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Laura & Matt’s 120 Sq. Ft. Tiny House in Asheville, NC


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Right now I’m excited to show you Laura & Matt’s 120 sq. ft. tiny house that they built themselves in Asheville, North Carolina thanks to Tiny House Giant Journey. Laura LaVoie is the author of 120 Ideas for Tiny Living.

They live and work in this 120 sq. ft. cabin in the mountains of Asheville. Inside you’ll find a storage loft, sleeping loft, open living/dining area, bathroom with composting toilet and manual pump shower, and a kitchen.

The entire cabin is designed and built to be completely off-the-grid so there’s no running water and no plumbing in the entire home. Please enjoy and re-share below.

Laura and Matt’s 120 Sq. Ft. Tiny House in Asheville

Original story: http://tinyhousegiantjourney.com/2014/12/20/asheville-nc-wishbones-mountains-and/

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 16 comments… add one }
  • Shirley
    December 28, 2014, 7:59 am

    Thanks for sharing. Really like what you have managed to do for yourself. You have shelter and a way to make a living and the experience that comes from having done it!

  • Linda
    December 28, 2014, 2:31 pm

    I would have moved some dirt around to make a more level surface for setting the house on. Also, I would enclose the crawl space underneath it with latticework. This would give it a more neat appearance.

    • January 3, 2015, 10:12 am

      Leveling the land was absolutely NOT an option for us. We didn’t want to bring up heavy machinery nor did we want to disturb the natural landscape of the mountain any more than we wanted to.

      Lattice is a good idea but it would make it difficult to access. We have no immediate neighbors so we aren’t concerned about appearances.

  • Linda
    December 28, 2014, 2:39 pm

    I really like the build for the futon mattress. Keeps it up close to the wall and avails more space in the middle of the room. If you put an extra piece of thick plywood underneath the futon mattress, you could pull it out and rest the side of it on some short stools or something to make a full size bed. The futon mattress would just lay flat on it. Really good idea for guests sleeping over.

  • Linda
    December 28, 2014, 2:48 pm
  • Gregory Parker
    December 28, 2014, 9:04 pm

    Thanks for sharing your house with us. I’d like to know if you put insulation in the walls and ceiling/roof? If so, was it typical roll insulation with a standard R-19 rating? I’d also like to know what material you used for your flooring. To get your wall built-ins did you frame with 2x6s to give you some room for “shelves?”
    Thanks,

    • January 3, 2015, 10:09 am

      Thanks for asking. We used rigid foam board in the the walls and ceiling which does equal to about R-19. We are in the south so, like we said in the video, temperatures that cold are not common.

      Our flooring is a resilient vinyl floor sold by Home Depot called Alure. Because we are deep in the woods we knew that mud and dirt would always be present so we wanted something that could stand up to that rather than wood which would need a lot of maintenance.

      The walls are built with standard 2x4s. We only did the built-ins on the interior walls so we could use the entire depth of the studs since there would be no insulation in those entirely cosmetic/room dividing walls.

  • Denise
    January 6, 2015, 3:16 am

    Leveling the land would not have provided the open storage option under the house like it does now.

    • January 12, 2015, 1:05 pm

      Yes. Also, in addition to that it opens up possible foundation issues. With the home built on post and piers we have access to the under side of the house to fix any potential issues that may happen. And, since the home is on a downward slope we may run into water problems when it rains and runs off the mountain.

      This was the best option for us. Other builders may choose something different entirely.

  • April 16, 2015, 10:58 am

    No. Not for me. Location is FABULOUS! Construction looks great, but I’m not going to pump my own shower and hand carry water. I can live relatively “rustic” but this crossed the line for me. I grew up camping and for me, this is as bad as our 1970’s pop-up camper with the sink where you have to pump like mad to bring the water from a holding tank. I commend these folks on their construction and usability, but I’ll let them do their thing. Me, I love the TH movement, but I want at least a water pump.

  • Cheryl Ross
    April 16, 2015, 1:52 pm

    dream home, dream location! The ‘roughing it’ aspect is the best part. I’m a backpacker as often as possible; there’s something abuut living simply that brings contentment. For those who think this is too hard, please try a few days in the woods.

  • Susanne
    April 20, 2015, 7:55 pm

    No fridge, correct? How do you store food?

    • April 28, 2015, 1:43 pm

      Thanks for asking. We do have an efficient electric stirling engine cooler beneath the house that is connected to our batteries. We only use it to keep beer cold when we need to. Otherwise, we make weekly trips to the farmer’s market and make sure we have staples like rice, beans, and pasta on hand. When we plan our meals we eat the perishables first. For example, we’ll buy meat from a local farm and eat it that same day. Farm fresh eggs, on the other hand, will keep for a week or so without refrigeration so we make lots of meals out of them. Hard cheeses will keep for a short time. Most vegetables don’t need to be refrigerated either. The only things we really can’t have are milk or ice cream and I don’t like milk so that’s not a problem. When we want ice cream now we make an event out of it and go to town.

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