These photos are just too much fun, and while something like this would be a little too clunky to really ride around with, and would be very unaerodynamic, I could see a frame and canvas concept like this working rather well in a treehouse setting, where lightness counts. You could also erect a structure like this on a small houseboat type float. One review I read, knocks the structure for having a woodstove in it as being too much of a fire hazard (although military tents did this for ages), and while I tend to agree somewhat, I think more of the concern would be in terms of sheer weight/drag. Certainly a unique take on portable dwellings in conjunction with tent-like tiny houses/cabins.
Built and designed by the "do tank" people at Lehman B....
Not my style, and its certainly not a tiny/small house, but there are some GREAT design ideas within and this video stands as a representation of just what CAN be done with 8' wide shipping containers. I especially love the kitchen in this home, which I would guess is 20' long (most containers come in 20' increments- usually 20' and 40'). Containers such as these (used) can be purchased and delivered for as little as $2000, if you shop around.
I always thought a container in a remote area would be ideal- they're more or less bullet-proof, and burglar proof (when initially constructing them (no windows), and if building a vacation cabin away from home, you can simply leave your tools and materials locked-up within for extended periods of time when you're away. Of course, if zombies n' werewolves attack, you have a better chance holing up in one of these (as long as you board up some windows) as well...just a side perk of "going container".
Self-shot photo (form a forthcoming video) of The Fern Forest Treehouse in Vermont (pic by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen)
Here are a few stills taken from an upcoming self-shot, mini-flip-camera episode/vlog I nabbed on a treehouse in northern Vermont. This treehouse (which I visited and stayed in for two nights this past weekend) resides on the property of Harrison Reynolds, and Author, Louella/Ellie Bryant. More to come!
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
(Treehouses, treehomes, treeforts, treehouse bed and breakfast, small/tiny houses/homes, micro-architecture)
From a weekend jaunt through Middlebury, VT.... A Vermont Treehouse video is on the way soon-ish as well...once I get some prep things out of the way for my July 9th Relaxshacks.com Shelter/Tiny House building workshop here in MA (click on the banner up above). As for the structures in the video, form-wise, I wonder if you could anchor them and coat them with a thin layer of ferro-cement and a seal-coat, thus making them waterproof and more-so alternative, REAL, useable shelters? It just could work.... "freaky teepees"?
And if you missed our other most recent HOUSEBOAT video...
A tiny/small camper/trailer fused into a Vermont Home/Cabin- Photo by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
I'm exhausted. The fam just rolled back in from three action-packed days in Vermont, staying in a really-cool treehouse (you'll see video soon-ish), and having just arrived home about two or so hours ago, I thought I'd share two quick photos with you (and them collapse into a coma).
This home lies somewhere between Lincoln, VT (where we stayed) and Middlebury, VT (where we went for a day trip). BOTH of those towns are very picturesque in a Norman Rockwell way (more on that later)- but this house...eh....not so much. I do love this though; its a mix of Yankee ingenuity, redneck thrift, and just not givin' a damn about what the neighbors think (which I also respect- depending on the neighbors). If painted and fixed up, it wouldn't be all that bad of a lil' house actually.
I've seen a few of these too (only in VT)- homes fused to old camper-trailers. Why not??
A fisherman's/oysterman's shack on Cape Cod (photo by Derek Diedricksen)
Here's a quick shot from my tiny house travels (when we brought one of my micro-houses to the Cape Cod Eco-Fest for display). This shot is from the parking lot area on Mayo Beach- and active oyster farm- and this, as I was told, is more or less the very last oyster shack (for work/lodging) left in that area. You can see that some remodeling and fixing has been done, but it gives you an idea of what the tiny sheds and shanties looked like that once lined this beach many decades ago. Wellfleet, MA, again, is AMAZING in terms of independent artists and galleries- we saw something like THIRTY art studios (without even looking) in this tiny little town- some of the best fried clams I've ever had too- this place on Route 6 called "Moby Dick's". This area is well worth a visit, but does get NUTS in the summer.
Anyway, semi soon-ish, I'm off to a treehouse in Vermont- and you can bet I'll snap some footage/take some video... Its a place built by Harrison Reynolds, dubbed "The Fern Forest Treehouse".I'll be staying in it for two nights fairly soon...
I saw this on one of my favorite bizarre-blogs (heavy on dumpster diving (cool!), and always with some great photos and commentary! I'm talkin' 'bout ClickClackGorilla.com We actually have a Tiny Yellow House video comin' out down the road on the Click-Clack rennovated Caravan/Gypsy Wagon/Vardo as well...the place is incredible- as you'll see, and true to out own tastes, mostly built furnished with free and recycled materials.
