Kyu's Tiny House Blog

[Chthonic]

Some more tiny inspiration. This ones a bit bohemian though...warning serious cute factor/carnie factor depending...

Rollottes' European Style Gypsy Caravans | Humble Homes

 

[kyuuei]

^ JEeeeeze what a great looking tiny! So sophisticated!

 

[BadOctopus]

I love tiny houses. The degree of innovation and efficiency involved in creating them is so impressive. Also they're adorable.

From a very young age, I've always wanted a little summerhouse or garden shed to use as a retreat, like many writers and composers have used in the past. I guess that's sort of like a tiny house.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

I'm really into the idea/fantasy of buying a little beach house somewhere someday and living there part of the year. Writing a lot, then walking for long periods of time along the beach. Making a fire and watching the waves on a moonlit night.

 

[kyuuei]

I love tiny houses. The degree of innovation and efficiency involved in creating them is so impressive. Also they're adorable.

From a very young age, I've always wanted a little summerhouse or garden shed to use as a retreat, like many writers and composers have used in the past. I guess that's sort of like a tiny house.

They're so versatile that you can really afford to have tiny properties of two houses vs a large property with a big home. It's comparable in price. Tiny homes CAN cost a lot if you're living full time in one and want luxuries.. mine will be a bit less efficient, but cheaper in construction.

I'm really into the idea/fantasy of buying a little beach house somewhere someday and living there part of the year. Writing a lot, then walking for long periods of time along the beach. Making a fire and watching the waves on a moonlit night.

If you exchanged that with a musty damp foggy forest, I'd agree entirely.

 

[Chthonic]

I love tiny houses. The degree of innovation and efficiency involved in creating them is so impressive. Also they're adorable.

From a very young age, I've always wanted a little summerhouse or garden shed to use as a retreat, like many writers and composers have used in the past. I guess that's sort of like a tiny house.

Plenty of people have turned those garden follies into small homes

 

[Chthonic]

If we didn't have such painful building regs in my country (and busybody neighbours) I would hand build a little shack. I like both rustic and elegant types. I live in one of the most over regulated countries on the planet, you even have to fence a freaking inflatable wading pool for petes sake! The local councils have turned building approvals into a multi-million dollar revenue source where basically you need approval to do anything not involving shrubbery (and some case involving shrubbery too). People here are fed up with having to pay $10-$25k just for a planning permit! It's extortion. And then there is this wonderful thing called council contributions which is basically a bribe to change the use of your land from say dirt to residential. They claim it's to cover the cost of extra amenities needed as a result of population growth, I think it's a bribe to get your development application approved. Or a tax. Either way you look at it. Here it's common for people to spend $100k before they even raise anything above the ground. Housing is severely unaffordable here, one of the least affordable on the planet.

But there are a few loopholes if you look hard enough. If you can build a tiny under 20sqm then you don't need approval in suburban areas. Up to 50sqm in rural zones. It needs to be pointed out though that living in such a building is technically illegal though.

 

[kyuuei]

^ JEeeezus I cannot even imagine. Houston is the only city in the US that lacks zoning laws. Houston may not be the sexiest city .. New York has that big-dreams-appeal to it.. San Fran has that hippy vibe... Austin has google fiber (why Austin vs Houston I'll never know)... Miami has the pretty beaches and ladies.. But Houston is where you can make a ton of money for not a ton of investment, low cost-of-living with relatively amazing access to one of the biggest multicultural places in the US .. And there's no zoning laws, so unrestricted land you buy is yours.

There are basic building code laws, every place ever has those, but tiny houses are easy to work around--chiefly, anything under 200 sq. ft. doesn't require a building permit at all.

 

[Chthonic]

Great that you've found a little spot where the laws are more reasonable. The laws in my country have become a real source of discontent here and a source of economic woe as well. As many people here spend 30-40% of their entire income on just rent. Leaving no room for savings at all. We have a property bubble but everyone is in denial, caused by the exorbitant cost to build new homes and tax breaks for owning more than one house.

