I thought I’d share this tiny house community that’s been around for more than 100 years in Toronto with you.
It started many years ago when for less than 100 dollars you could buy a lot and you were sold the lumber to build your own home.
It is located in Craven Road in Toronto and the houses are all under 500 square feet.
Photo Credit: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star
In the tiny house community we are often talking about the various building codes around the country, and the world, and how they affect tiny spaces. Tiny house bloggers often get asked the question “do you know the building codes in [my city]?”
Building codes are so location specific that they can vary greatly mile by mile. The only way to know for sure about the building codes in your area is to talk to the local government. Unfortunately, you can’t be surprised when they tell you that you can’t live in a tiny house where you want.
Tiny house builders do many things to get around this issue. Some will pick a location because of the friendly nature of the building codes. Some will build on wheels so the house can be moved if it ever becomes a problem. Some will build on unincorporated country land that isn’t likely to strictly enforce codes.
There is one more option that I’m not sure any of us have really considered.
Running for local government.
photo credit: Will Merydith via photopin cc
Click below to read more about my crazy ideas for extreme tiny house code reform.
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With the surge in interest in tiny houses, and the growth of a “tiny house community” online, there has been increased interest in the development of real-world tiny house communities.
Image credit: Four Lights Tiny House Company
Probably the most serious effort so far is the “Napoleon Complex” tiny house village being developed by Jay Shafer’s Four Lights Tiny House Company. It consists of 16-22 units per acre, with communal facilities including parking and a common house.
But people have many motivations for building tiny houses, and one model might not work for everyone. In this article, I talk about three general approaches to tiny house communities, and the pros and cons of each.
For some tiny house builders, the countryside represents an escape from what they see as the overly restrictive requirements, and hectic atmosphere, of cities and towns.
One of my favorite things about doing email is the interesting tiny house ideas that come in while reading and replying to messages. Today I received the following email from a reader:
Have you done anything with Habitat on Tiny Homes. I have worked with people at church that are trying to get back on there feet and are single. They would love to own a home but would have no need for a full house. A tiny home subdivision on a bus route seems to me a viable idea. Big cities needing low income workers that want the respectability of owning a home.
Let me know if you have any input on this idea.
This got me thinking. What about a tiny house subdivision somewhere that is within a bus route for single people? Maybe small patches of tiny home communities can spring up within current communities. In a separate area from the rest of the homes there.
Photo Credit Roger W/Flickr
Tiny House Living Expectations: Simplifying or Roughing It? Article by Laura LaVoie
This post on the realities of tiny house living over at Trying on Tiny was brought to my attention. In it, Audrey mentions the unexpected things they’ve had to face since moving into their tiny house; and not all of them have been pleasant.
Audrey and Tomas chose to downsize their lives and hired a builder to construct their tiny house. Because of their lifestyle, they weren’t able to be with the builders on a regular basis and it wasn’t until they had their little house delivered to their doorstep that they realized that there were some things they hadn’t considered.
Audrey mentions some of the challenges that have come up including mold issues surrounding a leaky drain and chores they took for granted in their old life.
She calls her expectations something of a “Tiny House Fairy Tale.” Audrey had a perception that downsizing their lives and moving into a cute little house would solve all their problems not create new ones. She writes, “It’s simple to flush a toilet; it’s not as simple to carry a urine bucket outside and ‘fertilize the garden’.”
Photo by Laura M. LaVoie