As for the photos, they're kinda creepy, honestly (especially the seemingly frightened sheep with the bulging eye), but certainly interesting....and their explanation is further below...
They also remind me of alot of the graffiti art that Lloyd Kahn often photographs....
(from ClickClackGorilla) I meant to share these photos alongside the story about playing in Düsseldorf two weekends ago, but I forgot, so it looks like Jesus wagon gets its very own post.
This Bauwagen lives in Düsseldorf, around the corner from the AZ and the super pretty Wagenplatz. It is apparently used by a church and is open once a week as a sort of coffee, cake, and Jesus mission. The street on which it is parked once was a street full of squats. Now it’s a street full of incredibly diversely, brightly painted buildings. One was done like a crossword puzzle, complete with clues. I wonder how often they get vandals who don’t fill in their answers in pencil.
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And for those who missed out latest video, so as not to bury it- YET....
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
(File under: Tiny mobile houses, small homes, dwellings, trailers, vardos, caravan wagons, portable housing)
These places/boats ("boat-tels"- boat+hotel) as they call them are so cool, we just had to check them out. Well, we did so, had a blast (as you'll see) and filmed the experience for airbnb.com (where you can rent these boats too). Granted, this is a VERY different episode of "Tiny Yellow House"- and we were contemplating posting it under some other title altogether so as not to completely confuse people, but ultimately we decided to put it up on the TYH channel, as, afterall, it IS about a houseboat/floating home.
As for other videos, we have that Boston Gypsy Wagon episode almost fully edited, as well as several others, including a plywood-boat-build/how-to for Make Magazine, amongst other things.....ALL as I gear up for the July 9th Relaxshacks.com Tiny Shelter/House Building Workshop in Stoughton, MA- which is gonna be wild! Many cabins on display, guest speakers (Mimi Zeiger, Alex Pino of tinyhousetalk.com, Dustin Diedricksen) and much more!
For MORE info/post- and updates on all our tiny house/shelter/redneck projects (AND our July 9th workshop)- JOIN our Facebook Group HERE....
We were down in Madison, CT this past weekend for a father's day gathering, and I decided to bring out "The Blue Crab" mini-boat (made from one sheet of plywood (plus one scrap stern piece)) to test it out. Well, she floats! As you can see, even my father, Glenn, joined in to test it out. Oh yeah, the boat has a plexiglass window in the floor as well- 'silicone-caulked it- and not one drop of water came through. Ideally, one would paddle with a double-ended kayak-style paddle, but we didn't have one on hand. A 12 volt tiny outboard motor, such as the ones Sevylor makes, would be ideal too. In time, in time...
Ultimately (tomorrow) I plan on movin' to the last phase of this tiny little redneck d.i.y. boat, and adding a canvas style stretch canopy/roof (which won't admittedly be great on really windy days), and a fold-down seat, that when flipped (the boat), turns the whole shell into a tiny, rainstorm sleep-shelter of sorts- the floor window becoming the skylight. We're also filming all this for an edition of "Tiny Yellow House"- for Make Magazine- assuming the footage doesn't completely stink.
Neighborhood kids preparing to get a ride in "The Blue Crab"- a single sheet, flat-bottomed, plywood boat/canoe/skiff/kayak (who knows..) built by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen.
All in all, as the plywood (latex coated- 4 coats) seems to work so well, and is so easy to work with, down the road I might consider building pontoons, for a "larger" micro-houseboat, a la "The Pimple" design, from my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks".
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
As if we wouldn't know its "EURO" pods from the music soundtrack to this video. Very cool looking little cabins....we've posted on them in the past, but this video shows a few unseen angles.
Check out these photos, and thanks to Lisa Denny (from out tiny housing facebook group) for bringing this article to my attention. The full article link is below, but to cut to the chase, this guy (David Burgess) has lived on the far reaches of this park's land for TWENTY-SIX years, and is now being evicted......sad, really. It reminds me of the now famous hidden underground dweller on Nantucket Island, and the clandestine city-park treehouse dweller that made minor headlines in the past.
What this individual has done with driftwood and the ruins/foundation of a never-finished building, is just amazing .Talk about a home with character, albeit one where you'd certainly be "roughin' it".
Is it me, or does this guy remind you of Kris Kristofferson!?
Tiny/micro-housings-meets-pole dancing? No, not really, but here's a pretty unique take on positioning very small homes and cottages in an aerial fashion.
