Posted on 07/21/2010 8:30:00 AM PDT by combat_boots
(I have no connection to this company). My name is Jay Shafer and since 1997 I have been living in houses smaller than some people’s closets. I call the first of my little hand built houses Tumbleweed. My decision to inhabit just 89 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because I do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My houses have met all of my domestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle my homes have afforded is a luxury for which I am continually grateful.
(Excerpt) Read more at tumbleweedhouses.com ...
You can strap the house to a trailer and take it with you as you as you search for one of those “shovel ready” jobs....
>>This is a great house if you are on the road 364 days of the year...<<
Yeah, I’m thinking the main character in “Up In The Air”.
The home on my farm in Kentucky cost about $20k. It is a VERY nice place and over 1,000 sq ft.
This place seems expensive. Grossly so.
“He is an environmentalist, and as such is deeply concerned that the world has already reached a point of “peak space”, and soon we will all run out of space.”
You can see all the houses around him crowding him in on the website.
House is located in Atlanta, GA, in the Collier Heights area, just off I-75.
The passive solar definitely works, plus you don't have all the fiddly maintenance issues you do with solar cells, solar water heaters, etc. Conventional gas furnace/electric AC, gas water heater, electric oven and gas cooktop. Our utility bills were basically nonexistent, in the spring and fall we might pay $50/month total, and in the dead of a real cold winter or a broiling August we sometimes broke $100 and were really annoyed. :-D
The main things that make the passive solar work are:
Oriented slightly east of south. House is a trapezoid with the longest side oriented SSE.
No windows on north side, with closets, etc. against north wall. Outside doors have vestibules to keep cold or heat out (we called them the "cat locks" as they also kept the cats from escaping). Only one window on the west and one on the east. South wall is essentially glass.
The overhang is calculated for the latitude, so that the south windows are in shade after the spring equinox until the fall equinox. Summer sun stays out, winter sun comes in.
Super-insulated, framed up with 2x8s with conventional fiberglass batts and additional foam insulating board on the outside. Roof is 2x12s. All voids filled with foam. Triple pane windows. Huge attic vent fan so that you can exchange out stale air on temperate days. Big bath and kitchen fans so that moisture doesn't get trapped in the house.
Dug into the ground so that earth does some of the insulating job (well designed drainage and best available waterproofing is a must any time your house is in the ground).
Unfortunately I haven't got any pictures on line. We sold the house back in the early 90s.
Yeah, we all want to see her as she steps out of the shower and decides what to wear.
Need.
Eye.
Bleach.
>>I think they are very cute and have used the space efficiently.<<
I agree. When I say they are a novelty, what I mean is that there is a market for this sort of thing, just like there is a market for model railroads. It’s just not a big one. It is a novelty.
Anyone that has tried to live in a REALLY cramped space for an extended period knows what I am talking about. It is very much like putting your life on hold. When you are on vacation, you ARE putting your life on hold, so living out of a tiny place is completely acceptable.
Month two in this place could get “interesting” for more than one person. If I was a writer this place would be a great “getaway” though. But most people have more than that going on.
>>Our utility bills were basically nonexistent, in the spring and fall we might pay $50/month total, and in the dead of a real cold winter or a broiling August we sometimes broke $100 and were really annoyed.<<
Those two sentences contradict each other. I consider $100 a month for a small place, even in the dead of winter, to be a lot. My condo is over 1000 sq ft and the bill is around $60 in the dead of winter.
You got that right! I need that much space just for my ammo stash and a few basic SHTF supplies.
What a great barn.
I really like the raised center. Having just replaced my gutters, I realized I hate being up higher than about 10 feet, but I think I could go up on that place and repair the roof without too much trouble.
I need to find a barn that incorporates a greenhouse for my wife - then we’d both be happy.
How can I scrub that picture you paint out of my mind...yikes........
If a person can make money off the idiocy of others, then let the market rule. But I think he his slogan should be "Helping Fools and Their Money Part Company since 1993."
Thank you for sharing - I’ll bet that is a hot property now.
It is interesting to note how the idea of a “small home” has changed in the US over time.
Levitown, NY was build between 1947 and 1951 - some call it the original suburban community - with the ‘large’ ranch homea a whopping 800 sq ft. Considered large at the time, today they are seen as tiny cracker box homes.
My daughter (and hubby + 3 children) live in a 900 sq ft home, a bit cramped at times - but they manage well. There are many homes in Anchorage that are under 800 sq ft, tho many have basements.
When you pay to heat a home for 9+ months a year, the home tends to be smaller. Not a lot of solar heating here, unfortunatly.
Anyway, we are amazed at the size of some homes we see on these cable channel shows - massive edifice complexs for one or two people....
I suppose in the end, we are blessed to live in a Nation where - up to now - these choices are a matter for an individual (and thier bank) for how they wish to live.
I bet he blames Bush-Cheney-Palin for the “space crisis”.
We routinely get temps over 100 in the summer (with high humidity, which reduces the efficiency of the cooling units) and below freezing in the winter, with occasional bouts of temps below 10 degrees. We had 11 degrees or lower for over a week this last winter.
Also, a condo has firewalls (high R-value) and is insulated by other units on two sides unless you have an end unit. This house has all the living space on one floor, which means more s.f. in contact with the outside world. And in August in Atlanta, that's HOT!
I would happily trade my current August electric bill in a conventional 2-story house for my August bill for all utilities in the solar house.
$100 is a guess, by the way, and I didn't want to exaggerate so I guessed a bit high. I do NOT keep 15 year old utility bills for a house I no longer own!
You sound as if you may be related to my husband. :-)
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
Yeah, I just bought a home in central Kentucky. I know what you mean about the temps. But even then, just using the heat pump on our little 1100 sq ft place, the bills were around $100 in that stinking humid 95+ stuff.
And yeah, the condo stuff you mentioned is exactly why we chose it. Our house had heat bills in the winter that reached a peak of over $400.
Sure they’re not for the long term.
They do help identify what the lower practical limit is, and remind us at the other end of the scale that maybe we don’t need/want so much space after all.
After two weeks in a popup camper, I realize how much of my ~3000sqft house is used just for storage, if at all. The space is nice, but living like I’m in 300sqft would render the rest more enjoyable and spacious instead of just staging for junk and maintenance.
And you'll be getting them all from the library, because you sure can't store any in that little cubby. I hope it's not too much longer till the Kentucky move.
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