are weeks that I cram too much into my days and do not allocate an hour and a half for my laundry so I get behind on it. And although I haven’t quite pared down to a minimalist wardrobe, I do not own enough clothing to go very long without doing my laundry. Getting behind makes life more complex because it’s harder to transport two loads of laundry by bike or bus.

Would it be simpler to just do laundry in the comfort of my own home? Absolutely!

So maybe it’s a misnomer to call this simple living. Perhaps it would be better to call it intentional living or mindful living. I have become more mindful of my living space and more intentional about my daily activities because of living in a tiny house. When I fetch water or fill up propane tanks I’m more conscientious about my resource consumption. If I ever catch myself feeling sorry for myself when doing my chores I remember that people the world over work much harder than me to do their laundry, acquire their water, and heat their homes. I find that living the way I do puts the inconvenience into perspective. It helps me remember that unlimited hot running water, in-home laundry facilities, and central heat are luxuries available to only a small fraction of the people on the planet.

I’m not saying that those of us who have access need to deprive ourselves of conveniences. After all, many appliances and technologies were originally designed to simplify life. But I do think we should be mindful of how we use these tools since many of them have also added complication and waste. We can be more creative about using resources efficiently and sharing more of them. When I had my very own washing machine in my 2-bedroom bungalow I could do laundry without going out in the rain or getting out of my jammies. But my fancy frontloading Energy Star washing machine only ran 2-3 hours a week. The rest of the time it sat there, waiting for me. It was convenient. But it certainly wasn’t efficient.

Now I share a washing machine with hundreds of other people. We’re participating in the sharing economy by using the Laundromat. We aren’t responsible for owning the machines, but we make good use of them. The owner of the facility presumably makes a decent living by providing this service to us.

I Love My Laundromat, but I’ll admit that it would be really nice to have laundry facilities even closer to home. This is one of the reasons I like the idea of living in a Tiny House Community (especially Tiny Cohousing). I love the idea of sharing a washer and dryer, a full-sized oven, and a hot tub with other like-minded people. I like the notion of continuing to be mindful of living space, resource consumption, and daily activities while also participating in community and having access to technologies that make life simple and convenient.

There are people all across America trying to get tiny house communities started. Are you part of one of these efforts? If so, what tools and facilities you plan to share amongst the members?

Caravan’s Tiny Houses

 

Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel will be having its grand opening on Saturday, July 27^th, 2013 and I’m sure it will book up quickly once the word is out. It’s a great place for a staycation for Portlanders and a unique place for guests to stay when visiting from out of town. (Here's a video about America's first tiny house hotel, which Kirsten Dirksen of Fair Companies made after interviewing Deb and me - my part begins at 7:52.)

Families from as far away as Costa Rica and the UK have already discovered Caravan! Fortunately, I managed to reserve the whole place on Monday night to celebrate my 30th birthday. I arrived a little early so I could spend time in each of the houses before my friends arrived for a Big Birthday Bash at the Tiny House Hotel. Here's my take on each of the little houses on wheels.

The Rosebud

The Rosebud is a sweet little place with a distinctly cabin feel. It has a little front porch, a window seat with built-in storage, pretty wood paneling and awesome cobblestone countertops. I fully intend to appropriate the mason jar lighting idea. And I do love the little rolling table with two chairs. This is where I stayed the night of my Big Birthday Bash at the Tiny House Hotel and I am glad I got to claim this charming little retreat. Staying in The Rosebud is a great way to enjoy a little country in the city!

The Pearl

Derin Williams of Shelter Wise built this tiny house using the Miter Box plans he created. I helped him frame up and sheathe the walls last fall, so I know how meticulous he is about air sealing, energy efficiency, precision craftspersonship, and… well, everything really! The Pearl has a very zen feel with a white ceiling, sleek dark wood paneling, and stainless countertops. It features a dinette that converts to a double bed, a lofted sleeping space above, and a wet bath (the whole bathroom is a shower stall). The outside is just as sophisticated with metal siding and a colored LED light above the porch. With its clean lines and modern aesthetic, The Pearl really is the precious jewel of Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel.

The Tandem 

The Tandem is the largest of Caravan’s three tiny houses and families snatch it up since it can sleep four people. It features a queen size mattress in the loft and a day bed window seat that converts to another queen size bed. The Tandem is wood paneled in pine, giving it a warm cozy feel. The floors are cork and the countertops and shower surround are tiled, so it has several features of a ground-bound house.

