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A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to run into Meg and Joe’s tiny house tour on their YouTube channel.
Then I found their blog, Living Small Under the Big Sky, and was glad to read some of the inspiring quotes on living simply.
But when I say live simply I also mean living richly.. Just in a different way than most of society sees it. You know what I mean, right?
Tiny House Tour after Construction
After Meg and Joe finished the construction (thanks to the help of some friends and family) they were a bit fearful about moving it.
Fortunately, it towed perfectly fine without any issues. 🙂
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Photos Courtesy of Meg via YouTube and Living Small Under the Big Sky
I encourage you to watch it in action in the video clip at the bottom of this post.
Their friends- Brad Thon, David Calabretta, Jesse Johnson, and Joe contributed much to the completion of the house (specifically the siding and exterior finishing).
So I thought I’d give them a shout out for doing their part to support Meg and Joe because that’s just awesome.
Tiny House with a Spacious Sleeping Loft
You’ll notice that this little house on a trailer has an extra spacious sleeping loft (thanks to the use of gables and windows). This is my favorite part of the house, what’s yours?
Another really neat feature is that they included benches with storage on both sides of the tiny front porch. I always appreciate it when you can double the function of something in a small space. By the way, Meg, great job on the staining.
I’m sure you can tell that just about everything in this house was done with quality and practicality in mind. You’ll notice this when you see the front door, interior walls, shelving, flooring and appliances.
Beautifully done Meg and Joe (and friends!). I consider this home to be a wonderful example of living tiny yet luxuriously.
All photos and screenshots are courtesy of Meg and Joe so be sure to pay them a visit. I’m so glad they shared what they’ve done so far.
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Be sure to leave your thoughts and favorite things about this house in the comments so we can have a group conversation. Thank you!
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Alex
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how mutch does this house weights and waht’s the are of the house
Not sure but probably weighs about 6000 lbs
what’s que area(size) of the house?
How much should the car be capibal do pull?
It’s 20′ by 8.5′ so around 160 or so sq ft not including the loft.
You’ll want an F-250, 2500, etc truck to pull it without any issues. Or you can rent a UHaul when you need to move it.
Would I live there?
Abso-frigging-lutely! =)
Me too 🙂
Awesome TH! I just came across this so am chiming in late (as usual, heh) but had to post as I like your home so much! Great video, too. The earlier vids are private, but the one I could watch has given me lots of inspiration.
Clever idea with the cat box. 🙂
Parker
Of Course, on a part-time basis at the lake with those fabulous mountains you were going to!
Maybe our Golden Retrievers would sleep on the floor instead of in bed with us as they do in my Tiny Travel trailer, ” Daisy”, she is a 1963 Shasta Teardrop and you definately have more room than I do.
I adore all the storage space and communications area.
The kitchen has all needed to cook anything and the bathroom is fabulous!
Smiles, Cyndi
Thanks Cyndi glad you liked their house. Getting the retrievers up there would be a challenge lol
Alex,
Do you have any idea the size of the trailer that was used in making this trailer?
Hey John, yup, the trailer size is 20′ by 8.5′ with heavy duty axles.
Hey Alex, thanks for having us on your site. We come here often and we’re glad to see such positive feedback.
The house is a bit further along than the above video. There is still quite a bit to do, but winter has set in here in Montana. One of the things we’re most excited about is a small Sardine wood stove that will go to the left of the entry.
As far as weight goes the house falls in just under 10,000 lbs with the trailer. When I designed it I knew it was going to be a tank, so we paid for extra heavy duty axles.
Living in it has been awesome. It turned out to be more comfortable than I thought it would be. The cost of utilities is about 12 dollars for electric and 5 dollars a month for propane, by summer it should be far less. Hopefully we will have our solar panels by then, and we’ll only have to pay for propane.
I’ll have meg send some newer pics for we’re waiting until spring to put up the last video. Thanks again!
Thanks Joe, really glad you liked what I put together here.
The sardine stove is going to look great in there, can’t wait to see your next update. 🙂
Looking forward to checking out the latest pics. After you send them I’ll be sure to put them up here for everyone to see. My email is tinyhousetalk at gmail dot com.
Bravo!! This is definitely one of the nicest TH designs I’ve seen for all the 5 (or so) years I’ve been drooling over designs! It actually resembles the design my brother is working up for us. Question of economics, if you care to answer. Did you buy your trailer new? Did you decide to finance the project all together or in pieces. I am trying to put together a financial plan and hesitate to start without knowing I have the whole amount of money but on the other hand I fear I will never get started if I have to wait. Financing the project is the big question right now, I am ready to do it though! Thanks for any thoughts anyone has on this issue.
