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Top 5 Reasons I Love My Tiny House in the Fall


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This weekend marked the first day of autumn for 2013. Like many people, I love this time of year. As you probably know from reading Tiny House Talk, I live in a tiny house that we built in the Appalachian Mountains near Asheville North Carolina. As you might imagine this is a majestic place for leaves and other fun fall activities. I thought I might share some of the reasons I love my tiny house in the fall.

1. The Leaves. We didn’t build our house at the top of the mountain ridge. Instead, we chose a small clearing nestled in the middle of our 15 acres that is surrounded by all kinds of amazing trees. Our fall starts with the unexciting Tulip Poplars common in the region. Their leaves simply turn brown and fall off with very little fanfare. But once the Tulip Poplars are out of the way there is room for the rest of the Appalachian trees to shine. It is truly gorgeous.

My tiny house in Autumn

My tiny house in Autumn

I encourage you to read more below:

2. The weather. We built our home to take advantage of the natural mountain breezes. The way we situated the front door is in the direct path of the cool air that rolls down from the ridge. It stays reasonably cool in the summer but we need a little help from fans. But once fall sweeps across the region the temperatures are perfect for sleeping at night. We get out the warm comforter and can snuggle in without any extra heating or cooling.

Warm blankets

Warm blankets

3. Fall recipes. We love to cook. I know there are often a lot of questions about our very modest indoor kitchen without an oven or a refrigerator. We have chosen to approach meal preparation in a very different way. This is why we built the outdoor kitchen. In the fall we can cook a lot with pumpkins and squash and other fall favorites. The farmer’s markets are bursting at the seams with their autumn harvest. We can be very creative with some of the dishes we make this time of year.

roasted vegetables in the camp oven

roasted vegetables in the camp oven

4. Fall beers. Okay, okay – I totally understand that this has nothing to do with living in a tiny house. Except that it does! We chose Asheville in part because of the amazing beer culture in the area. We built this tiny house so we could spend time doing more of the things we love. We find that we have much more time and more money to enjoy the local beer scene. And Asheville has some amazing seasonal beers.

Off With Their Gourds PumpkAnne Ale at Wicked Weed in downtown Asheville

Off With Their Gourds PumpkAnne Ale at Wicked Weed in downtown Asheville

5. Halloween decorations. As September winds down and we flip the calendar to October we are preparing to get our minimal Halloween decorations out and spookily deck the halls to enjoy the holiday. Trick-or-Treaters are entirely non-existent here on the mountain but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the holiday anyway.

deck the halls with lighted pumpkins...

deck the halls with lighted pumpkins…

As I really think about all the things that our tiny house has allowed us to accomplish I am so aware of how little the size of the house matters. The more I consider the tiny house movement the more I realize that we are in a position to be an example for real intentional living. What kinds of things can you do to live your life to the fullest and enjoy the season?

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Laura LaVoie

Contributor and Tiny House Owner at 120SquareFeet.com
Laura M. LaVoie is a professional writer living in the mountains of North Carolina in a 120 Square Foot house with her partner and their hairless cat, Piglet. Laura graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in Anthropology. She has been published in magazines and anthologies on the subjects of mythology and culture. She spent nearly 15 years in the temporary staffing industry before deciding to become a full time writer. Laura works closely with the Zulu Orphan Alliance volunteering her time and the skills she's learned building her own small house to build a shelter for orphans and other vulnerable children living near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Laura also enjoys simple living, brewing and drinking craft beer, and popular culture.
{ 12 comments… add one }
  • LaMar
    September 24, 2013, 9:21 am

    I love all the seasons as I live in a high desert area near the the foot of the Uintah Mountains so each season brings new scenery and challenges.

    In Fall I get the cooler weather and fall colors and that is time to get my cabin prepared for winter. Wood cut, solar and wind system checked and refreshed, snow shovels and long johns dug out of storage.

    I also get excited for holiday seasons and have more time to visit with friends and even play some pool and sing Karaoke at my local pub.