I do, of course, have a special fondness for The Tandem, since it’s the tiny house I finished out last summer. (This was the house I used for my practicum project for my Yestermorrow Sustainable Design-Build Certification and it was featured last year on the Build it Green (BIG) Tour.) When I first encountered this tiny house it was a shell: framed, sheathed, wrapped and ready to be finished. I considered buying it myself but it was bigger than I wanted so I told Eli Spevak of Orange Splot about it. He purchased the partially finished tiny house and hired me to finish it out.

So last summer I did most of the finish work: hanging siding, shingling the gable ends, running electrical wiring, air sealing, insulating, rehanging a repurposed door, paneling the interior, trimming out the windows and door, and installing cork flooring. (I even tiled the shower under the tutelage of Rocky, who is an excellent tiler. He said the tile was sure to crack when the tiny house hit the road, but it’s moved once now and the tile is all still intact!)

Fortunately, I had help from Manda and Simon when it came to the parts that were impossible to do alone: installing the long sheets of Hardy Plank on the exterior, installing wood paneling on the ceiling, and installing metal roofing and a skylight. I enjoyed most aspects of the project (except perhaps for fiberglass insulation day!) and appreciated that I was able to learn so many tangible building skills. I had a special fondness for the creative details like trimming out the storage loft window with a special shelf, creating catwalks between the lofts, and rabbeting out the back of the trim piece that rests against the tiled shower.

When I wrapped up My Summer Dream Job the tiny house was ready for the kitchen cabinets to be installed, the ladder to be built, and the finish electrical and plumbing to be completed. The owner, Eli Spevak of Orange Splot, handled all the final construction details. Once the Tandem arrived at Caravan, Deb made it feel like home sweet home with little shelves, a set of coat hooks, and beautiful quilts and pillows.

I know where every mistake is in the house (the spot where the nail gun misfired, the accent tile that I is not quite straight, etc.) but I am proud of this house. I’m really glad that so many other people will get to enjoy it, too!

Big Birthday Bash at The Tiny House Hotel

As my 30^th birthday approached I realized that I wanted to figure out a way to celebrate that involved tiny houses, but I wasn’t sure how to make it happen. Last year at birthday time I helped Brittany get her Tiny House On the Road Again so we could return the Bayside Bungalow to its beautiful spot in Olympia. I started A New Year in a New Home by settling into Granny's Garden Cottage, which I enjoyed as My Summer Garden Cottage.

This year as birthday time rolled around I co-taught a Portland Alternative Dwellings Tiny House Basics Workshop with Dee Williams. It was, of course, a lot of fun to meet some great tiny house folks, but I wanted to find a way to celebrate with my good ol’ friends AND tiny houses. And my birthday fell on a Monday, which is not typically the best night for party hosting.

Fortunately, the obvious answer came to me in the midst of a conversation with some fellow tiny house friends. Kol and Deb recently created Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first hotel in the world. It currently features a collection of three tiny houses on wheels and two more currently being constructed will be added soon. (Here’s my take on Caravan’s Tiny Houses.) Caravan is set up as an RV park so there’s a hook up station for each of the little houses and they have all electric appliances, hot running water, and flush toilets. The tiny house hotel was featured on this year’s Pedalpalooza Tiny House Tour and it opened on July 1. Caravan’s Grand Opening will be this coming Saturday, July 27^th and I’m looking forward to the party!

So I asked Deb and Kol if I might be able to spend the night at the tiny house hotel for my birthday (before Caravan's Grand Opening since I know it will book up fast once the word is out!) The place was miraculously not booked out for my birthday night so Deb suggested I reserve the whole place and host my 30^th birthday party at the world’s first tiny house hotel. So I did. (And as my birthday present Kol and Deb gave me an incredible discount on the reservation, too! Thanks guys!)

Kol and Deb have outfitted the tiny house hotel with all the fixins for a party. There’s a circle of Adirondack chairs around a fire pit, a parachute shade to provide protection from the sun, a hammock for skygazing, a colorful mural on the ground, and even a table with a grill in the middle! I knew we were in for a good time.

The friends who arrived early joined me for supper next door at the Grilled Cheese Grill. Yes, I ate a delicious but probably not super healthy jalepeno popper grilled cheese sandwich for my birthday dinner, thank you very much! (Deb also informed me that Radio Room across the street is now providing room service to the tiny house hotel!)

