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Grad Student’s Tiny House Tour and Interview on Living Tiny


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April is a graduate student in English at the University of Oregon.

In this video she’s interviewed on her decision to live in a tiny house on wheels.

Oregon Student Living the Tiny Life

At 19’x8′ the home is just 130-square-feet including the sleeping loft.

It’s got a tiny covered porch and you walk right into the main room. It’s a classic Tumbleweed tiny house design.

Interview: April Anson on Living in a Tiny Home

april tiny house interview

Photo by Matt Cooper

She says it’s about 114 square feet but I don’t think that includes the loft. It’s 130 including that according to Tumbleweed’s plans.

Using Reclaimed Materials to Build Tiny AND Green

Everything except the studs, shingles, roof and interior walls came from recycled materials.

The flooring came from bleachers from an old gym! Pretty cool, huh?

Welcome to April’s Tumbleweed Tiny House…

aprils tiny house

Photo Credits April Anson

Come on in! Join us for the complete photo tour (and video interview) below:

Photo Tour of April’s Tumbleweed Fencl Tiny House

aprils tiny house

I absolutely love her choice of wood and the style of the entire home. It’s simple, rustic and seems homey.

aprils tiny house

As you can see (above) there’s plenty of storage to keep everything tucked away.

The exposed beams underneath the loft in the kitchen (below) are just SO COOL..

aprils tiny house

Bathroom and Shower

bathroom shower

April’s Tiny House Floor Plan

fencl tiny house plans

Source: Tumbleweed Houses

Micro Kitchen in a Tiny Home

aprils tiny house oven

Tiny Home Sleeping Loft

aprils tiny house

Storage or Decorative Loft with Half Moon Window

aprils tiny house

Here’s another way to utilize the extra loft:

aprils tiny house

And yep – that’s a ceiling fan in the reflection:

ceiling fan

Study/Work Nook with Views in a Tiny House

aprils tiny house

Tiny House You Can Tow And Take With You Anywhere

aprils tiny house towable tiny house

Curious about towing a tiny house? Check out this post.

aprils tiny house

Built-in Nightstand in the Sleeping Loft

sleeping loft nightstand

Screenshot by Matt Cooper

Friends Helped To Build It With Her While Having a BLAST!

friends helping build

April’s friends who helped build it with her: Darren and Micah (above).

jason reitz

April’s said she couldn’t have done it without the help her friends. Jason Reitz and Carter shown (above).

friends helping build

More helpful fun friends: Karin, John, Rachel, Mark and others. Aren’t they so awesome for doing this together?

group pic friends helping build

Way to go April – AWESOME pic! Shows just how much fun you can really have building with your friends. 😀

Video Interview with April

This interview might answer lots of questions you have on the house that I might have missed in the post otherwise just ask in the comments at the bottom of this page.

The Trailer Before Construction 🙂

Where it all started..

trailer

Nice Airstream too!

cats and heater

Congratulations And Way To Go April!

april and her tiny house

April Has Her Own Blog!

April’s Tiny House Blog. There are many more great photos of this project right here too.

Love this Tiny House Design? Get the Plans:

You can buy and instantly download the Fencl building plans over at Tumbleweed. If you want to look around at other plans instead download our free plans catalog and we’ll throw in 6 free downloads!

Join us in Congratulating April in the Comments Below!

What are YOUR tiny house plans? Are you planning on building your own tiny/small house too? Tell us about it in the comments. Do you have a blog or photos to share? Let us know we’d all love to see it.

Also, try our Tiny Houses For Sale Newsletter! Thank you!

If you enjoyed April’s Tumbleweed Fencl Tiny House “Like” and share using the buttons below and I’ll talk to you in the comments. Thanks!

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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!
{ 27 comments… add one }
  • sushineandrain
    April 5, 2013, 9:08 pm

    Looks like a work of love. You have great friends. Congratulations!

    I love your gambrel/ barn roof. Would you be willing to share the plans for it?

