The Joy of Tiny House Living E-Book

Chris Schapdick

• Herausgeber: Creative Homeowner
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 248

Beschreibung

The tiny house movement continues to grow and thrive. As people consider joining the tiny home lifestyle, they need to fully understand all of the practical considerations that go into building, owning, and living in a tiny home on wheels. The Joy of Tiny House Living is today's indispensable manual for tiny house living. Award-winning tiny home builder Chris Schapdick offers first-hand information to help tiny home aspirants realize their dream, with advice on design, construction, legalities of living in a tiny home, and how to deal with some of the inevitable challenges of living tiny. Upgrading to small has many benefits for those who are well informed—that's where this book can help.

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2019 Chris Schapdick and Creative Homeowner

This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any form, by any means, without written permission from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts for purposes of radio, television, or published review. All rights, including the right of translation, are reserved. Note: Be sure to familiarize yourself with manufacturer’s instructions for tools, equipment, and materials before beginning a project. Although all possible measures have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material presented, neither the author nor the publisher is liable in case of misinterpretation of directions, misapplication, or typographical error.

Creative Homeowner® is a registered trademark of New Design Originals Corporation.

The Joy of Tiny House Living

Vice President-Content: Christopher Reggio

Editor: Colleen Dorsey

Copy Editor: Laura Taylor

Designer: David Fisk

Indexer: Jay Kreider

Print ISBN 978-1-58011-834-7

eISBN 978-1-60765-641-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Schapdick, Chris, author.

Title: The Joy of Tiny House Living / Chris Schapdick.

Description: Mount Joy : Creative Homeowner, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018049952 | ISBN 9781580118347 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: House construction--Amateurs' manuals. | Small houses--Maintenance and repair--Amateurs' manuals.

Classification: LCC TH4815 .S375 2019 | DDC 643/.2--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049952

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Creative Homeowner®, www.creativehomeowner.com, is an imprint of New Design Originals Corporation and distributed exclusively in North America by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 800-457-9112, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552, and in the United Kingdom by Grantham Book Service, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents and my daughter, Mia. My parents gave me the path and my daughter gave me the reason to pursue this fulfilling life of creating things with my hands. Thank you for all your support and love.

The man behind the man: my dad. Thanks for believing in me and for all your help.

All costs related to your tiny home project will vary by project, location, and many other variables; therefore, all costs given in this book should be understood to be estimates.

All interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Is This Book for You?

You are tiny house curious. Going tiny appeals to something deep inside of you. Maybe you like to watch shows about tiny home living on TV. You want an escape from some of the monotony of daily life. You like the idea of reducing clutter and excess and are perhaps interested in minimalism.

If any of these statements are true about you, then tiny houses, structures, buses, or other small dwellings may well be the answer for you. This book describes the many aspects of going down the path toward your own tiny house. Whether you want to build it yourself or have someone build it for you, there are things you should know and decisions you will need to make. I’m here to arm you with the information you need to make those decisions.

This is not a step-by-step how-to book that teaches you to build a tiny house from scratch—though that will be my next book! Instead, when you are done reading this book, you’ll be well equipped to make your own tiny house decisions. From design to construction to where you ultimately put your tiny home, I’ll explore your options and help you find clarity. This book is laid out in a logical progression that your tiny house journey is likely to follow. I suggest that you read it through in its entirety before making big decisions so that nothing outlined later on in the book will trip you up.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to embrace smaller living. It’s pretty groovy, and no, it’s not just a fad.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Gallery

Chapter 1Fundamentals

How I Ended Up in a Tiny House

A Tiny History of Tiny Houses

Why Are People Going Tiny?

Is Tiny Right for You?

Experiences versus Stuff: Minimalism

Interview: Alex Eaves

Chapter 2Design

What’s Important to You? Start with a Vision

Roughing Out a Plan

Considering Mobility

Off-Grid Living

On Wheels: The Foundation

Where to Rest Your Head: Loft Sleeping

Let There Be Light: Windows

The Great Outdoors: Extending Your Space

Interview: Andrea Burns

Chapter 3Construction

How Will You Pay for It? Financing

Can (and Should) You Construct Your House Yourself?

