I’m excited to introduce you to John Russell and Debbie Hanson. They’re a couple who’ve gone from divorces and 2,000 sq. ft. homes into a DIY 200 sq. ft. tiny house on wheels that they call their Ritz on Wheels. It cost them only $15,000 in materials to build it themselves and just under a year in labor.
Images © RitzOnWheels
This tiny cabin in the woods story is a guest post by Joe Slade
I am in the process of building this tiny cabin in the woods in Attala County, Mississippi.
It sits in the middle of 22 acres of hardwoods with no roads on the property.
All building supplies are carried in by hand. I just finished painting it to protect it for years to come.
Images © Joe Slade
This $2k tiny home story is a guest post by Winston W. Johnson
Hi Alex (and Tiny House Newsletter readers), I started my tiny shelter in December of 2013, it’s built on a 1965 Yellowstone Cavalier travel trailer frame that I got free from a neighbor.
Probably 75% of the lumber was cut and milled within one mile of where my tiny shelter is located.
A neighbor has a Wood Miser sawmill, two years ago we cut down three 60 ft. tall poplar trees, sawed it into 1″x6″x8′ and 2″x4″x8′ boards and dried them in his solar kiln for 3 months.
Related: Man Building DIY Off Grid Tiny Home for Less Than $2k (Part 2)
Images © Winston W. Johnson
Hi Alex (and Tiny House Newsletter readers). I’ve been a subscriber to Tiny House Talk for a while and have often wondered why there weren’t more people celebrating living tiny in trailers such as an Airstream. I’m a semi – retired builder and designer, I specialized in Earth, Straw, and other appropriate building materials, and have been a proponent of small houses for many years.
I’ve built quite a few and lived in “alternative” housing much of my adult life, buses, trailers, barns, and tiny houses. A few years ago we ended up living in a suburban house so as to care for my wife Nicky’s ailing mother; our then 23yr old daughter pointed out that it was the first time in her life she’d seen us living in an ‘ordinary’ house.
Maybe it was this statement that prompted us to look forward and make plans for when we could move on. We considered buses, trucks and tiny houses on wheels and decided that we wanted a trailer, as its prime function was to travel easily throughout NZ, on both highways and more remote rural roads, and to park up for extended periods if we, or work, called for it. We also had an interest in simplifying and minimalism, a process we haven’t regretted.
Images © Bob Gilkison
“The Nest” is a tiny house on wheels (6’x6′) with a storage loft. It’s my second tiny house. You can see my first one, “The Darling” here.
I lived in this one for 7 months, then because I was making plans to work in AZ in a contract position, and would be going back and forth from AZ to NC so much, I sold that tiny house and bought a tiny bus.
It was green with a stained door. You can see it all below.
Images © Marsha Cowan
I bought a 14′ trailer, but because of poor construction, had to build a 10′ long house instead which meant really changing the plans, but now that I have it, I absolutely love it.
It is built mostly from scraps, bargains, and recycled materials including old 100 year old stable boards from which I pulled a gallon bucket full of old rusty nails.
The boards were used for the outside and inside of the home and add a very warm rustic feel against which I put a lot of white trim and furniture. There is a composting toilet.
I worked on the house for 2 years and I lived in it for 6 months and sold it so I could build one that I’d be able to pull with my car (The Nest Tiny House). I even built an off grid solar generator for some power, so now I sleep with a fan pulling in wonderful cool air through the windows. It’s great!
Images © Marsha Cowan
I thought you might like this 429 sq. ft. studio house by José Valente. It’s a modern design that I see working well as a standalone tiny home (as shown) or even as micro apartments in a building.
But this modern tiny cabin is one-of-a-kind and located in V. N. e Gaia, Portugal. All the Comforts of Home in 429 Sq. Ft. and inside you’ll find a kitchen with full size range, sink, storage and full size refrigerator. Check out the cool compact kitchen table below too. With a well designed and thought out small space you really won’t miss any of the comforts of home.
Images © José Valente
See more, including, before and after photos, cost, and more below:
I love when our readers share what they’re doing to make tiny houses in their own way and this tiny backyard hobby house is one of them.
They’ve been collecting unwanted windows that would have otherwise just been thrown away. And once they had enough of them…
They built this tiny little house in the backyard. I like to call it a tiny hobby house. But it’s also very much like a micro greenhouse, too. Our hope is that it might inspire you to use old windows too!
One of my favorite parts about it are the real trees and plants that are able to grow inside and how they included space to plant them as part of the design. Pretty cool, right? I hope you enjoy below and if you want to feel free to re-share and inspire others to possibly do the same.
Images © Elina Cullen
Glad to be showing you this 180 sq. ft. tiny home on wheels that just sold on eBay for $15,000 in the Washington area.
It’s a two bedroom, one bathroom, full kitchen, and full bathroom tiny house with tub/shower, composting toilet, double hung closet, and even a washer/dryer combo.
It’s 13’8″ tall, 8′ wide, and weighs about 8,000 lbs. The trailer was refurbished from a 1986 travel trailer. What do you think? Pretty good deal, right?
Images © eBay/rachelle0828