Wow thanks Louise. I’m really glad you like my design.
To answer your questions we decided to go with a new trailer. The main reason was mostly due to the weight of the house. I looked at a lot of used trailers but none of them were rated high enough. I had to had it custom built. This included having the company remove any normal parts that would get in the way (like a spare tire mount). I also wanted to stay away from having to do bearing, brake, and other repairs that I knew a used trailer might need. They even added post loops to mount my walls to.
As far as financing we decided to buckle down for a year and live minimally and work as much as we could. All in all we were able to save all the money we needed ($30,000), but we missed the mark for what we wanted to spend by about $10,000. There were areas we could of saved a lot of that money but I figured this was my home and I wasn’t going to cut corners. A Dickinson heater, a 3-way fridge, a Natures Head toilet, and my building material choice would of knocked that $10,000 down to zero. In fact I think I could of built the same house with other options for $15,000 or less, even more if I did all the work myself and went with reclaimed materials.
On that note the house was built almost entirely with local wood that was from a forest fires right here in Montana so its Eco-friendly. I will tell you one thing, after all the stress and money passed from building this house, it was the single best decision that we have ever made. Our life has changed so completely that I can’t convey our happiness. Good luck to you!
That was a moving story and makes me want to start building right now. But I am not sure what the design well be I have looked a lot of floor plans. Yours floor plan is close to what I want. I am looking into building my trailer because I have enough metal to build 5 trailers and friends that weld for a living. Thanks for all your information.
Thanks Bill. It’s funny you posted this at the time you did because I completed the house today. A lot of work but the cold beer at the end was worth it. When my wife returns from NY I’ll have her make a new video to share. All I can say is since I did this I am stupidly happy, as is my wife… GO FOR IT!
I am curious to know more about the trailer specs. I really love this design and would prefer not to scale it down but there is a question of cost. Also, do you have any idea what the total weight of the trailer and, separately, the building? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, JM
The trailer is a custom Walton design. I spent extra for heavy duty axles and brakes, and as mentioned had parts added and removed to accommodate the houses design. The trailer is rated for a max load of 10,000 lbs and by itself the trailer falls in at around 2,700. In the end the weight is close to that mark but I have 13,000 lb axles to bare any extra weight I might add. The reason I went with a walton is because of its steel girder design. The thing just looks stronger than any other trailer I could find, plus its powder coated to prevent rust. The cost for it was around $4500 so there ore obviously cheaper options. I’ve seen great trailers for half that price used, but this is the foundation of my home so to me it was the most important purchase to make.
I know this seems like a lot of money to most people, but my wife and I are working class people and we had nothing saved until we decided to go for it. We lived hard for one year. We penny pinched, ate a fair share of crap food, and stayed put, spending as little as we could. We kept our minds on the prize. Now we have HUGE amounts of free time and disposable income. So much in fact that we decided that 3 days of work a week is enough to live very comfortably. This from a guy that was a NY chef who worked 80+ hours a week for most of my life. Best decision ever.
Bless you….
Hi again, Meg and Joe and Alex,
I am thinking along the lines you followed. I feel it’s important to go the extra mile (within reason) to aim for quality and wait out the time needed because it is often more expensive to correct or replace many essential items. Your heater and toilet are the brands I was favoring – how do you rate their performance? Can you say what models you purchased? As I used a 30-way fridge some years back in an RV, I was thinking about that, too. What do you think of your fridge and can you tell what model and make you got?
For HVAC, I was eye-balling the Mitshubishi heat (and cooling) pump (as in the http://www.cubeproject.org.uk design), alternatively, but I wonder about living off grid and what would be best (propane or electric with solar and/or propane generation)?
I have the same thoughts you did regarding trailer choice (new vs. used) and wonder make/model you chose? Nosey, aren’t I?!! Hope you don’t mind, these topics aren’t shared often, I find! Thanks for your help!
All the best, Louise
Meg and Joe,
To begin, I would like to say “Thank You” for the detailed answer. I am truly impressed with you, your sincerity, your outlook. I wish more younger people were so well grounded. I have mentored young people in ways to establish a successful internet business for some years with many success stories. I don’t know if you can or need any of my expertise but you certainly have it if you need it! I wish you and yours great health, happiness and prosperity in all your pursuits! John M.
Thank you very much John. We get a lot of feedback about our choice to live this way. Some of which is unfortunately negative, but its nice to see others taking interest and showing true enthusiasm. This is the kindest thing anyone has written me so far and I am glad I can help. Maybe someday I will need your help, you never know how far this can go! Nice of you to mention us as young people, I’m 40 so I don’t feel so young anymore, but the house has defiantly changed our outlook on our future. Cheers.