Hiring a Contractor

Bare Hands Aren’t Enough: Tools

The Walls Go Up: Construction

Powering It Up: Electricity

Running Water: Plumbing

Staying Warm and Cool: Insulation

Covering It Up: Roofing

Beautiful Inside and Out: Finishing Touches

Interview: Andrew Bennett

Interview: Joe and Kait Russo

Chapter 4Other Considerations

Not Your Normal Kitchen: Cooking

Venting Small Spaces: Humidity

Heating and Air Conditioning Solutions: Mini-Splits

What Everyone Is Curious About: Toilets

Inviting Folks Over: Entertaining

Moving Around: Towing

Interview: Michael Fuehrer

Interview: The Tiny Traveling Theatre

Chapter 5Legalities and More

Every House Needs a Home: Where to Park

Protecting Your Investment

Part-Time Tiny Homes

Other Tiny Dwelling Uses

Next Steps: Momentum

Interview: Jenn Baxter

Final Thoughts

Tiny House Checklist

Resources

About the Author

Photo Credits

Foreword

DEREK “DEEK” DIEDRICKSEN

This was the first time we met in person. We needed to get a selfie.

Chris Schapdick is a pretty curious fellow. To be frank, he has just a little bit of that mad scientist look about him, a zany “Gene Wilder as Frankenstein” vibe. I intend that comment to be a compliment, though.

Chris has a gleam about him of an individual who is very bright and who has many onion-like layers. Chris, like myself, was probably a total nerd in high school, but it’s those people that you want to align yourself with. The dorks of yesterday are the innovators, pioneers, and often the bosses (perhaps yours) of today. They are the ones who were never afraid to go against the grain, who have always done so, and who stick their necks out, take chances, and willingly sprint down the path less chosen. Heck, a lot of ’em, like Chris, grab proverbial machetes and blaze their very own paths. Quite honestly, you are cut from the same cloth if you’ve made the rather wise choice to pick up this tome.

Even adventurers need a bit of guidance sometimes, though, and that’s what you’ll find within the pages of this book. The sum of Chris’s experience in the tiny house world, building and experimenting and learning, is collected here in easily digestible, thought-provoking, often entertaining and always useful chapters that cover everything from the philosophical reasons to go tiny to the pros and cons of different trailers and building materials…and everything in between.

When years back, Chris decided, “I’m going to start a business based on tiny houses and micro gypsy wagons, all from scratch!” it was not your normal nine-to-five by any means, and certainly a chancy, gutsy, move—yet Chris has done remarkably well, and there is no reason why you can’t go down that path, too, by combining your own sense of adventure with the confidence that the facts and advice in this book will give you.

So read heartily and drink from this fountain of micro-architecture geekiness. Mr. S is your more-than-capable tour guide from here on out, and he’ll be taking you through the journey of what tiny living is all about, why you might want to consider this path, and how to do it.

—Derek “Deek” Diedricksen

Author of Microshelters and Micro Living, former host of HGTV’s Tiny House Builders, and creator of YouTube channel relaxshacksDOTcom, www.youtube.com/user/relaxshacksDOTcom

Gallery

This gallery of photos features real people and real tiny houses. You can read it word-for-word now, before you get into the meat of the book, or you can skip it and come back to it later, or you can skim it and flip back to it as you read about the ideas and concepts that are shown in the photos. No one’s tiny house is perfect for another person, but by seeing what others have done with limited space, you’ll be inspired to figure out what your tiny life will look like.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

Tiny House Chattanooga created this striking home. This is a special version of their Lookout Model. You won’t be lacking in sunlight with that skylight and those windows.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

The bedroom area in the Lookout by Tiny House Chattanooga has its own dedicated skylight and breathing space on both sides of the bed—something to appreciate!

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

This is the Cardinal model by Free Spirit Tiny Homes. It’s 20' (6m) long and offers 196 square feet (18 square meters) of living space.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

An inside view of the Cardinal model by Free Spirit Tiny Homes reveals wooden walls that make it feel like a modern log cabin.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

The inside of Artisan Josh’s 12' (3.6m) tiny house. The dark wood and number of decorations add to the feeling of coziness here, and enough light gets in the windows to keep it from feeling like a cave. (www.artisanjosh.com)

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

Bryan Booth from Harmony Tiny Homes stands in the Youngstown model, a 270 square foot (25 square meter) and 24' (7.3m) long tiny house. Bright colors enhance the open and spacious floor plan.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

The Bluestem from Switchgrass Tiny Homes can fit quite a few people comfortably. Surfaces hide storage space, and utilities, like the mini split unit at top left, are out of the way when possible.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

A school bus conversion like Luke and Rachel’s (see caption below) combines the relatively large amount of space of an entire bus with the mobility of a classic tiny house.

