This earthbag tiny house story is a guest post by Atulya K. Bingham – share yours!
My name is Atulya K. Bingham. I never thought I’d build my own house. I hadn’t so much as considered it. As far as I knew, I didn’t particularly even like building. I’d never so much as banged in a nail.
Then one night it became clear. As a rain-laden gust of wind lifted the back of my tent clean off the platform, I realized I was going to have to make a home. If I didn’t, either I’d be washed off the Turkish mountain I was camped on, or dragged back to the dreaded day job.
As pools of water collected at the bottom of my sleeping bag, the decision was forged. A friend of mine a few hours along the Turkish coast had built some earthbag bungalows. He’d said the process was straight forward.
There were only two problems: I had just $6000 left in my account, and a month before deep winter set in. After a couple of days of online research, I took a deep breath and embarked on what became the earthbag adventure. It was an endeavor that by its completion had taken me to places I had no idea I could go, and brought in all kinds of on-lookers, doubters, helpers, and life-savers.
Today I’m sitting inside that beautiful handcrafted home. It’s small, 6 meters diameter, but it feels like a palace to me. Not one drop of cement was used and it is 100 percent solar powered. A house isn’t simply a shelter. It’s a life. My home has enabled me to leave behind a world of mind-numbing work and unhealthy lifestyle choices and has given me the chance to live my dream of becoming an author. Please enjoy, learn more and re-share below. Thank you!
One Woman’s Path to Freedom with an Earthbag Tiny House
Images © The Mud Home
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Habitat for Humanity Cabarrus County in Concord, North Carolina, just completed the first tiny house of its kind in the state, possibly nationwide. Weighing in at 488 square feet, the one-bedroom house is handicap compliant with a wheelchair turning radius in every room, and built to high energy efficiency standards.
“It all started a couple of years ago when I started looking for an alternative for myself to the 1750 square foot home I currently own,“ says Shirley Kennerly, Family Services Coordinator for Habitat Cabarrus. While researching smaller homes, she stumbled across the tiny house concept and was intrigued. Not only did she find a dwelling alternative that will suit her needs eventually, but found an answer for an applicant population consisting mostly of older singles and couples on fixed incomes. Shirley had to decline these applicants more often than not, due to very low income.
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Tiny House, Big Impact
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This is the Eco Pod model by Pod Space, a British company that designs and prefabricated garden structures. You can use them as guests houses, micro homes, home offices, garden sheds, or anything else you can think of.
In this case you’ll see that this Eco Pod is designed to be used as a backyard home office because there’s a living area with a comfortable couch to relax and rejuvenate in while on the other side is the office area with desks and chairs. Although I can think of a few ways to turn this structure into a livable tiny home with a few modifications, how about you? Share your redesign ideas in the comments below. Please enjoy and re-share below. Thank you!
Modern Eco Pod Tiny House by Pod Space
Images © Pod-Space.co.uk
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Even though Tony Hsieh is has about $840 million dollars in net worth, he has recently chosen to live simply in a tiny Airstream travel trailer after giving up his luxury apartment.
Granted he does own the 1-acre RV Park where it’s parked. Tony is CEO of Zappos.com which was recently acquired by Amazon.com for over one billion dollars. Right now he is spending over $350 million of his own money investing in and rebuilding downtown Las Vegas where Zappos company headquarters is at. Hsieh is also author of the bestselling book called Delivering Happiness.
His Airstream is a 2013 model with about 200 sq. ft. of living space inside. Unfortunately the Airstream Village is fully occupied and yes it even has Tumbleweed Tiny Houses on the property!
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh Living in Tiny Airstream
Images © Google
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What does “living simply” really mean? That was one of the questions on Aldo Lavaggi’s mind when he set out to design and build his own tiny house on wheels. He purposefully chose a very simple design with no running water and no shower, curious about how it would feel to carry in his own water, and how difficult it would be to shower at friends’ houses instead.