Well I can tell you the toilet is incredible. Its not only the cheapest of any composting toilets… minus the lovable loo (lets face it its a bucket), but it is smaller, better built, cheaper, and most importantly it separates your waste. This makes a HUGE difference when it comes to smell and cleaning it. Speaking of which, this was the thing I feared most, and it turns out its pretty easy. If you follow the directions you deal with what looks and smells like potting soil. We love it and feel if more people knew how well it works they would be in more campers. Chemical toilets are just nasty, incinerators are too energy hungry, and plumbed toilets are not a option if you plan on moving it.
I saw that Mitsubishi some months back yet I was a sucker for the aesthetics of the Dickinson P12000, but the real reason I went with it was because it was purposely designed for small spaces. Almost all heaters get their oxygen for within the room they are in. This is a really big problem if you’re in a tiny house. The Dickinson has a 2 chimney system that draws it oxygen for outside the house. Not only that but is super efficient. It will warm the house to insane levels with in a few minutes of operation. Even in the winter in Montana its overkill. The drawback? It does not have a thermostat. So leaving it unattended is not an option. We have a small electric based oil-radiator for when we are away from home. They use very little electricity and give off dry heat. On top of that we plan on putting a sardine wood stove in soon.
The refrigerator is a Dometic 3-way absorption cooling system. The reason I chose this model was to keep it under the counter top. It uses very little electricity, stays cool even after the powers been off for a day, has no moving parts, and works with every energy option available. The downside? It needs to be level when its running and needs cooling vents outside of the house. Oh and its expensive…real expensive. A simple dorm style fridge will run you $70 at Target, this thing cost me around $900.
As far as off grid living this house is wired for 12v and 120v lighting and outlets(inverted to 120v). Our water heater is propane as is our stove. The fridge can run propane too, but it is the least efficient of the three options. The furnace is propane, oil heater is just plain 120, and the wood stove…well that’s self explanatory.
Lastly the trailer is a 20ft Walton by Byson. They are made her in Montana and I do believe they will ship to you. They have a partial catalog online but you can call them directly and ask about their no tilt car haulers. I do believe they make them up to 28ft. I highly recommend them.
BTW, you are not being nosey. I wish I could of had someone to talk to when I was building mine. I don’t mind helping others. In fact we are writing a book about the whole process so people can understand what our experience was like. This was the only portion of Jay Shafers book that was omitted. How the whole process unfolded for us (trust me there were hurdles) and what its really like for 2 people to live in such close proximity. More on that later…
Lets me first say that I love ur house and it has inspired me.
But I have a couple questions…..
What made u choose a propane water heater and not electric?
And is the water heater on demand or does it have a tank?
And last question is.
With a propane water heater, stove, and fireplace, how much propane do u go thru in a month.
Love the house, hope you guys do too
Thank you. It’s so nice to know that our house might give someone the push they need to do it for themselves. Living this way is so empowering.
As for my water heater I decided on my propane unit ( and yes it’s a 5 gallon tank unit) due to energy use. I plan on living off grid and I didn’t want to use solar panels for energy that can be better directed elsewhere and I’m glad I did.
The unit uses so little propane. In the summer between cooking, the two of us having a shower and doing dishes, one 20lb tank will last for 3 months. Keep in mind when we are done we turn the water heater completely off, as it uses more to leave it on. In the winter with the furnace in use, a tank will last 2 months on average. I do believe a refill is under 10 dollars this month so it’s less than a burger and fries for a months worth of energy.
Oh and if you decide to go this way I recommend an adjustable pressure shower head, my wife likes loooong showers and it helps a lot. Kudos…
Oops forgot one thing. We have no need for air conditioning. So I can’t help you there. Sorry…
Thank you so much, Meg and Joe, for your detailed responses. I’m sure everyone appreciates it as much as I do.
Hey no problem Alex. I’m glad to help.
Wonderful!!! I find you again. I was the one asking you zillions of questions and completely in awe of your tiny home. It is great to read your interview in detail around your goals, your tiny home and all of your shared information.
I am taking your lead on many things and am going for this. I just have to settle on a few house plans and find the right trailer. All of the details you provided are amazing and so helpful as one of the writers stated above, it is often still difficult to locate these details in tiny house books or amongst tiny housers.
I am looking forward to your book release when it’s ready!!!! I may be your biggest fan and am thankful the world is learning about you both in this amazing way.
Thank you!