My party was a dessert potluck so we indulged in fresh berries, giant chocolate sea salt and caramel cookies, fancy ice cream sandwiches, sticky sweet donuts, refreshing rose, syrupy framboise, and chocolaty porters. Several friends went with the tiny theme, bringing tiny pies, mini cupcakes, and delicate petite fours! We roasted marshmallows on skewers over the grilling table and made gooey s’mores just as the moon was rising, round and golden in the east. As darkness crept up we sat around the fire pit while my long-lost friend Chris strummed his guitar and we sang along.

As most people headed out, a handful of us settled into Caravan’s Tiny Houses for a good night’s sleep. We were all up early for work in the morning, but that seems fitting considering that this was my 30^th and it was a Monday night!

My birthday presents were less tangible, but no less meaningful this year. Throughout the day I received love notes via facebook and text from friends and family around the world. I was also able to reconnect with several people I hadn’t seen in a while. It was fun to see my worlds colliding as people from different parts of my life got to know each other. I was even delighted when one of my dear friends told me she couldn’t make it because she’d been offered a job and had to talk through logistics with her partner. It feels good to be heading into a new decade with this sense of appreciation for my loved ones and gratitude that I’m at the beginning of a great adventure as I pursue this path.

Kol and Deb, thanks for making my 30^th Birthday Bash such a great time! I’m looking forward to Caravan's Grand Opening on Saturday, July 27th, 2013!

Bridge Side Blues

Every time I bike home from downtown I pass two memorials. Every day I think about two people whom I never met. I know I’m not alone in remembering them, but today it was nice to see that someone else remembers, too. ***

Just a few weeks after I arrived in Portland, Kathryn Rickson, a young mother, was struck and killed on her bicycle when a semi-truck driver made a right-hand turn across the bicycle lane. There was a vigil in Kathryn's honor a few days later and a ghost bike appeared nearby. Her bicycle was soon surrounded by tokens of remembrance: flowers, photos, and sympathy cards for her family. The ghost bike has moved around the intersection over the past couple years, but it always lingers nearby, a daily reminder to be mindful.

Kathryn's tragic death sparked discussion about improving bicycle infrastructure and safety. Soon the location was repainted with a warning on the pavement reminding cyclists to go slow and watch for cars. I heed these reminders every day and I’m extra vigilant when biking downtown. There have been many times I’ve had to screech to a halt because a driver was too busy talking on a cell phone to notice they’d just entered the bike lane, cut me off, or turned across my travel lane. I despise the constant vigilance required of me as a cyclist, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I am grateful everyday that the memory of this woman I never met helps me stay safe.

***

Every evening, from his spot at the approach to the Hawthorne Bridge, "Working Kirk" Reeves greeted homebound commuters with bluesy saxophone tunes and brightly colored gizmos. His very presence slowed traffic, increasing safety for the thousands of cyclists who use the bridge daily. But Working Kirk did much more than slow traffic. He also slowed us. This former computer analyst - who dabbled in comedy and wore a white suit and Mickey Mouse ears while playing his trumpet - brought us all a moment of joy on a daily basis. Working Kirk sparked smiles, giving everyone a little reminder to catch our breath, take it slow and easy on the way home, and have a nice evening. I never spoke to the man, never dropped a dollar in his saxophone case. I didn’t even know his name until today. But I grinned at him every day as I passed by on my bike and I hummed his melodies on the way home. His constancy was reassuring.

Then, one day, he wasn’t there. I noticed. It was strange. The next day someone else was standing on the corner, playing the blues. That was even stranger. The next day Working Kirk’s corner was a memorial, filled with those tokens of remembrance. I cried the rest of the way home that evening. Shortly after I heard a rumor, which was later confirmed, that Working Kirk ate his own gun. It made me wonder, as suicides usually do. Would Working Kirk still be there on the corner, playing the blues, if he’d known how much he meant to all of us? Would it have helped if more people dropped a dollar in his saxophone case? Or would it have been the same either way? Did Working Kirk play the blues because he felt them?

What I do know is that Kirk’s absence is audible. I still make a point to smile when I cross the Hawthorne Bridge, and wave to the cars that stop for me, but it’s bittersweet now. This corner just isn't the same without Working Kirk.

Today, when I rode home I discovered a little chalk memorial and a cardboard sign. I parked my bike and walked back to the spot to pay my respects. A man was sitting there on the corner, playing a harmonica, his bike slung over the edge of the guardrail. When I gave him a sad smile he said, “He made a lot of people smile.” “Yeah,” I whispered. “I miss him.”