Courtesy of TinyHouseNC (www.tinyhousenc.com). Photo by Mandy Lea Photography.

“Midwest Wanderers” Luke and Rachel (plus their two kids and dog) live in this amazing school bus conversion. Aside from living in a bus, Luke converts buses for others with his company, Skoolie. (www.skoolie.com)

Courtesy of Midwest Wanderers (www.midwestwanderers.com). Photo by Luke Davis.

The exterior of the bus.

Courtesy of Tiny House Expedition (www.tinyhouseexpedition.com).

Alexis Stephens and Christian Parsons stand in front of their nomad home, where they’ve been living and traveling for three years and counting.

Courtesy of Tiny House Expedition (www.tinyhouseexpedition.com).

This is the view of the “greatroom” from the front door of the house. The uncluttered feel allows a small space to live up to its name.

Courtesy of Tiny House Expedition (www.tinyhouseexpedition.com).

Facing the front of the house, you can see a creative vertical shoe rack and a small extra bedroom area—no space is wasted!

Courtesy of Tiny House Expedition (www.tinyhouseexpedition.com).

There is even space for proper utilities, like a mini fridge, stove, and oven, in this tiny home with a big heart.

Courtesy of Tiny House Expedition (www.tinyhouseexpedition.com).

Thoughtful touches in a consistent color scheme make the interior of this home feel cohesive, and smartly placed hooks ensure there is a space for everything, like the cutting board hanging on the wall.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The Roost18 is one of Perch & Nest’s smallest tiny home offerings, at just 18' (5.5m) long.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

Even in a small space, this home has the luxury of a deep bathtub.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

There is cushioned bench seating by the front windows and extra storage space in the eaves above the porch.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

A comfortable staircase—more convenient than a ladder!—provides access to the loft sleeping area.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The loft sleeps two and includes a skylight to keep the space from feeling claustrophobic.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

Unbroken vertical space above the kitchen makes meal prep a breeze and keeps the home from feeling cramped.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

A stylish storage nook next to the stove allows easy access to the minimal utensils needed to cook.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The sleek black exterior of this 26' (8m) home, the Roost26, belies its bright and spacious interior.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

An incinerating toilet doesn’t look out of place in this modern bathroom.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

A subtle induction stovetop ensures you can prepare your meals quickly and easily.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

There’s no need to miss your favorite show—the television seamlessly fits onto the wall, where it won’t take space away from the sleeping area.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

You won’t encounter any of the annoying ventilation problems that often plague tiny homes with the open-air layout above the rooms in this model.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

You’ll forget you’re in a small space because of all the light from the windows and the white finishings.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

Giant front doors to a shaded porch ensure you can enjoy whatever weather the world throws at you.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

Relatively giant for a tiny house, the Roost36 model is 36' (11m) long, but it is still completely mobile thanks to its triple axles.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

View from the kitchen toward the front of the house. A full-length sofa allows total relaxation. Built-in shelves ensure that even though a large chunk of the wall is taken up by windows, there is still plenty of space for all your items.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The view from the front door reveals almost the entire home at a glance. The relatively large size of this home means a stylish and large fridge can live here, too.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

With plenty of headroom and space along the sides, there is no claustrophobia in this classic loft.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

This front deck allows you to enjoy your own personal “yard,” rain or shine.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

This genius bathroom includes a handy tray that acts as movable storage whenever you are using any of the facilities.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The 20' (6m) Pecan is a great example of a small space done right.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

There’s a nice view looking down from the sleeping loft. You can see how the natural light enters from all sides of this home and brightens the space.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

For such a small home, the loft is still quite large, sleeping two with minimal worries about bumping your head.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The view from the front door reveals most of this home, including a space-saving ladder to the sleeping loft and an inconspicuous bathroom in the back.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

A cozy seating nook tucked into the front of the home means there’s always a place to relax for a little while.

Courtesy of Perch & Nest (www.perchandnest.com) and Tiny Planet Design.

The kitchen is quite minimal in this small home, with no stovetop. You can still manage nicely with what is there.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

Jenna Spesard of Tiny House Giant Journey downsized her life and built her 165-square-foot (15-square-meter) home in about a year in order to travel around the country and the world.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

There’s room for a woodstove for heating and cooking, a furry friend, and a subtle staircase that also serves as pantry and closet.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

A well-lit loft is the perfect place to rest your head after a day of travel or work. As a bonus, there is roof access from the loft—on a nice day, the roof is a great place to relax.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

Even part of the ceiling is used ingeniously as storage space for snowboards. Jenna spends most of her work time in the seating area at the front, where USB charging ports are plentiful.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

Corrugated metal sheet makes a surprising but stylish finish for the bathroom, which includes a composting toilet and a small tub that Jenna uses to give her dog a bath.