Also, what is your insulation like, what did you choose for your home living in Montana? I generally run cold and would need to insulate my home heavily along with having a heating system similar to yours.
The 3-way frig sounds like an awesome choice!! I am constantly looking for ways to obtain eco-friendly wood from different places.
Wish there were websites for this in local areas.
Thanks a bunch for your answers in advance.
Wow, so glad you like the house. We’ve come a long way since that video. Believe it or not it’s close to done. We had a shower valve burst (manufacturer defect), and as luck would have it I caught it right away, so there was no water damage. All that’s left is making some cabinet doors. I put that off until last just to guarantee my water pipes would not freeze. Go with pex piping btw, it can freeze solid and will not burst, plus it’s light and flexible. It’s a little more expensive but its worth it.
The insulation is rigid foam. The same you would use for a normal home. Its more expensive than pink insulation per foot but is better suited to deal with moisture. The outer foam (1″) has a natural vapor barrier to boot, so it’s ideal for the natural condensation that can happen in a small space. If pink insulation get wet it will rot.
We had a mild winter here as it stayed in the low 20’s most of this winter. There were some days when the mercury dropped well below zero. The house was nice and warm. We added skirting on those really cold days. Oh and to keep our water from freezing we used pvc hosing with electrical tape and an exterior hose insulation . A nice cheap option compared to buying heated water hoses which really work poorly compared to my redneck solution.
I live in Montana so there are a lot of local lumber mills in operation. This is not an option for everyone. Check your yellow pages to see if there are local mills in your area. If not you can always buy your trailer out of state and use it to haul your lumber back. Its always good to get some experience with a trailer before there is a 10,000 lb home on it.
Good luck to you. This was the best life decision I have ever made. Hope it works out just as well for you. Free time rocks!
I am very happy to find your little house on Tumbleweeds Tiny House Co. I really love it! Where did you get the house plans? And how long did it take to build it? Do you have solar power? Thank you!
Thanks Mary, I am very happy you like it. It was finished just a few weeks back so I am elated. We want to post a new video but the weather has been terrible here (little to no sun), so we are just waiting for a nice day.
As far as the plans they are my own down to my cabinet doors. A rough estimate on my built time is about 6 months or so. It was put on hiatus due to winter and money for materials. There is a lot of new additions including a few changes (for the better) since this video was put up. Living in it gave me a ton of ideas due to necessity.
I still do not have solar panels yet and plan on buying them some time this year. I’ve been eyeballing the Solman all in one unit, but having the batteries outside the house is a concern so I’m still on the fence on that one.
One question though, you said our house was featured on Tumbleweed’s website. Can you give me a link? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Regarding cat(s) in tiny homes. How does Lulu get up to the bed? Is she a young active cat or a retiring senior? Does she go outside and how did she handle moving into a small space? Is there a bolt on the lid of her cat box area so she cannot escape? Any tips for cat(s) in tiny homes?
Lulu is a senior cat. She learned to use the loft ladder after one day. I angled the ladder as far out as I could allow, and made each rung(2×4)completely flat as to run parallel to the floor. I figured this would give her the best chance to use it.
As for her box lid I designed to to be a slide and lift lid so the only way it can be opened is from the outside. It has worked like a charm.
We keep Lulu inside. Being that we live in the wild mountains of Montana she would not survive long due to the mountain lions that roam out property. Large prey birds are also a concern as are the bears. Lulu has always been an indoor cat as far back as NY so she is used to it anyways.
As far as advice I would recommend keeping the litter box outside if possible and go with a natural non tracking wood based litter. The perfumes of clay based litter fill the house pretty quickly even though the litter is where it is. Hope this helps.
I LOVE all the built in shelves. I am remodeling a 10×10 storage cabin as a bedroom/play aread for my mentally challenged nephew and then gonna tackle one of my projects… my 16×24 cabin…my 32 ft gutted/sad shape camper… or my gutted 10×40 mobile home…then comes a small guest house about 12×8. I LOVE all the ideas I get on this site.
I’d love to live there! The big dormer sleeping loft and shelving/storage is of course inspirational but since I’m owned by some cats, your litter storage solution is my favorite….hadn’t figured out the solution to that one! I hoping to build one as an addition to my small house but the location my change since the city codes are playing havoc with my plans…we’re still in meetings. It may just be time for find my own place in the country.
Thanks Jan!
Just wondering why people would buy Tiny House on wheel instead of Camper that is way cheaper and have more square footage and more amenities?
They do it because they want a “home” instead of a travel trailer. Most (not all) tiny house owners keep it one place and only move when necessary.
That and the fact that most mobile homes are crap.