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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
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…
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
I absolutely love her choice of wood and the style of the entire home. It’s simple, rustic and seems homey.
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..
Bathroom and Shower
April’s Tiny House Floor Plan
Source: Tumbleweed Houses
Micro Kitchen in a Tiny Home
Tiny Home Sleeping Loft
Storage or Decorative Loft with Half Moon Window
Here’s another way to utilize the extra loft:
And yep – that’s a ceiling fan in the reflection:
Study/Work Nook with Views in a Tiny House
Tiny House You Can Tow And Take With You Anywhere
Curious about towing a tiny house? Check out this post.
Built-in Nightstand in the Sleeping Loft
Screenshot by Matt Cooper
Friends Helped To Build It With Her While Having a BLAST!
April’s friends who helped build it with her: Darren and Micah (above).
April’s said she couldn’t have done it without the help her friends. Jason Reitz and Carter shown (above).
More helpful fun friends: Karin, John, Rachel, Mark and others. Aren’t they so awesome for doing this together?
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..
Nice Airstream too!
Congratulations And Way To Go April!
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
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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?
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
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!!
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.
Sounds wonderful! Would you be willing to share?
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!
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.
Thanks Ruth 🙂
Thanks, Ruth!!! Blessings!!!!
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
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!
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.
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?
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.
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
I love that you reused materials, the design is perfect and well thought out. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed it!
The gambrel roof and large, multiple windows makes common sense in such a small space. Really like the design of this one!
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.
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.
That window is amazing!
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.
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.
Gorgeous tiny!!! Where do you keep your clothing? Way to go girl!