***

Although I never met these two people I’m grateful that these spots along my daily route make me think of them. These memorials are a reminder that I’m leaving a legacy, just as they have done. They remind me to take it slow, be safe, and keep smiling.

Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel Grand Opening

I had the pleasure of showing off Caravan on this year's Pedalpalooza Tiny House Tour and celebrating my 30th birthday with a Big Birthday Bash at the Tiny House Hotel. Now I'm looking forward to Caravan's Grand Opening. Read on for the press release about Caravan's Grand Opening. You can read my take on Caravan's Tiny Houses, but you really should just come check them out on Saturday! I look forward to seeing you there!

Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel Grand Opening

Saturday, July 27th, from 5-10pm 5009 NE 11th Ave, Portland, OR, 97211 (11th and Alberta) Featuring musical guest Alexa Wiley and the Wilderness

Caravan is the first Tiny House Hotel in the United States and is located in the heart of the Alberta Arts District in Portland, Oregon. At Caravan, Portlanders and travelers from around the world can experience staying in a variety of beautiful, custom-built tiny houses.

In addition to being a unique hotel and event space for family gatherings and celebrations, group vacations, community events, and performances, Caravan is:

• A ground-breaking model for the innovative reuse of urban space
• Featuring local art and craftsmanship to celebrate the unique and creative culture of Portland
• Promoting alternative, lower impact small housing design and urban density
• Showcasing a variety of architectural styles for tiny house enthusiasts

There are three one-of-a-kind tiny houses available for guests, each with its’ own unique, creative and artistic features.  Two of the tiny houses sleep 1-4 people and one sleeps 1-2 guests. The tiny houses are built on flatbed trailers and range in size from 100-200 square feet.  Each tiny house is connected to the city’s electric grid and water and sewer systems.  In each tiny house, there is a bathroom with a flush toilet and hot shower, and a kitchen, sleeping and dining area.  The tiny houses will be open to the public at the Grand Opening.

Learn more at http://www.tinyhousehotel.com/

Naj Haus Wall Raising Work(shop) Party

This post is an excerpt from an epic post from Kate Goodnight's blog about the first two weeks of construction for Naj Haus. If you want to read the full post Blood, sweat, tears, blueberries, and the most awesome three walls ever, you can find it on Kate's informative and amusing blog. Thank you so much Kate for the opportunity to be part of your tiny house raising!

July 5: Hitting the nonexistent wall

So here I was, the day before the barn raising, and I had no walls to raise despite my best intentions. I can’t remember when I was last that tired. I started having visions of the six participants looking around the empty barn. “What?” I’d say, “can’t you see the walls? They’re right there. Look harder. They are very fine walls and we’re going to raise them up.” I still had some deluded idea of getting one or two walls built that day so went weaving down the highway back to Home Depot where I just stood staring at complicated hardware and the empty rack of sheathing before returning nearly empty-handed. I was so tired I thought I was going to throw up. Dee’s other work party had just wrapped up so we talked about how to adapt things. We (I) scaled way back on our (my) expectations and decided to focus on wall framing and if we were really lucky, get one or two walls raised. Finally letting go of what I had envisioned, I got in an hour nap before Dee and Lina Menard, the other PAD instructor, arrived, followed later by Keeva and Sam. We spent the evening marking out the stud positions on the subfloor and crashed early.

The big day finally had arrived. I had gotten some sleep so was feeling a bit better. Now I had to wrestle with my control issues. I have been all-consumed for the last many months with the design and planning of this tiny house and I was going to have to now let go. Here were six complete strangers with varying degrees of building experience about to start chopping away on my studs and hopefully framing up something resembling squared walls. As I greeted each one I was wondering how steady their hands were, how keen their eyes. Would I soon be hearing muffled cries of “whoops…oh well” and see the bubble in the level crammed up in one corner as it rested on my new Dr. Seuss walls?

But you know what? Each and every one there took immense care as they assembled the walls, treating them as if they were their own. The more seasoned builders helped out the less experienced ones and all were carefully overseen by Dee and Lina, both amazing instructors. Within the first hour, I had ceased to worry. In fact it was a relief to turn over the reins for a while and know that it was all being done up right.

