or maybe this:
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 ...
I took the last two weeks of June off and Mrs. Robroy and I drove a U-haul truck there with most of our stuff. Our home in Seattle is now our “crash pad”. My record collection, vintage Hi Fi collection and bicycles and basses (except one bass and amp for Seattle gigging and a bike for Seattle riding) are there, and all my wife’s equivalent stuff. We had to regrade the hill part of the driveway to get the truck up and our neighbor helped us cut, rake and bale almost 400 bales of hay off our land.
Next trip I’m paying about $2000 to get the steep part of the driveway professionally graded and surfaces with “dense pack”. I’ll also start construction for our “garage/shop”. We get a copy of Kentucky Living from our utility company with about a hundred ads for metal building companies. I may still do wood though.
We’re ready to go out there at a moment’s notice and I will be finding out early next week if I have landed a job that will have me flying all over the country, but where I live will be irrelevant. If that goes through, I’m OUT of Seattle. And as an added bonus, it is “A” location wage range for IT Business/Systems analysis. :)
We’re VERY excited.
But only if I had a large barn/garage/workshop.
Precisely. When a Real Man™ goes to buy a home, he's looking for a large barn/garage/workshop that also includes some sort of house located somewhere on the property.
That’s the problem. He’s welcome to live in as small, or as large, a house as he wants. Just don’t start telling me how I should live.
When the real estate market recovers somewhat, we are going to sell this place. When we had hot and cold running children (our kids plus ALL their friends since we are very close to their school) the place seemed quite full, but for just the two of us it's way too big.
We'll probably build another small passive solar house and have a big pole barn out back for the dog, horse, carpentry, ham radio etc. stuff. Right now it's all in the garage!
In Tucson, the local University had a ‘village’ of surplus Quonset huts for families - and many were happy for those.
I’ve heard tales of people carving small caves out of the hillsides in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl era; compared to that, ten years later, a little box made out of ticky-tacky looking just like the neighbor’s house would be palatial.
Thank you, AM! How were the summer AC costs in Atlanta? Even if it stays a lot cooler than most houses, it’s so humid and oppressive in the south (used to spend part of my summers in Columbia SC and Sullivans Island.)
I’ll double check w/ my hubby, I was guessing our worst summer utility bill was around $100, but he’ll know for sure.
>>Right now it’s all in the garage!<<
In our case, we put it in storage in Kentucky until we can build a place on the property to store everything. I keep hearing about pole barns. I’m gonna have to google it.
Ya, and they are back to doing that again today.
Times is hard and are going to get a lot harder.
Oh come on. If someone is different, has different goals or views, he’s a freak to be ostracized and belittled.
It’s the American way...
Personally I’d be glad to live in a Tumbleweed sized home today. I had to live out of a car for a while several years and one of these would have been a godsend.
Not much bigger than a jail cell.
I tried sleeping stnading up and it didnt work!
Hubby and I lived in an 8’ x 35’ travel trailer the first year of our marriage. With two little boys. It was NOT the smallest trailer we lived in. We spent an entire summer in the wilds of Alaska in a pickup camper. Camper/trailer/RV designers were coming up with unique and clever storage ideas long ago.
It's a plain vanilla, basic barn or shed built with recycled telephone poles. The poles support the roof, and the barn skin (whether wood or metal) is fastened directly to the poles as well.
The University of Tennessee kindly has posted plans on line here. Click on "General Barn and Utility Shed Plans" and you'll find several nice plans of varying complexity. They look like complete plans and specs that you could hand to a builder (or do yourself if you have the skills).
I checked out that “plan” site. It’s got some VERY useful stuff in it. Thanks! I emailed the link to myself.
It's absolutely amazing what good stuff they have. Much of it is online, but they also have great leaflets that you can order, often for free. I got a TON of good gardening and beekeeping info that way.
or maybe this:
Great idea. I really appreciate this information!
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