But a simple design doesn’t necessarily mean a spartan one. He also designed a space for a collapsible hammock chair to provide “squishy comfort”, which can be rare in tiny houses with lots of built-in wood seating. He installed solar panels as his primary energy source, and used several large and interesting windows so the house could be heated by the sun as much as possible, a technique called “passive solar” heating, even in the cold winters of New York State. He also rigged a retractable stepladder to his sleeping loft, and added an external storage area over his trailer hitch as a small shed for tools.
Young Man Explains Simple Living in a Tiny House on Wheels
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This is a yurt glamping (glamour camping) set up at the Green Acres family homestead near Austin, Texas in the countryside town of Elgin, Texas.
On the property you’ll also find a Vintage Spartan and an Airstream which is also available as a vacation rental experience. If you want to try out living tiny in an alternative shelter, this is one way to do it!
The yurt sleeps two adults and two kids using a queen mattress and a blow up mattress for the kids. Nearby is a modern bathhouse and barn with a modern kitchen. Please enjoy and re-share below. Thank you!
Yurt Glamping at Green Acres near Austin, TX
Images © Airbnb
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This Man Turns Cargo Trailer into DIY Stealth Tiny Home story is a guest post by James L. Parmenter
My Tiny House adventure began in January of 2012 here in New Mexico. Back in 2007-2008, I purchased a repossessed 2 bedroom 14′ x 52′ mobile home from a local park, after renting it for 3 years. The Park went bankrupt so the Bank then took over the property, the Park was sold in 2010-2012, and renovations began.
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After being evicted and facing homelessness, he turned this ordinary cargo trailer into his custom stealth tiny house
Images © James L. Parmenter
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This School Bus Tiny Cottage Lifestyle Update is a guest post by Marsha Cowan – share yours!
I came home from Arizona to North Carolina to visit with my family for the summer (am parked in my daughter’s driveway), and while here have been able to do some renovations on the tiny red bus in which I live full time in an RV park in Arizona. Almost finished! When I do get finished (hopefully in the next week) and cleaned up, I’ll send some pictures, though the solar vent fan/light I ordered from Lowe’s won’t get in until it is time to leave to go back, so that will have to be installed after I get back to AZ.
Some of the changes have been a stained/varnished floor, new boxcar shelves, blinds on the windows, and Plexiglas shutters on the back windows. There are a few other changes as well that have made life so much easier for me, but as usual, I am still off grid. Can I put in a plug for Goal Zero, my new hero? Lol!
Here are the pictures of the remodeling on my tiny red bus which I call Baby Boy. The biggest improvement was the stained and varnished floor. As with the partitions in the bus which have worked out so well, I used 1×6 pine fencing to do the floor. It only took me about $20 worth, then small cans of stain and marine varnish. So far it has been very easy to keep clean!
Related: Woman Turns School Bus into DIY Tiny Cottage on Wheels
Marsha’s School Bus Tiny Cottage Lifestyle Update
Images © Marsha Cowan
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It’s exciting to show you this classic 480 sq. ft. tiny cottage in Nashville, TN that’s available right now as a vacation rental.
I know, I know. This isn’t exactly the usual tiny house that we see built right onto a trailer but a structure like this still offers the simple life, doesn’t it? So if you’re seriously considering downsizing, going tiny, or you’re just not sure yet, one of the best ways to figure that out is to invest your next vacation time in a tiny house or a small house like this one.
Try tiny then try small if you have to! And even if you’re curious as to what it might be like to live in an RV or a houseboat, for instance, you can find a way to take an RV or houseboat vacation too. This way you don’t waste your time/money investing big bucks and lots of labor into something that wasn’t going to work out for you in the first place. Makes sense, right? So if you want to explore more tiny and small house vacations be sure to explore this category. But before you move on to that please enjoy and re-share this wonderful little cottage in Nashville below. Thank you!
Southern Style Tiny Cottage in Nashville, TN
Images © Airbnb
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