And we had fun. We did the teacup stretch and ran crazily around the tiny house, then around the outside of the barn, snagging blueberries along the way. When we went to raise the long second wall, Sam G. put on the Ride of the Valkyries and the wall was lifted in place with great operatic flourish. To my utter astonishment, the rockstar team was able to get a third wall built. When it was raised in place, it initially looked like it wouldn’t fit under the top plate of the second wall. Sam G. climbed up on a ladder and gave it a couple good thumps with a hammer and it slid into place like an arm into its socket. What’s more it was perfectly square and plumb, which almost never happens. I was now feeling pretty sheepish about having doubted this wonderful crew. They are a bunch of beautiful, good-hearted human beings, setting off on their own tiny house journeys. Several talked about how empowered they now feel. I love that their energy is part of my house and hope that I can return the favor in some way.

PAD Tiny House Basics Workshop July 20-21, 2013

I'm excited to be teaching another PAD Tiny House Basics workshop with Dee Williams of Portland Alternative Dwellings on Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21. Here's are recaps of the February PAD Workshop and April PAD Workshop. Read on for details about this weekend's PAD Tiny House Basics Workshop.

Tiny House Basics Workshop: Introduction to Design & Building

July 20th & 21st, 2013, 9:00AM - 4:30 PM

Do you dream about building a tiny house? Our Tiny House Basics Workshop is comprehensive but entry-level, introducing you to the unique design and building principles that apply to a house on wheels. We'll address:

• How to properly anchor a stick-built structure to a trailer
• Moisture controls and ventilation
• Electrical, gas, and water systems
• Cultivating a home - the place and the people who make community
• Navigating codes, insurance, and regulations

The workshop includes one full day and one half-day of classroom-style learning, followed by a half day Tiny House Tour where the topics we've discussed are brought to life.

Read more and register here!

My Annual Pilgrimage to the Oregon Country Fair

My first day of college freshman year our resident assistant asked us to pick a possession that has a special significance for us and bring it out to the courtyard to meet our section mates. Sarah and I both walked out of our dorm rooms wearing fairy wings and we’ve been friends ever since. After we wrapped up our first year of college Sarah insisted that I come stay with her and her family in Corvallis, OR for a weekend in July and go to the Oregon Country Fair.

It was a fabulous weekend in a magical place: dancing to a jug band along a dusty path, joining a dragon parade meandering through the woods, attempting to juggle under the Yes You Canopy, marveling at Tom Noddy’s bubble cube, swirling a secret elixir in a pretty old fashioned bottle, checking out the clever wares at the craft booths, listening to the trees, and sharing coconut ice cream over sticky rice in the beaming sunshine at the main stage. The fair gave me a hearty dose of faith in humanity and our collective pull towards a better future. I decided immediately upon arrival that I wanted to go to the fair every year forever.

So far, so good. This past weekend I made my twelfth annual pilgrimage to the Oregon Country Fair and it was splendid as always. Sarah picked me up in Portland and we headed down together, chatting about our future plans as she drove us through beautiful countryside. We arrived just in time for Shabbat and we were greeted with big hugs, catching-up-questions, a giant pan of homemade spanakopita, and a beautiful key lime tart covered in fresh cherries. My window seat bed was made up for me and I snuggled into it Friday night feeling utterly content.

On Saturday morning we drank our tea, donned our costumes, and headed down to Veneta play at the fair. I’ve been so on-the-go this summer that one day at the fair seemed just right and it was nice to take everything as it unfolded. Making no plans, I still managing to sprinkle four families in the parking lot with pixie dust, dance to great folk music, snag a heaping plate of pad thai without waiting in the typical snaking line, eat a Coconut Island before it melted, protect my glitter-covered henna tattoo until it could leave its mark, and run into several friends (shout outs to tiny house heros Abel Zimmerman of Zyl Vardos and Deb and Kol of Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel!)

I am so grateful that the Oregon Country Fair is a part of my life and I’m already looking forward to next year. See you there!

Upcoming Workshops: Building & Tiny House Basics

The Pedalpalooza ADU and Tiny House Tours on Saturday were great fun. Now I'm working with PAD to gear up for three exciting workshops in the coming weeks: Tiny House Work Parties are small group workshops that provide supervised, hands-on tiny house construction experience before your start building your own house. Experience and enthusiasm are contagious, and as you help put someone else's house together, you'll gain the skills, confidence, and excitement to you need to get moving on your own tiny house dream.

On Friday, July 5th PAD is hosting a work party to build the foundation of an 8-food Don Vardo that Dee Williams will take across the United States during the book tour of her memoir due out in 2014. The foundation is the most unique part of building a tiny house on wheels and helping Dee build a tiny house is a truly unique experience.

