These are the sort of projects that people write me about and we discuss behind the scenes. This could be a great little business if you make the tiny houses yourself out of recycled materials. Build with cash one at a time.
YouTube
The mastermind behind all these great videos is Kirsten Dirksen.
I had not thought of the cost for storage tanks, pumps, generators etc. I guess my tailgate parties and going to the woods is out of the question now. I suppose if you really wanted that kind of vehicle/shelter a regular RV would be the way to go. These are for semi to permanent living or used as a hotel as in this case. Good that Paul pointed this out.
Previous blog post about RV living: https://naturalbuildingblog.siterubix.com/rv-living/
Note: I often have more success searching our blog with a search engine (versus using the built-in search engine on the right). In this case I had to click through 4-5 pages of results looking for the term “RV living”. On Google it turned up number one when I entered “natural building blog” rv living.
There is a major difference between these tiny houses and the average recreational vehicle. That is the self-containment of both fresh and black (sewage) water. The video pointed this out. As a former full-time RV owner/resident, I can tell you that these are very important indeed, and many campgrounds in parks are not equipped to handle vehicles that require full hookups.
The cost of adding holding tanks, pumps, electrical generators, etc. would add thousands of dollars to the cost to make a tiny house truly mobile.
The building methods of rv’s vs. tiny houses has to be more robust as well, due to the fact that when it is towed, an RV is experiencing a constant earthquake, things have to be screwed and glued together, not just nailed.
It’s a good concept for a semi-permanent, stationary structure, though.
Parts can be salvaged from old RVs. We covered this in a blog post about 1-2 years ago. The video shows a guy stripping down an old RV for his home.
But I agree. They’re really two different types of buildings. But they can be adapted to meet special needs. RVs can be upgraded for permanent living, etc.
On the not-so-comical-side of NFL Football pre-game tailgate parties, these are excellent little homes for people to enjoy when cost is the main issue. With the cost of building “standard everyday houses” this would be a great alternative. It’s not for everyone but, it’s nice to have another alternative home plan. I like the suggestion of seeing them at recreational parks. Federal and state parks yes. Why not go to the woods and be comfortable and secure at the same time. The construction shown was impeccable. Flat out beautiful.
Tiny houses have lots of advantages and are rapidly growing in popularity. They require minimal building materials and labor. The cost is very low if you use salvaged materials. Mobile tiny homes can be moved if something unexpectedly goes wrong with the economy or whatever.
Hubby and I keep joking after we build our own earthbage house of buying a few acres and creating a low-income housing village using a lot of Owens designs a few of our own I told hime it might be fun to do a student housing project with these tiny houses. our hope is to help those who are in constent danger of losing there home the renters who live paycheck to pay check. After all if it only cost $20,000 to build then why chare $800-$1500 a month for it?
It’s simple supply and demand. If you can offer affordable housing, people will beat a path to your door. It’s only a matter of time before builders and investors catch on. It won’t work in many areas due to the building codes that skyrocket costs (or at least be way more difficult), so you have to find the right place.
Very cool little hotel! I loved seeing all of the innovative woodwork and fixtures they each had. Those were some of the nicest tiny house showers I have ever seen. I like how Kirsten always turns the homeowners (and hoteliers) into the hosts of her videos. Makes sense. They know their home best. I think this hotel is going to do VERY well. If I get back to Portland, I’d like to stay there, if they’re not booked solid.
Could you imagine how cool it would be to see one of these at a NFL football game? While everyone was doing their tailgating party you could really go all out with one of these babies parked there. It would be wild….
OhhhhYeah……. It probably wouldn’t be allowed on the stadium lot but, there’s plenty of places close to the stadium that rent space for the games and would welcome someone who took up 4 to 5 or more spaces. They have their pregame tailgate parties there too.
Wonderfl good idea! Thanks for sharing!
Great idea.
Linking together two recent blog posts…
I would love to see Recreational Parks such as this with Tiny Houses become common, but I think it would be smart to include one storm shelter, such as was described a few days ago on the property as well. It need not be too fancy, or stocked with supplies for long term survival. Just big enough to hold all the guests from all the Tiny Houses for an hour or two while a dangerous storm passes by.
That storm shelter might be a great storage space to hold the maid service cleaning supplies, and perhaps a few other necessities of such a park.