One of our readers Peter Christiansen brought this shipping container home in Gainesville Florida to my attention. It was built using recycled 15-year-old shipping containers that otherwise would have been melted down because their useful life cycle was over.

There’s a total of 12 used containers that he has used for his home. Some of them serve as a porch and most others as part of the home. Not exactly tiny or even small.. But definitely green thanks to its use of reclaimed materials and solar power technology to power the home. It took 9 months to build the house. The owner is getting a LEED Platinum certification for the house because he saved so much CO2. The house has so many solar panels that it actually creates more power than it uses. In fact, his panels also power some of his neighbors’ homes.

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Watch the video tour and interview with the owner below:

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Guest Post by Jane Dwinell

Designing and Building Your Tiny House

11/13/12

Well, we did it! We built our tiny house and have been living in it for 5 weeks (half of that time it was still under construction — not recommended…). I’ve been thinking about our experience and what we learned — and here it is.

Think about your life

So, you want to live in a tiny house. The first thing you should know is that a tiny house is, well, tiny. As in, very small. As in, there are not many places to put things or do things.  Know what activities are meaningful to you (and what things and space they need), how you’ll be spending your time (working out of the home, working at home, not working), where you’d like to park your tiny house (in town, in the country, in a city), how often you plan to move (never, yearly, every few months, every few weeks), and how long you plan to live in your house (always, seasonally, temporarily until you can afford something bigger, have kids, etc.).

If you love to entertain, dance, play a large musical instrument, or participate in an art or craft that requires room, tiny house living may not be right for you. If you’re a person that craves silence and privacy, and you live with someone else, tiny house living may not be right for you. I just had a friend visiting who said, “This is the most amazing house, but I would be totally claustrophobic.” Know thyself.

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I encourage you to read the rest of the article below:

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Last week I showed you Jane’s tiny house photos.

She and her partner custom designed and built it and they are now living in it full-time.

Jane is also the author of Freedom Through Frugality which is available on her website.

Today she sent me a message enclosed with a video tour of her house that I wanted to share with you.

In it Jane shows you her food storage, water storage, kitchen, living area, expandable table, bathroom and bedroom.

Photo Credit YouTube/NorseHorse

If you want, watch the video below:

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I got this email from Jenine Alexander, who built her own tiny house using mostly reclaimed materials a while back..

She’s selling her tiny house in case you’re interested in buying it. I featured it here a while back on this post titled DIY Tiny House You Can Build for $3500.

Below I’ve copy and pasted the email she sent me which lets you know where the house is located and how the pricing works. Then you can get a video tour and check out some photos of the house underneath that in case you already haven’t seen it.

Alex,

This is Jenine Alexander writing. I’ve decided to sell the first tiny house I built. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I’ll be happy to sell it to someone else who loves it. I’ve created this email address for the sale. The price is flexible, depending on if someone wants to buy it as-is, or customized. If you could send this on or post it, I’d appreciate it. I’m in Northern California near Santa Rosa. I encourage anyone who is seriously interested to email me to set up a time to come see it.

Thanks!

Jenine

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I encourage you to see more of the house in the photos and video below:

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Hello, again! I am back with a few more ideas from our tiny house family on creating a simple and meaningful holiday celebration. Last week, I shared about setting intentions, holding a family meeting, and buying all gifts locally. Let’s keep going:

3) Share your wishes with extended family – Once you’ve set your holiday intentions with your partner and kids, it’s important to share with grandparents and other extended families. Every year, Oma and YaYa ask for a list. This used to catch me off guard, and we’d throw a wish list together in an evening. This method (or lack thereof) resulted in random stuff: things we saw in catalogs/TV or thought up off the top of our heads–basically, advertising told us what we’d like. Now, we start our wish lists during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. As we are practicing gratitude for all that we have, we realize we really don’t want much. Creating a wish list over a period of weeks (months, even) has resulted in more meaningful and useful gifts.

As you are working in your daily life, you may think “These scissors hardly cut. Man, it would be really nice to have a good pair of scissors.” Or “My fingers ache every morning from all that gardening. Maybe there is a tool that will help.” When these thoughts occur, stop everything, and write them down. I find that if I don’t take a moment and write ideas down, I forget them. Before you know it, you will have a meaningful list of items you’d really enjoy.

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Dan Louche of Tiny Home Builders just released an updated version of his book Tiny House Design & Construction Guide. The book has almost doubled in length at 143 pages and it boasts over 100 color photos and illustrations to guide you along the way. It covers just about everything you can think of when it comes to designing and building a little house on a trailer:

• Safety
• Designing and planning
• Tools required
• Materials and trailers
• Subfloor and framing

And much, much more.. I’ve already got my copy of the book on hand and put together a video review for you so you can preview it:

Video length: 5:57

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A while back I published a post on tips and tricks on how to find parking for your tiny house. Today I thought it was time to update it, so I put together a quick video to show you some ideas and tips on how to find a lot to park and live in your current or future tiny house.

The ideas are really simple but if you’ve never thought of them before this will be really helpful for you. So here they are:

• Wanted ads using your local Craigslist
• Classified ads in your local newspaper
• Inquiring with RV parks in your area
• Asking friends and family for possible backyards
• Purchasing or leasing rural land

For more tips, including an example of a Craigslist/Newspaper ad you can “swipe” watch the video below:
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One of our readers, Kevin, just sent me an email. He’s looking for a place to park a tiny house in the future.

If you’re in the same situation read this article on how to find parking for your tiny house.

But here’s Kevin’s email if anyone out there is willing to work something out with him that’s mutually beneficial.

Do you know of any landowners within 90 minutes of San Francisco who are welcoming to tiny home dwellers?

Ecovillages? I’m looking at spending about half the year working in that region and would love to find a good place to build and live in a tiny house.

Thanks,

Kevin.

If you’re a landowner or know someone who is who might be willing to work something out with Kevin you can contact him at kevinablett [AT] gmail DOT com. Thank you!