  • LaMar
    April 6, 2013, 3:42 pm

    Well, it says it is a Fencil but looks more like my Solar Cabin on Wheels design that I published in 2011 for Instructables Independence Project:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZKtGRGW1-U

    The barn style roof, arch window and kitchen, bathroom, loft and ladder placement are exact copies of my design however I did not waste space on a bump in porch and I placed the door in the side for better access and room for a pullout couch bed in the living area.

    I am glad to see they used recycle materials and that reduces costs and helps the environment. I would add some solar panels and I included a front nose for propane strorage in my design and room for a over/under washer dryer.

    So it is good to see these designs being put to good use!

    LaMar

    • April Anson
      April 7, 2013, 4:59 pm

      LaMar,
      I WISH we would have found your plans before we built! We actually just free-handed a jig for the trusses and piece-mealed everything together. But it would have been a lot easier had we found your resources- thanks for sharing!!

  • Michael Carmack
    April 6, 2013, 5:38 pm

    April,
    I like the fact that you and your friends used reclaimed materials in the building of your tiny house. I wish that more people would include off the grid solutions to their houses though as well as making them more energy efficient and better insulated. I’ve been working on a design that uses a sturdier trailer with larger axles and wheels as well as shocks in addition to the leaf spring suspension. In addition I added another layer to the trailer to hold a potable water tank, waste water and grey water tank along with the pumps and tubing so that you can use your trailer like a true RV when you don’t have a water source and a septic system, etc. I also have added more floor insulation. I decided to save on weight also by using steel framing for the house structure. I have used PEX plumbing (plastic tubing) due to it’s inherent superiority to all the other plumbing systems out there. The house is wired for 110 volts and also has wiring run throughout to support an entire system of LED lighting to conserve energy in an off the grid situation. The front of the trailer has an storage area built in that houses 2 propane tanks, a generator that ties into the house electrical system, the circuit breakers and a bank of batteries for the solar power system along with a charge controller and an inverter.

    The walls all feature expandable foam insulation for energy efficiency, weight and also to lend more strength to the structure. The outside is done with marine grade plywood and a housewrap. The exterior is done in hardiplank (cement siding) due to it’s lifespan. On top of the home I have incorporated solar shingles to keep the battery bank charged.

    I’ve made numerous other adjustments based upon livability, structural integrity, etc. I don’t know if you have checked into stuff like this but it’s something that I think that everyone should incorporate into their designs as well as insulated windows and doors with energy efficient, i.e., Low “E” glass.

    • Wiz Zard
      December 1, 2017, 6:26 pm

      Sounds wonderful! Would you be willing to share?

  • Jerry
    April 7, 2013, 12:27 am

    Beautiful house, and I’m sure it’s due to the friendships which built it. I’m never really liked the exterior look of a gambrel style roof on a tiny house, always thought it looked too barn-ey, but seeing your interior shots has opened my eyes to the advantages, thanks for posting the pics! Congratulations on your build, and I hope you have many happy years living in it!

  • Ruth Koson
    April 7, 2013, 10:29 am

    April,

    I love your Tiny house and what I like the most is the awesome window that is up in the loft! I love the fact that you used many salvaged materials. I did the same thing when converting a portable building that was a repo in to a cabin and I admire you for the same. I rarely leave comments, but the way you designed and built your Tiny house brought a comment out of me! It is important to use as many salvaged materials as we can. I live in the forest and watch the trees around me being cut down due to supply and demand and we need to encourage others to build with salvaged materials as much as possible since it is easy to cut a tree down, but it takes many years for one to grow. I have lived and watched this movement for four years now and I love not having a rent or mortgage payment. Thank-you for sharing and keep encouraging others to use reclaimed and salvaged materials. I know that we do need to buy some items new, but the more used wood that we use, the longer our environment around us will last. Peace to you and may you find many happy years to come in your Tiny House! From a tiny person who lives and breathes this movement.

    • Alex
      April 8, 2013, 9:31 pm

      Thanks Ruth 🙂

    • April Anson
      June 3, 2014, 12:36 am

      Thanks, Ruth!!! Blessings!!!!

