The Final Resting Place

The summer flew by and now I have begun a new semester at Maharishi University of Management (MUM). It is hard to believe that three years ago I began the journey to obtain my Bachelor Degree, and now I am a senior. Raising two teens and going to University full-time is no easy task. Now here I am and it feels great.

So our Tiny House final destination ended up being at a small farm in the outskirts of Fairfield. I have leased some land to place our tiny house on for the next 10 months. It is a beautiful piece of land. A great combination of woods, prairie, and rolling hills.

 
The site I selected for the tiny house is in the Northeast corner of the farm. It has a nice growth of trees to it's Northwest to protect it from the wind and storms. To the south is an open field which is perfect for passive solar in the winter.

The farm is a perfect little growing tiny house community. The main house being built by the property owners is in it's second year of construction. It is a straw bale house with earth plaster. Most of the beams and interior wood is recycled from downed trees on the farm.

Over the summer a couple of my fellow Sustainable Living classmates built a Tiny House through the woods on the far Northwest corner of the land. I believe there's is a 12' x 16', so just slightly smaller than my tiny house is. At this time they have the frame, roof on and windows in.

The farm has a swimming hole with a zip line. I think this was the biggest attraction for my teens. To the North of the swimming hole is a platform that originally was slated to be a little entertainment hut. At the moment another Sustainable Living classmate who just registered at MUM has pitched a tent on the platform overlooking  the water. A beautiful spot while he determines where his final living quarters will be.

There is yet another person on the land who has built a stone garden in the Southeast woods on the farm. I believe she is also building a Tiny House for mediation in the woods.

Needless to say, a lot of exciting things going on. A perfect place for us to participate in some Tiny House community building!

So What's the Hold UP???

Everyone has been asking what is the status of our tiny house. Well, given the rain we have had in SE Iowa over the past several weeks we are considering a slight structural modification which would morph the tiny house into an ARK!

 

Okay, just kidding. However, the rain (much needed) that we have had here has stalled phase II of our building process. The location of the tiny house will be out in a field by a Fairfield horse farm. We have been awaiting a break in the rain so the owners of the land can put in a gravel road.

 

Once the gravel road is in we will transport the framed floor and wall panels over to the site on a flatbed trailer. We will then re-erect the walls, screw them together, and then set the roof rafters. Since the ground out here in Iowa has a high clay content we have been leery of sinking while trying to get the tiny house panels out to their new home. So we've been enjoying our last bit of air conditioning and resting up for the big move and continued construction.

 

Ellie and I did get a chance a couple of nights ago to go out to the field where the house will be and watched the sun set. It was gorgeous! We sat on the top of the car and watched a bunny come sniff around the car inquisitively. Our first welcome from one of our new little furry neighbors. It was very exciting.

 

We also have been taking in some local events with the extra time on our hands. Last week we attended a Dutch oven cook-off. Boy was the food delicious. We also saw some really cool cars that were on display.

 

So, the next step will be to place the tiny house on concrete blocks approximately 8-12" from the ground. Hopefully the road will be in within the next week. Thank you all of your interest. We are hoping to have big work done on the tiny house over the next several weeks to share with you...

Considerations on Where to Park Your Tiny House...

Recently, Paula wrote in to TinyHouseLivingorg.org and asked an excellent question. In summary, with so many THs being easily portable, resulting in what can be seen as an overwhelming amount of choices, how do you narrow down your options and decide where to settle down?

I recommend these as a starting point for TH Location Selection:
1. Time, Both Personal and Professional
2. Social Situation
3. Services Needs
4. To Own or Not

Each of these factors, when combined, will assist you in determining the most ideal TH location for your consideration.

1. Time... There are a variety of ways we spend our days, whether it be working, volunteering, creating, relaxing, fellowship, or hobbies. These are each equally important factors to consider

when choosing a location to settle in. Are you retired or going to be retired soon? Are you self employed? Or will you most likely work for someone in your field of expertise?
Let's take Portland, Maine for instance. If you are a social butterfly, want to be within biking or walking distance to everything, and you paint or write for a living one may want to consider parking their TH near the 'Old Port'. The 'Old Port' is a bustling mecca for artists, coffee or wine with friends, and services all within walking and or biking distance on cobblestone roadways.

On the other hand, anyone liking local 'access' to this type of lifestyle but prefers to be in a small, quiet country setting and still desires walking or biking access to everything would probably do best parking their TH out on Peaks Island. Peak's Island is an oasis of calm and only a 15 minute ferry ride to Portland's Old Port.

If one prefers being on a larger parcel of land, and is not adverse to using a car to access work and/or play, then parking a TH in North Portland out near Falmouth may be the best choice.

2. Friends and Social Environment may not be something that makes the top of our list for where to park out THs, but it should. Friends and entertainment nurture and sustain us. One of the benefits of TH living is the fact that it affords us the time and encouragement to spend a plethora of time with our hobbies, nature, and friends. Will you, and your friends if applicable, be meeting for coffee and dinner,  playing board games, hiking, beach combing, or horseback riding? The answer to some of these questions can assist in narrowing down where you and your TH will be most happily situated.