    I am an amateur photographer and today I am driving up the canyon to take pictures of cabins and lakes in full fall colors and hope to see some wildlife. Fall is a wonderland that I enjoy close up.

    LaMar

    • jerryd
      September 24, 2013, 9:56 am

      I like my seasons warm!! I don’t mind the cold as much a the ice and slush.

      Nor do I mind trees, grass, gardening being green yr round. I fact I rather enjoy them.

      So you all can have my share, I’ll go swimming here while you freeze up there.

      And there are plenty of low cost land/tiny homes here in Fla outside of cities though not so much work and they pay you in sunshine.

      But if you work for yourself it’s great and cost of living is about as low as you can get.

      • LaMar
        September 24, 2013, 12:11 pm

        It all depends on your lifestyle and needs. I am an outdoorsman and like the mountains and don’t mind snow and I am not fond of bugs, humidity and hurricanes but to each there own.

      • Doc
        September 24, 2013, 1:20 pm

        Jerryd,
        Lol, you crack me up! ” they pay you in sunshine” :)))
        In that case I would like to open a savings account in Michigan!

    • Cahow
      September 24, 2013, 10:36 am

      LaMar: I’d never heard of your mountain range so I had to do a Wiki search for them. Boy, do you live in God’s Country! It must be amazing to wake up each morning to that beauty. 😀

      I’ll take longjohns and mitten ANY day of the week compared to suburn, sweat and 24/7 bugs! LOL

      • Cahow
        September 24, 2013, 10:37 am

        Mittens, plural, NOT singular! 😉

        • jerryd
          September 24, 2013, 12:17 pm

          I’d be more worried about the suburn ;^P

          You do know there is this thing called shade and bugs really are not a problem in more populated areas. Not like you all don’t have your own bug problems either.

          And it only takes $1.2k/1Kw of PV offgrid system to run the A/C, TH for 25 yrs. another beauty of TH’s.

          I have lived up north for 2 yrs and even with the better job prospects up there, having good weather nearly yr round, massive green, great fresh, salt waters, fish that jump into your boat that are nor carp, etc just too good to give up.

          I really want to move to Portland /Seattle area but watching the temps, etc, just not for me.

          But as I said, you can have my share.

          Alex there is a really, really great TH bus on Treehugger you need to see, post here.

        • Doc
          September 24, 2013, 1:22 pm

          You’re forgiven, you live in the mitten! 🙂

        • Doc
          September 24, 2013, 1:45 pm

          That was for Cahow. 🙂

      • LaMar
        September 24, 2013, 12:19 pm

        Hi Cahow, the Uintah’s are part of the rocky Mountain range and are home to the famous Utah ski resorts where the winter Olympics were held. I am in high desert just at the foot of the mountains surrounded by millions of acres of BLM and Ute Indian reservation. Still sparsely populated but close enough to resupply and run a small business. My grandad was one of the first white homesteaders in this area and built the first school and rode for the pony express and my grandma was the first white school teacher in the area and my land is part of their old homestead. We even had a township that was named after us and my family has a long history in the area. Hundreds of relatives still live in the surrounding area so I have to be careful when I throw rocks. We are referred to as Cedarbillies lol!

        • Cahow
          September 24, 2013, 3:26 pm

          You know what I admire about you, LaMar? You not only Talk The Talk but truly Walk The Walk, too. Most people just trash-talk; you LIVE it! My hat off to you and your history you shared. How incredible to be that tied to a place. <3

  • alice h
    September 24, 2013, 2:25 pm

    I love fall too, though the leaves don’t get that spectacular here in SW BC. I much prefer living here where there are 3 seasons – spring, summer and fall and you can pretty much skip winter unless you head up into the mountains. Rain goes away on it’s own, no need to shovel. After many years in the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut I don’t miss winter at all, but there’s something very special about the sights and smells of fall and harvest time. I often do a fairly major yard haunt for Halloween, great fun with my granddaughter and the neighbourhood kids.

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