“There’s a grassroots movement in tiny homes these days. The real estate collapse, the economic downturn, burning out on 12-hour workdays – many people are rethinking their ideas about shelter – seeking an alternative to high rents, or a lifelong mortgage debt to a bank on an overpriced home.
In this book are some 150 builders who have taken things into their own hands, creating tiny homes (under 500 sq. ft.). Homes on land, homes on wheels, homes on the road, homes on water, even homes in the trees. There are also studios, saunas, garden sheds, and greenhouses.
There are 1,300 photos, showing a rich variety of small homemade shelters, and there are stories (and thoughts and inspirations) of the owner-builders who are on the forefront of this new trend in downsizing and self-sufficiency.
At the heart of our 1973 book Shelter were drawings of 5 small buildings, which we recommended as a starting point in providing one’s own home. Now, almost 40 years later, there’s a growing tiny house movement all over the world – which we’ve been tracking over the past two years.
Many people have decided to scale back, to get by with less stuff, to live in smaller homes. You can buy a ready-made tiny home, build your own, get a kit or pre-fab, or live in a bus, houseboat, or other movable shelter. Some cities have special ordinances for building “inlaw” or “granny flats” in the back yard. There are innovative solutions in cities, such as the “capsules” in Tokyo. There are numerous blogs and websites with news, photos, and/or plans for tiny homes, documented here.
If you’re thinking of scaling back, you’ll find plenty of inspiration here. Here’s a different approach, a 180º turn from increasing consumption. Here are builders, designers, architects (no less), dreamers, artists, road gypsies, and water dwellers who’ve achieved a measure of freedom and independence by taking shelter into their own hands.
About the Author
In 1968 Lloyd Kahn worked as Shelter editor for the Whole Earth Catalog. In 1971 he published Domebook 2. His shake-covered geodesic dome was featured in Life magazine. Ultimately disillusioned with domes, he took Domebook 2 out of print and in 1973, published the oversized book Shelter, which went on to sell over 250,0000 copies. In 2004, Kahn published HomeWork: Handbuilt Shelter – in many ways the sequel to Shelter – and Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2008. Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter is the 4th book in this series. Kahn and his wife Lesley live and work in a small coastal town in Northern California.”
Source: ShelterPub.com
Why live in a house that costs so much, when you can have a home with a heart? I imagine my home to scale down when we build our whole home.
When you can have more for less, and have pride behind it, it just makes so much sense. I can’t wait to have the land to call my forever home so I can build.
We’ve got some people interested in moving in a spot in the mountains of Carolina to build naturally, mostly earthbag within the next few years.
The tiny home is such a cool movement. Though, with a very young son, I wouldn’t go tiny-tiny like a lot of people do. I imagine something more along the lines of the video you posted earlier from the earthbag builders group.
You bring so much to this movement, thanks again.
Tiny houses are mostly for singles or couples who want to be able to move the house if necessary. This works great to avoid codes, and people can live where it’s easier to find jobs. Earthbag, strawbale, etc. is better suited in some ways to rural retreats. You can still build earthbag in urban areas, but then you have to deal with code officials and much higher costs.