Tiny Houses

Does anyone know of a good group or groups on tiny house design, specific perhaps to the Northeast?

Reply to
Tom in NH
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alt.architecture netizen Ken has a small one.

I've designed some small ones:

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Wachu want to discuss?

Reply to
Pierre Levesque, AIA

"Pierre Levesque, AIA" wrote in news:lFH6g.15415$Nv3.13545@trndny02:

Interesting to see. I liked the last one; it look very liveable. How many square feet does it hold?

What interests me is maximizing useful space (living plus storage) in minimal square feet. One thing that bothered me very much about most new houses is that there is so much wasted space, which inevitably translates into higher heating/cooling bills. Also, however, I found most to have a very cold/inhospitable feel because many seemed to be so "grand" that they ended up feeling more like hotel lobbies than homes.

I think it's rare for efficiency, comfortable living/storage space, and warmth to be integrated well, so it's always interesting to me to see cases where they are. Especially in a clean style - for some reason, people now seem to assume that contemporary is the same as modern, which in turn means "sterile". None of which has to be true; it just seems to be the current trend, from what I've seen. Too bad...

Reply to
Kris Krieger

"Tom in NH"

Hi Tom, unsure how tiny you want, but check out the small houses from the Solar Decathlon competition (which might take place every year), some of which you may find very nice as I do:

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If you want to avoid the solar route, the designs should be adaptable. Also, here's another favourite link:

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Of course, you'll find many more good links via an online search.

Reply to
Frankendrip

"Pierre Levesque, AIA"

Some nice work there, Pierre. I think this my favourite:

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Nice use of offsets to create a degree of separation of individual "modules", while at the same time creating a degree of unification through a cozy "courtyard". Good window space too. My only gripe would be the apparent symmetry as seen from the front. I might have broken it up a little with window arrangement, while perhaps making one of the side modules a little different than the other-- maybe by using a "shed" roof for one of them.

Reply to
Frankendrip

"Kris Krieger"

Hey cool. A man after my own (creative) heart.

:.(...

;D

You know, half seriously, some of us should collaborate and build/own/share a property/work of architecture in some nice exotic locale.

Reply to
Frankendrip

Sure, why don't you start with Don and ask him how he feels about communal ownership? ;)

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Well some projects suit some people, while other projects suit others.

As for the term 'communal', while ostensibly accurate on the surface, it may have some dubious connotations to some people. Perhaps 'joint', 'cooperative' or 'collaborative' might be more semantically palatable or accurate.

As for the matter of marketing to the likes of Don :) I suppose we could always approach the venture from a competitive, capital, high-profile angle:

(article in architecture rag)

"Alt.Architecture Architects and Designers Collaborate and Build Beautiful Campus of Small Houses in Exotic Locale!..."

"... When we approached Don, one of the designers for comment, he told us to get in line, which we found was long. But it was not nearly as long as the line-up for those wanting to rent a room, which Don told us, when it was finally our turn, can go upwards of $400 a night..."

Reply to
Warm Worm

Maybe so but the overall concept is to provide a "country" cabin for 2 "urban" couples. Since they both own mountain escape property together, one of the programming requirements was for the rooms to be of equal status so that neither couple has "a better room than the other". The "Urban vs Country" theme becomes the primary design theme. That's why the two rooms are designed as two facing classic lean-to structures (very common shelter structures found in the woods and mountains along the Appalachians and the Northeast) featuring classic construction of slab siding, green asphalt shingles and plank interior walls. Meanwhile, the interior structure is clad in metal with a metal roof and hardwood plywood sheets to clad the interior etc etc etc to mimic the "urban" contemporary look. A garage door with a "door within a door" can be raised staraight up along the front wall to make a nice indoor/outdoor place during the warm summer months. Furthermore, if you look at the side elevation, the center structure symbolizes a construction crane and cab as it "chug's" its way between the two lean-to's to deposit the chimney on the fireplace... a fitting juxtaposition of the urban couple "escaping" the city to their country gateway...

I remember it being published a long time ago in about.com's architeture section... I wonder if Jackie Craven's article is still available online?

Reply to
Pierre Levesque, AIA

"Don"

Very cool.

Sounds delightful.

Reply to
Warm Worm

"Don"

I think it's a great idea.

Reply to
Warm Worm

"Frankendrip" wrote in news:A9Q6g.286$cl1.1@edtnps90:

Now, if only I could get to where I could make a few $$ of some of my crackpot notions

I got this idea for making a "windvane", sort of a flat crescent-type shape that'd be set up to have water come out the front tip, by rotating on a silicone or plastic widget that'd also be a seal and direct the water up through the bottom of the crescent-shape.

The question, tho' becomes where to do the concept test, where to build it, and then, where the heck to put the thing.

I's started a notebook of all this stuff, still haven't found it after this past move (last year). That's another problem, having to move all the materials and stuff.

Sort of like an artisan colony, eh?

Of course, I'm not an architect, just a crackpot who does 3D modeling (when I can keep Windows working =:-p ) in betweenst and betwixt the rest of my insanity. But I'd love to see the photos. Maybe model it in 3D ;)

Reply to
Kris Krieger

"Don" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news1.newsguy.com:

Looks like a nice place. With that many artisans, I think you must have dropped a Zero in your timeline

It's interesting that the inn had the local craftspeople make the furnishings. Everything in the photos has a substantial look to it (as in, the opposite of cheesy/cheap). I liked the glass one-piece oil lamps, they're different (and have very few parts ) - I have to see whether they sell those by mail-order ;)

It's great that it seems to appeal to you. I didn't see much of Indiana, just drove to Bloomington for the Summer Intensive Russian course back in

1988, but Bloomington seemed to be pleasant. It smelled good there.
Reply to
Kris Krieger

Wait long enough and the deer will eat anything. We had to hang some Irish Spring soap to keep 'em from eating the raspberries. It worked for awhile, then it was time to spread around the coyote urine -- the human kind won't work. LOL

Reply to
Bob Morrison

Try a garden supply or nursery. For cats and other small creatures, you can also try moth balls. They work great for repelling raccoons and squirrels.

Reply to
Bob Morrison

As a matter of fact, I've stumbled on something very similar. Some of these yurts are small, some only smallish and some quite large.

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(Seattle)
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(California)

Reply to
Roarmeister

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