Courtesy of Tiny House Giant Journey (www.tinyhousegiantjourney.com) and Guillaume Dutilh.

The distressed reclaimed wood details in the interior make the home feel like a cozy bungalow.

How I Ended Up in a Tiny House

A Tiny History of Tiny Houses

Why Are People Going Tiny?

Is Tiny Right for You?

Experiences versus Stuff: Minimalism

Interview: Alex Eaves

Before you run out and get yourself a tiny house, there are a few things that you should ponder. It’s potentially a big, life-changing step, and being a bit introspective now will pay dividends down the road. People wind up gravitating toward tiny houses for different reasons. You should ask yourself, and be clear about, what your motivations are. This chapter will help you sort through some of those drivers.

HOW I ENDED UP IN A TINY HOUSE

I want to give you a little bit of background on who I am and why I’m writing this book. I’m not doing this because you should be particularly interested in my personal story. My story, however, is probably not unique—chances are you’ll see some parallels with your own life.

I grew up in Canada, and my earliest memories are of being outdoors fishing, camping, hiking, and doing a lot of fun stuff. As an only child, I was lucky to have two parents who focused on me, and I got to spend a lot of quality time with them. In my teenage years, I wound up in the New York City area, and then, after moving around some more, including a stint in Europe, I found myself gravitating toward the New York City area again. Subsequently, I got married and had a child of my own. It was at that point when I realized the environment that I was living in was very much a suburban, densely populated, and congested area, and that this was very different from my experience as a kid. There were simply not enough trees.

My daughter running around outside of one of my gypsy wagon builds up in the Catskills.

As a father, I wanted my daughter to have some of the same experiences that I had had when I was younger. I started to think about purchasing a piece of land somewhere reasonably close by where we could spend some time. The idea was to camp and have a place to escape to from the nuttiness of the outskirts of New York City. I found an area not too far away in the southern region of New York known as the Catskills. We could easily get there for an overnight trip or even a day trip. Once I had purchased a property there, though, I wasn’t sure what to do next. It was a great location, it was on parkland, and there were about three and a half acres to roam and explore. There were trees galore—I now owned the woods. Well, a tiny little part of it, at least.

Then I discovered Jay Shafer’s The Small House Book. I don’t remember exactly how it fell into my hands, but sometimes when we look back at things, we realize that they were just meant to be. I started looking through that book and was very intrigued. I wasn’t a huge fan of tiny houses on wheels at that point, but I did like the concept of a cabin or a small building built on a foundation. That book got me thinking about the land that I had purchased. One nuance of the land was that it was zoned for recreational use only, which meant that you couldn’t build a substantial, permanent structure on it. You could put up a shed, or a pagoda of sorts, but you could not build an actual house, even a miniature one. This recreational zoning of the land made me revisit my views on tiny houses on wheels, because tiny houses on wheels can get around a lot of zoning regulations by technically being a custom recreational vehicle (RV). They don’t fall under the same restrictions as traditional building structures do, and they generally don’t require planning/building approval.

My daughter lounging and reading in one of my tiny builds.

Aerial drone shot over my Catskills, NY, property. It’s beautiful up there.

With grand visions of a tiny house retreat in my head, I went so far as to purchase plans for a house from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, which at the time was the premier supplier of all things tiny house related. I got the plans, I looked them over carefully, and I realized it was a somewhat daunting task to build a tiny house on wheels. I don’t come from a construction background, and these were architectural plans that had many symbols and details on them that were not necessarily easy for me to decipher.

Right around this time, Tumbleweed started offering something called an “Amish Barn Raiser.” They were effectively selling you the trailer and doing all the framing, sheathing, and whatever else you wanted them to do on top of that trailer, short of providing a totally finished house. This was fantastic, because not only did it eliminate some of the fear that I had about doing the framing correctly, but it was also going to save me hundreds of hours of labor and travel back and forth between New Jersey and New York.

Hauling my Tumbleweed tiny house shell back to the East Coast from Colorado. At this point I’m somewhere in Kansas.