I have saved very well my entire life and could afford to buy an established home with a mortgage. But I just don't want to end up paying three times it's cost in interest and be stuck in my career for the next 30yrs to pay for it, only to have to sell it in order to fund my retirement which is what the current generation are having to do. I'm beginning to look at the tiny home thing again now, specifically to get around the high taxation involved with building a home on foundations. Of course it wont be legal, but it will also save around $50k in unnecessary taxes so it's almost cost effective to do it and take the risk.

The other option I have is to buy agricultural land which sells for practically nothing here and then stick a 'rural shed' on the block and covertly live in it. You have to pick your local council carefully though. Some turn a blind eye and don't want to know, others will fine and evict you. But done right it would give me a 500sq ft building with loft space that for all intents and purposes is a barn, that I just happen to sleep in to run my agricultural enterprise. It's all in the spin....

 

[kyuuei]

Great that you've found a little spot where the laws are more reasonable. The laws in my country have become a real source of discontent here and a source of economic woe as well. As many people here spend 30-40% of their entire income on just rent. Leaving no room for savings at all. We have a property bubble but everyone is in denial, caused by the exorbitant cost to build new homes and tax breaks for owning more than one house.

I have saved very well my entire life and could afford to buy an established home with a mortgage. But I just don't want to end up paying three times it's cost in interest and be stuck in my career for the next 30yrs to pay for it, only to have to sell it in order to fund my retirement which is what the current generation are having to do. I'm beginning to look at the tiny home thing again now, specifically to get around the high taxation involved with building a home on foundations. Of course it wont be legal, but it will also save around $50k in unnecessary taxes so it's almost cost effective to do it and take the risk.

The other option I have is to buy agricultural land which sells for practically nothing here and then stick a 'rural shed' on the block and covertly live in it. You have to pick your local council carefully though. Some turn a blind eye and don't want to know, others will fine and evict you. But done right it would give me a 500sq ft building with loft space that for all intents and purposes is a barn, that I just happen to sleep in to run my agricultural enterprise. It's all in the spin....

I mean, especially if you have mail going to an 'official' looking address, what can they say? I know lots of people who have official addresses that jump all over the place in reality. The agri-land sounds like an awesome idea to me.. and honestly, 'upcycling' and reclaiming wood can make something pretty shabby and frowny-faced looking on the outside with something quite beautiful on the inside not matching it at all.

I dunno what country you're in.. but I think I'd definitely pick up and move if I wasn't allowed to do this tiny house idea where I'm at. I'm lucky that the city 3 hours away has already broken ground on several tiny homes legitimately in Austin, so Houston isn't such a far cry from that on top of current loopholes being more lenient here.

I am DEFINITELY not doing a mortgage trap. My parents played that game their whole lives, my aunts, my sister ... they're all doing that game right now.. and even though this isn't an expensive place to live (seriously, from what you're telling me, you could probably buy a 280sq m home here in my city and have it paid off before teh 10 year mark.. land and all.) the housing market is being turned on it's upend because basically a bunch of people talked it up and pretended houses were really worth something. The reality? They're usually not. The land is.. but not the homes themselves. Almost never are the homes actually worth anything.

But we have enough rednecks on our side of town that realized that and bought decent land in a decent section of town and put shit houses on it, keeping the property taxes and rates down in the area. I'd much rather deal with that than a bunch of posh 80 sq ft apartments in NYC costing me 3 weeks of pay.

 

[Chthonic]

I dunno what country you're in.. but I think I'd definitely pick up and move if I wasn't allowed to do this tiny house idea where I'm at. I'm lucky that the city 3 hours away has already broken ground on several tiny homes legitimately in Austin, so Houston isn't such a far cry from that on top of current loopholes being more lenient here.

I am DEFINITELY not doing a mortgage trap.

I'm in Australia, one of the top three most expensive houses globally. Pretty mean feat for a country that is essentially massive in size and has one of the lowest populations on the planet.

Seems like the same con has been running the world over. I did a little comparison the other day. 5yrs ago both my sister and I had the same savings, barely enough for a home deposit. Anyway, she took advantage of some govt grants to buy a 2 bed apartment in our hottest property market, Sydney. I continued to rent and save. Today I have more in savings than she has in equity, even though she bought into one of our best performing property markets within that time frame. My term deposit has outperformed her. It's at this point I realised mortgages are not for me.

