Unusual home offices - Tiny houses/big sheds?

The boundary between garden office and house is usually a pretty hefty one, but that’s because most people haven’t come across Jay Shafer and his Tiny House company. Shafer is an architect and lecturer in the USA where he has taken minimalist living to a spectacular level, designing and building houses which are fully functional but, frankly, titchy.

They’re built to last and with environmentally-friendly materials to boot. However, to be honest, my first thought was that while my shed has plenty of room for my laptop, I’d have trouble squeezing a kitchen next to my modem. But Jay is undaunted. “A sense of space has much more to do with the quality of a place than with the quantity,” he says. “A well designed little house can feel roomy, and a poorly designed mansion can feel crowded. By opening up the centre of these houses, including a lot of windows, and maintaining unobstructed throughways for traffic, I have managed to make even the tiniest of houses feel spacious.” So, for example, the lovely XS House pictured, complete with tiny wheels, measures just 11’ x 7’ x 11’ (the porch and awning fold up neatly).

Inside my garden office I’ve crammed a chair, a ‘desk , two bookcases, a filing cabinet, several half-used pots of paint, a bit of old futon, a small selection of corn plants, and a Moroccan drum for those moments when I need to really take it out on something. Inside the XS Jay Shafer has installed a retractile table, a real desk, 100 cubic feet of storage, a cathedral ceiling, a six gallon water heater, a shower, a lavatory, a stainless steel counter, a refrigerator, a sink, a heat stove, a double burner. And a vented sleeping loft for two.

The Shedworker's Bookshelf - The Small House Book by Jay Shafer

An absolute must-buy for all shedworkers, Jay Shafer's new book - The Small House Book - promises to be a cracking read. It's not actually out until April but you can get your hands on an early copy before it hits the shops by popping across to the Tiny House Blog (it's not even available at Jay's own Tumbleweed Tiny House site).

Jay Shafer's Vardo for sale

The uncrowned king of the tiny house movement, Jay Shafer, is selling his vardo. More details at the equally blue-blooded Tiny House Blog

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses touring the UK 2009

Jay Shafer's titchy Tumbleweed Tiny Houses are one of Shedworking's favourite shedlike atmospheres. So we're all rather excited at the prospect of seeing him in London on his 2009 workshop tour. There will be two workshops (like the one pictured above), the first on Saturday September 12 will cover how to build a tiny house from the foundation to the roof plus a look at building basics, types of trailers, heaters, kitchen equipment and windows. The following day looks at design and "the human element of living in a smaller space". Both will be run by Jay with lots of time for questions afterwards. I think these will be very popular events so it's well worth booking now. Location to be confirmed. More details at Jay's site. There's a video about the workshops here.

Tumbleweed Tiny House: on tour

This July, Jay Shafer will be taking his tiny house on the road as he travels along the West Coast from the Canadian Border down to the Mexican Border. Jay will be joined by Small House Society co-founder Greg Johnson as the two demonstrate the versatility and endurance of a Tumbleweed Home. The pair will sleep in the tiny house and make stops at many cities and towns.

More details and dates at Tumbleweed. Tomorrow we'll be focusing on another interesting tour...

Online tour of a Tumbleweed House

Several readers have pointed out that Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Houses has now put together a tour of one of his shedlike homes. Click and enjoy!

For those of you unfamiliar with Jay's wonderful work, here's how he describes it:

"Since 1997 I have been living in a house smaller than some people's closets. I call the first of my little hand built houses Tumbleweed. My decision to inhabit just 100 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because I do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My houses have met all of my domestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle my homes have afforded is a luxury for which I am continually grateful."

The Shedworker's Bookshelf - Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger

You wait for a book about tiny houses to come along and then suddenly two pop up. As well as Jay Shafer's new volume which we covered last week, you might be interested in this one out this month, Tiny Houses by Mimi Zeiger. Zeiger edits Loud Paper Magazine for young architects but her name will also be familiar to those who read Metropolis and Dwell. Published by Rizzoli who say this about it:

"In the spirit of treading a bit lighter on the planet, a new trend in sustainable living architecture is what is called "microgreen living" - literally the creation of tiny homes where people challenge themselves to live "greener" lives. This idea, which sprang from eco-awareness and the reduction of carbon footprints, has led people to consider low-impact living as a "greener" alternative to ordinary housing. Far beyond solar panels and the use of sustainable materials, homeowners have embraced the concept and have implemented many creative and stylish solutions for day-to-day living, such as a room that doubles as a shower with one swift movement of plexi-glass from a well-concealed pocket door. A tiny house is an experiment of space but also a challenge to simplify ways of life."

Tiny Houses showcases 30 examples from around the world including treehouses and floating houses, featuring plans and lovely photos.
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Tiny House Tuesday - Fresh Start

Here's another shed on wheels, inspired by the work of Jay Shafer from Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. The Fresh Start is the first model to come off the production line at Julie Martin's company Martin House-To-Go, built as an affordable housing alternative post-Hurricane Katrina (what they call a 'cottage industry'). Features include 11ft high ceilings, lots of windows, NASA-approved insulation, and solid bamboo floors.
Via Tiny House Blog

High style shedworking (especially for women)

The New York Times has two articles of interest to shedworkers. Firstly, Michael Cannell's piece Prefab Sheds - Modernism in Miniature which talks to those who have bought garden offices in the US (including Kithaus, Modern Shed and Modern Cabana, pictured above with its owner Marie Delahaye who uses it as an art studio). I was particularly intrigued to read this:

"The high-design shed appears to hold particular appeal for women, who rarely have much dedicated space of their own in the American home (unlike men, who have historically laid claim to home offices and dens). Roughly 60 percent of Modern-Shed’s customer inquiries, for example, come from women, according to Mr. Smith."

Secondly, The Next Little Thing by Steven Kurutz, focuses on the rapidly growing small house movement and the big names Shedworking readers will already know about (Jay Shafer - whose tiny house is pictured below on the road - Gregory Paul Johnson, Richard Horden, and so on). Both are well worth a browse.

The Napoleon Complex - a tiny house village

Jay Shafer has left his Tumbleweed Tiny Houses company and set up at Four Lights where one of his new plans is for a tiny house village. Here's what he says:

"In many ways, tiny houses work best in concert with other tiny houses and shared amenities. This is a dream long-shared by many including myself. The place will be zoned as an R.V. park, but will look and feel more like the concept drawings I’m presenting to the left. I’ve used the same design principles that go into each of my tiny house designs to create an environment that feels contained but not confining—vibrant but not at all crowded.For now, I’m jokingly using the term “co-housing for the antisocial” because, while its design does facilitate interaction, Napoleon Complex will also provide enough privacy to satisfy even its most introverted inhabitants."

Set up like a co-opeartive, residents will own their mobile house and the land it's on, paying a monthly fee for keeping communal facilities in shape. He hopes to have it in place by 2015. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Tumbleweed Hollyhock Poster

Something lovely to brighten up your Friday, a very pleasant shedlike poster by Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company which is available for purchase. Here's what he says:

"This image is an homage to William S. Rice and his “Hollyhock Garden” print of 1925. Rice’s work is recognized as part of the American Craftsman movement and, accordingly, served as part of the inspiration for my recent designs of that same aesthetic/ethic. I brought the house to the foreground in my print and depicted it as a one of my own Box Bungalows. This poster is 18″ wide by 24″ tall, and printed on 80# recycled paper. It features the Anderjack model."

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