On Saturday, July 6th PAD is hosting a work party to construct the walls and roof of a 16 ft tiny house designed by Kate Goodnight, a graduate of PAD's Tiny House Basics Workshop and author of the awesome tiny house blog Naj Haus.

The weekend of July 20-21 PAD will host a Tiny House Basics Workshop, which is an introduction to Tiny House Design & Building. This workshop is comprehensive but entry-level, introducing you to the unique design and building principles that apply to a tiny house on wheels. It will include: how to properly anchor a stick-built structure to a trailer, considerations for utilities, and navigating codes, insurance, and regulations. The workshop includes a tour of a tiny house where the topics we've discussed are brought to life.

You can register for workshops on PAD's website.

Pedalpalooza ADU & Tiny House Tour Recap

Yesterday was an epic day of small houses. Kimber and I coordinated the Pedalpalooza Accessory Dwelling and Tiny House Tours all in one day so that people who are interested in both tours could visit a variety of small spaces. It was great fun! (But you don't have to take my word for it. You can read Audrey's recap at Trying on Tiny or read more at Daedalus Project.)

We started out the ADU tour by exploring a basement apartment that was constructed by energy efficiency expert Derin Williams of Shelter Wise. As a special bonus we got to see Casa Pequena, the tiny house which was constructed in 2 days in April. Next up was a 320 square foot backyard cottage built by Walt Quade of Small Home Oregon, which serves as a sister-in-law suite. Walt also showed one of his tiny garden cottages and one of his teardrop trailers. Then we headed to Granny’s Garden Cottage, which was My Summer Garden Cottage last year. It was great to see my old digs again and to see how Bruce & Carolyn’s gorgeous garden is growing this year. We made a quick stop at Cully Grove to see the progress on this cohousing community for 16 families.

Then we were off to Kathleen’s where we got to see an owner-built ADU still under construction and learn how this basement apartment provides flexibility for her and her parents. I especially appreciated how they maximized usable space and daylight. Next we stopped at Sabin Green to see how Eli Spevak of Orange Splot created a community of four houses by renovating an existing house, converting its garage into an ADU, and building another house next door with an ADU behind it. We wrapped up the ADU Tour with a visit to Ruth’s Garden Cottages, another Orange Splot infill community, which utilizes detached bedrooms to provide simple and cozy housing for 3 couples.

We were lucky to have knowledgble tour leaders including: Martin and Shannon who are the new owners of Ruth’s Garden Cottages, Kol Peterson who teaches a class on building an ADU in Portland (stay tuned for the next one in October) and Jordan Palmeri who coordinates the Space-Efficient Housing Working Group that put on Build Small, Live Large last October.

Between rides Kimber and I biked back across NE Portland and ate a picnic lunch on the lawn at Rigler school. Our first stop for the Tiny House Tour was the home of Audrey & Thomas who blog at Trying on Tiny. Next we headed to Walt Quade’s place where his garden cottage was on display (but people also got to see the ADU and tear drop trailer, of course!) Then we were off to Ruth’s Garden Cottages to show how tiny houses can interact with their neighbors. We wrapped up the Tiny House Tour at Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel. There were only 4 stops on the Tiny House Tour this year, but riders got to see 7 mobile tiny houses as well as innovative ways to cluster tiny houses.

It was especially fun for me to see Caravan, not only because I’m stoked about the first tiny house hotel in the country, but because I helped with the construction of two of the houses there. My Summer Dream Job last year was doing interior and exterior finish work for a tiny house on wheels for Orange Splot. The tiny house was my practicum project for my Certificate in Sustainable Design and Building from Yestermorrow. But since I didn’t do the final touches it was fun to see how nicely they’d finished out the house with kitchen cabinets and the kitchen sink, a panel over the electrical box, a ladder up to the loft, and a gable end detail. Deb did a lovely job of appointing the tiny guest house with clever furniture so it can now serve four guests.

Last fall I also helped with framing, insulating, and sheathing for a Shelter Wise tiny house which uses the Miter Box plans (center in the photo to left). However, I hadn’t seen it completed and it is stunning! Between Andra’s design details and Derin’s meticulous craftsmanship this house blends sophistication with zen simplicity.

We had about 100 people join us for each of the two tours, traveling from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, CA to be part of the rides. I enjoyed hearing people’s design ideas and their insights as they explored smart small spaces. I look forward to keeping in touch with many of the great folks I met yesterday and seeing them at upcoming workshops, potlucks, builds, and happy hours.