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After 5 short but exciting years in green prefab design, Michelle Kaufmann has regretfully announced that she is closing the doors of her progressive homebuilding business. In a May 27th blog entry, Kaufmann posted: “Despite our best efforts, the financial meltdown and plunging home values have caught up with us. The recent closing of a factory partner as well as the gridlocked lending faced by homeowners, has proved more than our small company can bear.”
Thanks to Clayton Homes, the “i” prefix has finally made its way into the small house market. After 75 years of mobile home manufacturing, the i-house is Clayton’s first big stab at green building. On the swankier end of things, the i-house is super stylish and slightly more expensive than some of the minimalist exemplars featured here at Small House Style, but Clayton’s new invention might yet be considered a steal.
Until June 13th, tiny house architect Jay Shafer is on a road trip of a different kind. By popular demand, Shafer has hitched up Fencl, a 130 square foot home on wheels (pictured below), and is trekking across the country. Shafer’s tour takes Fencl from San Francisco to New York City, with open houses and building and design workshops scattered along the way. At the end of its journey, having proved its durability, the charming little house will be delivered to a desiring tiny house occupant in the New York area.
Shipping containers are looking more and more viable for the small house and small living movement. Yearly, millions of shipping containers arrive in U.S. ports, but only a portion of these containers ever leave our consumptive shores. For many companies, the cost of shipping empty containers back across seas for reuse exceeds that of purchasing new ones. Add to that our negative balance of trade, and empty containers start piling up. Although the problem remains formidable, out of the box thinkers are coming up with great ways to make use of the hundreds of thousands of containers that are literally stacking up around the world. As it turns out, with a little spiffing-up, shipping containers are ideal building blocks for prefab homes, and their reuse can provide answers to environmental and social problems alike.
In London, Container City™ has constructed a jigsaw-like apartment complex of converted shipping containers. Check out the video below for the full scoop on these chic, recycled homes.
We just came across one of the coolest concepts: Square Foot Gardening! Thank Nikoli!
In the founder’s words:
How would you like a garden filled with beautiful flowers, fresh herbs and luscious vegetables, all with NO WEEDS and NO HARD WORK? No more heavy digging or all-at-once harvest. Less watering, weeding, and thinning. What’s left is a picture perfect garden you will be so proud of. Put yourself in a rocking chair and start your own Square Foot Garden!
Check out this YouTube video for more about Mel and Square Foot Gardening:
Micro Cabin C103 (Crawlspace) - $69 $32.00:
16′ x 16′ with a 8′ x 16′ screened porch. 1 BR with 1 FB and Kitchen
1st.floor: 256sf 2nd.floor: 80sf Total: 336sf Porch: 128sf
Only 14 11 left at $32.00
Micro Cottage CT103 (Crawlspace) - $79 $37.00:
16′ x 16′ with a 9.5′ x 9′ bumpout. 1 BR with 1 FB.
1st.floor: 354sf 2nd.floor: 170sf Total: 524sf Porch: 66sf
Only 18 15 left at $37.00
Surfside Cottage C792c (Crawlspace) - $197 $97.00:
20′ x 20′ with a 10′ x 10′ bumpout. 3 BR - 2 FB + laundry.
1st.floor: 503sf 2nd.floor: 289sf Total: 792sf Wrap-around Porch: 525sf
Only 14 13 left at $97.00
Wilderness Cabin I CW96 - $19 $9.00:
8′ x 12′ with front porch. Perfect backyard getaway.
1st.floor: 96sf 2nd.floor: 212sf Total: 980sf Porch: 320sf
Only 28 24 left at $9.00
Wilderness Cabin II CW192 - $29 $13.00:
12′ x 16′ with 2 bunk lofts and front porch. Perfect cabin.
1st.floor: 192sf Porch: 96sf
Only 30 17 left at $13.00
Looking for a smaller footprint? Want a beautiful, one-of-a-kind small home made of recycled wood, vintage materials and antique hardware? Then check out Tiny Texas Houses.
Every once and while we scour the web for small house videos and we just had to promote this one…
Is there anyone within shooting distance of Washington D.C. (ideally near the ocean in Delaware, Maryland or Virginia who has land and wants to host a small house?
GreenBuildingAdvisor is hosting a free online discussion by author and green building innovator Alex Wilson.
Alex will be discussing leading-edge strategies for achieving net-zero-energy homes, transportation energy use associated with where we live, the looming challenge of water, passive survivability as a residential design criterion, and thoughts on incorporating food production into the built environment. Today’s economic crisis makes this discussion all the more important and points to the need to focus on existing housing stock, which will also be discussed.
Here at Small House Style, we celebrate all things sustainable design. So it goes in keeping that we provide examples of sustainable living practices suitable for those that can’t simply pack a suitcase and shack up in some sweet little cube in the woods.
Designers Site-Specific and Buatalah Studio designed an exhibition that extends the bubble, welcoming families into the trends of small house living. The “Green Home Effects” home show in Bangkok featured their collaborative effort, unveiling an earth-friendly home fit for a family of three.
Dwell Magazine offers a fresh look at upscale modern architecture that is sensitive to social and physical surroundings. Showcasing new, modern homes, innovative home designs, and the latest trends in modern furniture design and interior design, Dwell provides modern-leaning homeowners with insights and ideas for creating their living space beyond the architectural mainstream. Think Small House! Order Dwell Magazine.