  • ANJUMAN ARA
    November 16, 2013, 2:02 pm

    Congratulations! I liked your tiny house, well done. : )
    I am sure you would modify/ improve as and when necessary. I liked it because of it’s simplicity and building cost.
    Your tiny house could be an inspiration for other students to build their own tiny house!
    I would like to know about water supply and sewerage system in this house, hope you wouldn’t mind sharing please. Thank you,
    Anjuman

  • Brian Oxford
    November 16, 2013, 8:25 pm

    Very nice! Much respect and appreciation for the hard work it takes to complete this project. Our team built a Jay Shafer design tiny house as well. We use ours as a marketing cabin to promote our eco-friendly vacation village, so “Junior” sees lots of highway.

    Do you plan to travel with your house? Those cedar shakes and beautiful half moon window would scare me! One thing we found out is that these tiny houses are HEAVY!

    Good luck and congrats!

  • libertymen
    November 17, 2013, 8:16 am

    Reality check.In most places longterm living in these is frowned on.Codes,Red tape,zoning.
    Does it come with the huge truck?
    Grad Student in English? Really.
    Get ready to join the UE line when you graduate.

    • Chris Weston
      May 22, 2014, 7:57 pm

      libertymen is a real downer. Guess we should all give up art and literature & go work in a factory so
      we can afford a double-wide?!? Is that what liberty truly is?

    • Michael
      July 15, 2014, 11:50 pm

      libertymen,
      I think that she will go far whether she has a degree or not because she is willing to think outside of the box and is not afraid of being a conformist. You on the other hand will probably toil your life away in a menial position and due to your closed mind you probably won’t go far. I’ve worked with and know many people that are VERY SUCCESSFUL and some of them don’t even have degrees. Some of them are worth millions. There are many of us that have realized that we live to work instead of working to live. It’s better to chase your dreams and truly live a happy and fulfilled life than to be bitter and sit back while others pass you by. Lighten up and realize that everything isn’t black and white like your view is. I think that April will go far. Congratulations on the home and the realization of your dream April. Don’t ever let anyone hold you back or say that you can’t do something.

  • michel livingston
    December 28, 2013, 2:03 pm

    I was wondering where do you get blueprints for some of your teeny houses I’d love to order one or two that I saw hopefully you can help me with this thank you very much Michael Livingston

  • MICHELLE BASILE
    May 27, 2014, 11:52 am

    I love that you reused materials, the design is perfect and well thought out. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed it!

  • di
    May 30, 2014, 12:11 pm

    The gambrel roof and large, multiple windows makes common sense in such a small space. Really like the design of this one!

  • di
    May 30, 2014, 12:17 pm

    To save space, try a lower-corner carousel-cabinet in the kitchen. It can easily store a set of stackable kitchenware, a utensil basket as well as dry goods. No other cabinets may be needed.

  • Kathy
    July 15, 2014, 10:02 pm

    Libertymen, do you think your name gives you the liberty to denigrate and be so nasty to another person? Didn’t your mother ever tell you if you didn’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. This woman deserves respect for building such a lovely home in a sensible, Eco-friendly way. I am sure that when she wants to move, she will have friends to tow her. Smart alecks not invited. And we should congratulate her on having pursued her education to such a high level, even if you don’t have a use for her knowledge.

  • Adam
    September 29, 2014, 8:12 pm

    That window is amazing!

  • Holly
    October 21, 2014, 10:15 pm

    Libertymen, you are a jerk, everyone has the right to live where they choose, I think her design is amazing, very thought out, a great use of the space she has, plus with all of the windows it makes it appear alot larger than it is, I live in a small house, less than 1000 square feet, and I love it. You did a great job, it’s beautiful.

  • Don
    June 12, 2015, 9:06 pm

    I have started my tiny house planning. So, where do I start?
    How big? How long? How High? so many questions? Not sure I know the questions to ask. I am a builder. Recently divorced. Starting over small. I already have the ground to park it. Just need a point in the right direction. I live in Alaska not that that really means anything anymore we were warmer than most of the East coast last year.

  • Diana
    November 5, 2017, 11:42 am

    Gorgeous tiny!!! Where do you keep your clothing? Way to go girl!

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