Tiny Homes Simple Shelter

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. 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. 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 "in-law" or "granny flats" in the back yard. There are innovative solutions in cities, such as the "capsules" in Tokyo.

If you're thinking of scaling back, you'll find plenty of inspiration shown by builders, designers, architects, dreamers, artists, road gypsies, and water dwellers who've achieved a measure of freedom and independence by taking shelter into their own hands.

"I started building almost 50 years ago, and have lived in a self-built home ever since. If I’d been able to buy a wonderful old good-feeling house, I might have never started building. But it was always cheaper to build than to buy, and by building myself, I could design what I wanted and use materials I wanted to live with.

I set off to learn the art of building in 1960. I liked the whole process immensely. Hammering nails. Framing — delineating space. Nailing down the sub-floor, the roof decking. It’s a thrill when you first step on the floor you’ve just created.

Ideally I’d have worked with a master carpenter long enough to learn the basics, but there was never time. I learned from friends and books and by blundering my way into a process that required a certain amount of competence. My perspective was that of a novice, a homeowner — rather than a pro. As I learned, I felt that I could tell others how to build, or at least get them started on the path to creating their own homes.

Through the years I’ve personally gone from post and beam to geodesic domes to stud frame construction. It’s been a constant learning process, and this has led me into investigating many methods of construction — I’m interested in them all. For five years, the late ’60s to early ’70s, I built geodesic domes. I got into being a publisher by producing Domebook One in 1970 and Domebook 2 in 1971. I then gave up on domes (as homes) and published our namesake Shelter in 1973. We’ve published books on a variety of subjects over the years, and returned to our roots with Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter in 2004, Builders of the Pacific Coast, and The Barefoot Architect in 2008.

Building is my favorite subject. Even in this day and age, building a house with your own hands can save you a ton of money (I’ve never had a mortgage) and — if you follow it through — you can get what you want in a home." —Lloyd Kahn

Tiny Homes on Foundations
For the Love of Snow . . . 2
The Sugar Shack . . . 12
Little House in the Backyard . . . 14
The Field Lab . . . 18
LaMar’s $2,000 Solar Cabin . . . 20
The Shed of Reality . . . 22
Backyard Chicken Coop Yacht . . . 24
House for One Person . . . 28
14´ × 14´ Post and Beam . . . 30
Rich in the Woods . . . 32
$1,000 Cabin on the Coast . . . 33
Art’s Bedroom . . . 34
Small Structures . . . 36
The Phoenix Commotion . . . 38
Ons Tweede Huis . . . 40
Kim & Jonny’s Cabin . . . 42
Tiny Texas Houses . . . 44
Rethinking Normal . . . 50
Friends in High Places . . . 51

Tiny Homes on Wheels
Jalopy Cabins . . . 52
Tumbleweed Tiny Houses . . . 54
Little House on the Trailer . . . 58
Oregon Cottage Company . . . 60
Jenine’s Two Tiny Houses . . . 62
ProtoHaus . . . 66
Building a Tiny House on Wheels . . . 68
Pallet House Project . . . 69

Tiny Homes by Architects
Judith Mountain Cabin . . . 70
Prefab Cottage . . . 72
Jeffery Broadhurst . . . 74
Tokyo Capsule Hotel . . . 78
TYIN Tegnestue Architects . . . 80
weeHouses . . . 82

Prefabs and Kits
Reclaimed Space . . . 84
Small House Innovation . . . 86
Bungalow in a Box . . . 87
Cabana Village . . . 88
YardPods . . . 89
Montana Mobile Cabins . . . 90
Tom’s Cabin . . . 92
More Prefabs & Kits . . . 94
Online Building . . . 98

Earthy Materials
Hani’s Man Cave . . . 100
Bill and Athena Steen . . . 102
Hobbit House in Wales . . . 108
Ziggy’s Cob Cottage . . . 110
The Laughing House . . . 114
The Mudgirls of BC . . . 116
Pallet/Cob Backyard Shed . . . 119
Straw Bale / Cob House in Oregon . . . 120
Cobworks . . . 122
Cob/Wood Roundhouse in Wales . . . 126
Dogon Dome . . . 128
Big Sky Yurt . . . 130
Sauna on Haida Gwaii . . . 132
Baja Surfer’s Shack . . . 134
Ardheia . . . 136
Solar Potting Shed . . . 144
Driftwood Beach Shack . . . 146
Bouncing Bridge with Troll Booth . . . 148

Treehouses
Crystal River Treehouse . . . 150
Treebane . . . 154
Lapas Nest Treehouse . . . 156
Lakeside Treehouse . . . 160
Deek Diedrickson . . . 162
Taylor Camp . . . 164

On the Road
Lloyd’s Van . . . 166
Hornby Island Caravans . . . 168
The Flying Tortoise . . . 170
Vardo /Sheep Wagon . . . 172
Simplify, Simplify . . . 174
Nicolette’s € 1,000 Wagen . . . 176
ProtoStoga . . . 178
Jay Nelson . . . 180
Baja Road Travel . . . 182
Big Red . . . 183
Artist in a Van . . . 184
Lady on the Road . . . 186
Bernie Harberts’ Covered Wagon . . . 188
The Horsebox House . . . 190
American Nomad Rigs . . . 192
Vintage Campers . . . 196

On the Water
Paul, Julie, and Mia on the High Seas . . . 198
Sailing Yacht “Misty”. . . 204
Floating Homestead in BC . . . 206
Ontario Boathouse . . . 208
Our Little Cabin up the Lake. . . 210
Narrowboats . . . 212