So I haven't read the entire thread yet but have you got a floorplan down? Some architectural preferences and design done? I've been directed to an Australian architect that specialises in low cost building and sells low cost plans that can accomodate any material. His smallest designs are tiny home size with lofts. He claims he's built his own home for $12,000 in reclaimed materials (a 3 bedroom lofted cottage around 1300sq ft). I'm getting his design book to have a look at his stuff. Most of them are a modified barn style.

 

[kyuuei]

I'm in Australia, one of the top three most expensive houses globally. Pretty mean feat for a country that is essentially massive in size and has one of the lowest populations on the planet. We've screwed things up bigtime! The average rural home here costs $300k - $400k, the average metro home $700-$800k. If you live in the desert in a town with a 3 times a week postal service and a pub, you can get a house for under $100k. Wolf Creek anyone?

Ooohh my goooddddd I remember being so terrified of that movie! My ex-bestie and I were driving home after it, and a coyote was howling in the empty field and I was like "NOPEEEE!!" and slammed on the gas.

I had no idea Australia was bad off like that. I mean... We definitely have sections of $800k-1mil+ homes in Houston, they're everywhere... But you can get away with a condo downtown for $300-400k easily... but there's also $100k condos for downtown too. In my area of town I used to live in, houses were $90k and you had everything you needed within 20 minutes and downtown was 30 away no traffic. In my current corner, it's a smaller section and quieter.. but it's going to blow up big time soon. I'm looking at a small lot across the street from my sister and BIL that's empty but it's a great location for an investment property. I think I might seriously invest in it whether I build my house there or not. $126k for 2.4 acres of land already cleared. 30 minutes from downtown, 10 minutes away from a huge ass shopping mall.

It's at this point I realised mortgages are not for me.

Good on you!! I love seeing people motivated to avoid that garbage. I'll never ever. Either it's a place I want to call home, or I'm unsure so I'll rent. They've done the stats and time and time again, no matter what city you live in, renting is far cheaper than buying.

So I haven't read the entire thread yet but have you got a floorplan down? Some architectural preferences and design done? I've been directed to an Australian architect that specialises in low cost building and sells low cost plans that can accomodate any material. His smallest designs are tiny home size with lofts. He claims he's built his own home for $12,000 in reclaimed materials (a 3 bedroom lofted cottage around 1300sq ft). I'm getting his design book to have a look at his stuff. Most of them are a modified barn style.

Sounds amazing! The thing is is I don't have a shell quite picked out yet. I have two houses I'm potentially building here--the tiny guest house on my parents' property, which won't cost more than $5k total for everything and will serve just as a week-at-a-time sort of thing for under 200 sq ft, and a larger more stable tiny home that I hope to be around 1000sq ft. I have the first one, the guest house, financed, and I hope to have space and mats to build it by the time spring is in full swing. I have most of the stuff I need for it (small stove-top, mini fridge, etc.) on the insides, I just need to pick out a shed shell for it to adapt the shed. I want something well constructed so that it doesn't need much maintenance, which is where a bulk of the money will go. But it's hard to draw plans without a shell. I've posted a lot of inspirational pieces I've drawn ideas from for it though.

 

[Chthonic]

Ooohh my goooddddd I remember being so terrified of that movie! My ex-bestie and I were driving home after it, and a coyote was howling in the empty field and I was like "NOPEEEE!!" and slammed on the gas.

Yeah Australia is best known for disappearing babies and backpackers....

Our property market only went beserk in the last decade. My aunt bought a derelict sandstone home in one of the posher suburbs of Sydney in the 90's for $100k. That home would be worth last least $2mill today. It's story's like that which send Aussies into a buying frenzy in the hopes of becoming instant millionaires. In Sydney (my home town) I could afford to buy a 400 sq ft studio apartment 30 mins form the city and it would cost me $320k! My sisters apartment was a bargain at $305k five years ago and they only get the occassional drive by shooting...

Tiny is catching on in Oz for all the same reasons it did in the US. People are just fed up with the credit merry-go-round and impossible hoops to jump through. I was so enchanted with those gypsy caravans that I did up a floorplan for myself and tried to find a metal workshop who could create the frame for me. But ideally I'd prefer a foundationed home.

 

[kyuuei]

Yeah Australia is best known for disappearing babies and backpackers....