3. Distance. There are a host of factors to consider when determining distance. Are you a hard core sustainability minded person who strongly prefers to ride or bike to the majority of your destinations? Does public transportation and elimination of the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a personal vehicle tickle your fancy? Or maybe with close family out of state, a regional airport within a short distance from your TH is a priority?

4. Own or rent. Personally I believe it is prudent, if you are completely new to an area, to rent land prior to purchasing. This gives you the freedom, even if it is only 3-6 months, to test drive the area and make sure it meets your needs. You will also be able to take you time and garner a real estate agent with whom you can trust to scope out the variety of land options available in your new community. With the economy the way it is, it is fairly easy to find someone to rent a small portion of their land, especially if you are off grid and self sufficient. I would run an ad in the local newspaper and see what you get for offers.

As a starting point, considering these factors will help you in seeing a 'clearer' choice for your living location and arrangements.

A special thank you to Paula for starting this conversation.

Write in and let us know what you feel are the important factors when deciding where to park a Tiny House?

Why Tiny House Living?

This is a question that I have been asked a lot lately. My initial reaction "because it is fun!" has seemed to immature to let escape my lips. However, a recent blog post from a dear friend of mine, Amanda Bradshaw, has so wonderfully articulated these child-hood feelings I feel it needs repeating.
 

In "Waking Up the Child Within"
(http://unfoldingtheheart.wordpress.com), Amanda shares a short list of her fond childhood memories. Memories that invoked "awe and wonder" resulting in the typical "radiating happiness" that we often see in innocent children.

Her short list, among other things, includes:
Playing board games with family members
Playing cards
Watching the clouds
Building an inside chair fort

Each of these examples perfectly matches the experiences one can savor while living in a Tiny House. The lofts are cozy and snug, just like those chair forts we use to make as children.

 

At bedtime in a Tiny House, the out of doors beacons one to step out to star gaze prior to crawling up to one's little loft, leaving one with a lingering sense of awe as they lull off to sleep.

 

Within a Tiny House, one would be remiss if a small portion of the valuable storage space was not set aside for a small game and craft cubby. Tiny Homes minimize our work and chore responsibility time resulting in more time for rest and relaxation. Board and card games are a great way to spend valuable time with your family in a Tiny House. So many life lessons can be modeled through family game play; patience, honesty, empathy, tolerance, and kindness are just a few.

 

Think about how healthier our planet and lives would be if everyone in the world had a solid foundation of patience, honesty, empathy, tolerance, and kindness to offer. Hum, sounds like some really great reasons for building your own Tiny House or finding a Tiny House Community to live in.

 

 

 

WHY would you live in a Tiny House if you could??? Write in and share your thoughts!

 

 

 

Upcoming Topic Posts...

With the media coverage we are getting comes a LOT of great questions! There are several questions that many people probably have. So I'm committing to answering them in upcoming blogs over the next week or so. Here are the topics we will cover:

 

 

• Where do you find Furniture for a Tiny House?

• How Can One NOT Go Crazy Living In A Tiny House With Teens?

• Here Comes DHS To The Tiny House... Quick Hide the Kids!

• What Exactly Are Multiple Functions?

• How to Start A Tiny House Community on Your Land

 

Join us this week for these and other fun Tiny House specific blog topics.

We also want to hear from you! Do you have any great Tiny House or Tiny House Community questions that you would like to have answered? Send them in and we'll add them into an upcoming blog post :-)
 

'Tiny House' offers big benefits to save energy and money

'Tiny House' offers big benefits to save energy and money: The tiny house is the size of a college dorm room, but is fully-functional and houses an entire family.

All The Walls Are Up

So this morning we only had the lumber cut for framing up the South wall. It looked like, for those of you who are old enough to remember, Pixie Sticks. First thing we started organizing all of the cuts to be hammered into place.

By noon we had a lot of the South Wall framed and took a break to have some pizza then get back to work. MUM had let Kate Allt over at KTVO Channel 3, and Andy of the Fairfield Ledger, know that we would be raising all four walls this afternoon around 1:30pm. So we finished framing up the Southern wall and got all of the roof rafters and wall plates in place so when they arrived we could put and screw all the pieces together.

Sure enough, just like Mark (our instructor) said, it only took about 40 minutes to raise all the walls and screw them in place. It was amazing, exciting, and very moving (no pun intended.) It was incredible to walk inside and be able to see the tangible results my months of planning. I explained to my classmates where all of the built ins would be. It was an awesome moment, and a few of us got misty. To think, we just started the tiny house class a little over 2 weeks ago. Wow.

The next step will to place the electrical wiring in the walls for the solar panel that we will eventually build. We will then stuff the wall cavities with recycled foam insulation and hemp fiber. The next step will be to close up the wall cavities with the 1.5" pink foam board. The foam board has a double job, extra insulation and to pull the humidity point out away from the interior wall cavity to decrease the chance for moisture or mold issues.

Yesterday I ordered the custom 18" polished granite countertops for the kitchen. Tonight I will be finalizing the proposal to secure the land to plant my tiny house for the next 12 months for my Senior Project of Tiny House Family Living and Community Planning and Development.

It is so exciting. My goal is to move my little family into the tiny house by June 6th. We'll soon enough see! 


Both Kate and Andy were kind enough to keep tabs on our progress and come out to the tiny house in a few weeks to see our progress. It will be fun to see their reaction again.