I didn’t hesitate to place my order. The build took place, very inconveniently for me, in Colorado, about two thousand miles away from where I was. They did offer a delivery option, but I chose to fly out there and rent a U-Haul truck to tow the house back to the East Coast. All and all, this was a pretty bad idea, because towing a house was a lot for the truck to handle, and the distance and the speed limitations made for a very long and arduous four-day journey. I did eventually get the house back to the East Coast in one piece, where I proceeded to work on it.

Throughout this book, I’ll relate some of my experiences regarding the aspects of building a tiny house, so I’ll leave those details for later, but I did eventually complete my first build. In fact, I finished it just in time for a tiny house show in New Jersey that was being hosted and presented by the United Tiny House Association. In the span of the several years I spent working on the house, perhaps only about ten people got to see the work in progress. At the show, however, around three to four thousand people passed through my house during the course of the three-day event. The whole show was pretty overwhelming, and the feedback that folks were giving me was very humbling and something that I hadn’t expected.

Exhaustion and elation sometimes go hand in hand. I was thrilled and somewhat overwhelmed to have won this award.

People lining up to tour my tiny house at the United Tiny House Show in New Jersey in 2017.

There was a constant flow of people. I lost my voice at some point. It was a tremendous, life-changing weekend for me.

My house won best tiny house at the show. Winning was something that I would never have expected. After the show, I took the tiny house back to my property and returned to work, but, in the back of my head, I had realized that this was something I truly enjoyed, more than my dreary nine-to-five corporate existence and massive commute. I was working in advertising technology, which was certainly not a field that I was passionate about. I had many roles in various capacities, but it was always the people that I liked, not the work itself. Sure, I was well paid, but, as many of you know, money does not always lead to satisfaction—in fact, it rarely does. I started working on getting my life-coaching credentials, which is something that I saw myself perhaps doing on the side to help people.

Everything came together. I didn’t really like my job; I had seen that the construction of my tiny house had garnered so much great feedback; and my start down the path of becoming a life coach had also shown me that perhaps there was a life outside of the technology field that I had found myself in.

Here’s the key: At some point in all our lives, there’s a chance to take a leap of faith, to believe in ourselves and do something that doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable (like writing a book). That’s what I did. I quit my job and decided that I was going to focus on life coaching and tiny house construction. The house that I built became a fixture in my life and has taken on a much more prominent role than I could ever have expected.

It’s been about two years now since I left the corporate world, and I haven’t regretted any of it. Sure, it’s a little bit more difficult, and it’s sometimes tricky to structure your days around work and to be disciplined to do what needs doing on a daily basis. But my leap of faith has worked out rather well for me. I’m writing this book to share part of my story and my experience around tiny houses, and I encourage anyone and everyone to consider taking their own leaps of faith, whatever that may look like.

We’re only on this planet for a certain amount of time, and it’s the things that we don’t do that we generally regret, rather than the things that we attempt. Believe in yourself; you can do it, and you have so many resources that can help you do it: YouTube, various websites, and what has become a very tight-knit tiny house community are all great assets for your tiny house journey. Ask yourself, what do you want from life? What is your goal? If you find yourself stuck in a role or a job that you don’t like, then for your sake, please do something about it.

Anyway, that’s a bit on my background and what got me started in this field. Like I said at the onset, your story may be quite different from mine, but hopefully you can take away a piece of my experience.

The interior of my first tiny house. I kept everything to a fairly cohesive theme. I’m still very happy with how it turned out.

A TINY HISTORY OF TINY HOUSES

You may think that people have discovered tiny houses somewhat recently. You’ve perhaps seen a TV show or pictures of tiny houses online, and this is what piqued your interest. The reality, though, is that tiny homes and small living have been around for a very, very long time. The current tiny house trend is more of a rediscovery of living little rather than a purely new phenomenon.

Human beings have always lived tiny; throughout most of history, people have had rather small dwellings. You can go all the way back to caves and teepees, or consider a time in the United States, when people were traveling across the country for months in covered wagons. If you look at older cities in North America, like Montreal, you’ll see various older neighborhoods all featuring compact houses, and the same is definitely true in Europe, which is packed with neighborhoods like these. Small houses were built because it was difficult and costly to obtain materials. Current notions of disposable income didn’t exist; the average person did not live in a world where it was feasible to build larger and larger houses just for the pleasure of it.

The original tiny house on wheels: a covered wagon. Well-known for their role in transporting settlers along the Oregon Trail in the 1800s, covered wagons were glorified storage trailers and not nearly as comfortable as the tiny house you will build.

Tiny houses like these in Lüneburg, Germany, were built for centuries throughout Europe.