Our property market only went beserk in the last decade. My aunt bought a derelict sandstone home in one of the posher suburbs of Sydney in the 90's for $100k. That home would be worth last least $2mill today. It's story's like that which send Aussies into a buying frenzy in the hopes of becoming instant millionaires. In Sydney (my home town) I could afford to buy a 400 sq ft studio apartment 30 mins form the city and it would cost me $320k! My sisters apartment was a bargain at $305k five years ago and they only get the occassional drive by shooting...

Tiny is catching on in Oz for all the same reasons it did in the US. People are just fed up with the credit merry-go-round and impossible hoops to jump through. I was so enchanted with those gypsy caravans that I did up a floorplan for myself and tried to find a metal workshop who could create the frame for me. But ideally I'd prefer a foundationed home.

The Royce American version of the gypsy caravan is the RV, and the redneck version is the mini trailer/camper. I've been a fan of both for a long time, and we have entire parks of people here that live inside of, essentially, a very, very nice vehicle. Now a days you can buy an older one and revamp it with new parts. They have awesome designs like being able to climb up top and party on the roof, and things pop out everywhere and all that.

 

[Chthonic]

Wow they look like luxury yachts. Very nice.

 

[kyuuei]

Sooo in love with this loft bed.

 

[prplchknz]

not a house but an 8 square meters/ 86 square feet apartment in paris. it's pretty cool how minimalist yet functional it is

 

[kyuuei]

My idea right now is to push a little tall.
[MENTION=360]prplchknz[/MENTION] It's sooo tiny!

The only thing I dislike about these sort of things (despite LOVING them) is there really isn't room to live inside of it long term. If you're ALONE, on the go, work a lot, travel a lot, etc. I could see it. If I was a soldier unmarried in France, that looks like a place I could live in, 5th Element style like that. If you're trying to entertain more than 1 person, or trying to.. do anything (have sex, work out, jump around, do a puzzle, start a craft project) it suddenly becomes impractical. I'd much rather pay hundreds less to live here in Paris than some shitty apartment though. I can definitely see this for Paris. It's crazy crowded there and stupid expensive.. so if you're paying expensive no matter what, go for the smaller expense and use that extra money to go outside and stay out till you wanna pass out.

 

[prplchknz]

My idea right now is to push a little tall.
[MENTION=360]prplchknz[/MENTION] It's sooo tiny!

The only thing I dislike about these sort of things (despite LOVING them) is there really isn't room to live inside of it long term. If you're ALONE, on the go, work a lot, travel a lot, etc. I could see it. If I was a soldier unmarried in France, that looks like a place I could live in, 5th Element style like that. If you're trying to entertain more than 1 person, or trying to.. do anything (have sex, work out, jump around, do a puzzle, start a craft project) it suddenly becomes impractical. I'd much rather pay hundreds less to live here in Paris than some shitty apartment though. I can definitely see this for Paris. It's crazy crowded there and stupid expensive.. so if you're paying expensive no matter what, go for the smaller expense and use that extra money to go outside and stay out till you wanna pass out.

yeah if you go to the site and read the description

You can discover in the video how we found a way to turn a tiny room (8 sqm) in Paris into a really functional and easy to live apartment (maybe the tiniest one in town) which will be used by a au pair or the kids when they get older.

Tiny apartment in Paris (8sqm only) on Vimeo

my brother has a small yurt on his property its tiny but can fit a couple comfortably has a wood burning stove for heat and a small kitchnet a bathroom and shower and the people who do manual labor for the property often live there since it's 45 minutes from the closest town and it's a lot of 20 something young men wanting to get out of society for a bit but my brother says no one knows how much work is actually involved. and yeah there'd be room in the house but it has all the amenities like running water and they get their privacy. plus a lot of times its people who are students who decide to take a break for a semester or the summer so yeah it's definetly not long term either.

 

[Chthonic]

Not sure what your style is, but I found these sweet little barn plans the other day. A lot of people have built them and they can be completely contractor built for about $10k. I'm lusting after this one, it seems the perfect size with a quick build time. Plans only cost $25.

Here's a guy that built one. I think his is very sweet.

Building My Small Barn | ThinMan's Blog

I could seriously see this as an awesome home with the right fitout. Bonus points for the sleeping loft.