It'll be the year 2034 before something like this is approved for mass production or use here in the states (and by then martians will have taken over anyway (and hold all the high-ranking, building department positions), but this idea (assuming it holds up in high-winds), is just great, although really not so profound. I'd love to see one of these built, as all the photos I've seen have been computerized renderings.....
The SINGLE HAUS is designed to fill the niche for building in extreme/hard-to-settle landscapes such as marshes, cliff sides, lakes, and even in place of old highway billboards.
If anyone happens to stumble across and interior floor plan, or layout, please let us know.
And for newcomers- one of our latest mess-around projects/videos...An alien-looking treehouse...
GREAT(ly expensive) place/concept here.....
While not so large, its still a little bigger than most of the homes we feature here on relaxshacks.com, but being a fan of underground, and earth berm dwellings, and homes, I just had to share.
Natural forces shaped the foundation of what would later become a dynamic underground duplex, in the form of a 1960s hurricane that piled up a dune on a piece of (nearly) beach-front property owned, naturally, by a rather creative architect.
When William Morgan went to create a pair of rental properties/guest rooms a decade later, he chose to burrow down rather than build up something new.
Part organic, part retro-futuristic, and part mid-century modern (inside, that is), the residences defy simple description from their shapes and material palettes down to furnishings and decor.
A front-facing living room along each side looks out on the water, while a lofted bedroom and bathroom are tucked up behind for greater privacy. The green roof and walls on all sides provide natural warming and cooling buffers as well.
At over a million a piece, they are not for sale cheap, but it can hard to put a price on unique vintage works like these anyway. The downside: surrounding houses tower a tad over these little humps in the ground – but then again, at least there is no way to look down in.
From dornob.com
Here are a few shots of "The Pine Crest Motel and Cabins" in Barton, VT that I took a few weekends ago while shooting some footage/a tour of the grounds. I've stayed here in the past, and these places are just great, so I felt a video was in order (coming soon).
We also have mini-videos/episodes that I recently shot on...
-Walden Woods/The H.D. Thoreau Cabin- Part 2- focusing on the original site and ruins of the REAL cabin.
-Cameron Shorb- A Lincoln, MA resident who has now lived in a treehouse for almost three years (he's 17).
-Soon- The Fern Forest Treehouse in Vermont run by Harrison Reynolds
Naturally, we're looking for one sponsor to help cover them all... kidcedar at gmail dot com- where in turn you'd reach a ton of people- but enough harping on that....
You'll see a ton of the interiors of these cabins in the upcoming video....
In this upcoming video we also get to see one of the smallest propane (externally vented) heaters I've seen....perfect for tiny houses, cottages, or vacation camps!
NPR host, and friend, Jon Kalish sent me these shots a ways back, when he was out on assignment in California- and here's a brief backstory from the man himself....
Hey Deek,
Below are a few pics from Trout Gulch, the homestead/utopian village being built in Aptos, CA not far from Santa Cruz. It is on this same property that the little mushroom guest house (featured on our site in the past/and on airbnb.com) is located. The pics 1. front shot of grass hut 2. Outdoor Kitchen, and 3. Their homemade oven.
The three principles at Trout Gulch have a digital animation company called Encyclopedia Pictura (encyclopediapictura.com). Much more about what they're doing on their web site. I'm working on a piece about them for NPR...
-JK
'Saw this site a ways back (doubledeckerdays.com), and more recently Readymade Magazine featured this bus too (which is a little strange, as its very far from complete or transformed/liveable yet), and it seems a very workable, valid idea- although in the states you'll rarely find double deckers buses.
Some great/fun pics here, courtesy of Readymade....and I can't wait to see this bus when its finished!
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
(File Under: Small homes, campers, rvs, dwelling portably, tiny houses, mobile dwellings, shanties, vacation cottages)
I squeezed in two little video shoots this morning- the second one being an unplanned return to Walden Woods- where we focused on the REAL site of H.D. Thoreau's cabin on the far end of the pond- the cabin that no longer exists.....we also shot a local area treehouse, one being occupied year round by 17 year old Cameron Shorb.
Ideally, I'd love to have both these shoots professionally edited by a guy I ocassionally hire- which would make them look FIVE times cooler- but money is always the obstacle- unless, of course, anyone out there wants me to mention their biz/site in the intro (you'd reach ALOT(!) of people) in exchange for helping us out. Ah money.....it sucks.....but if interested- kidcedar at gmail dot com- we'd put you in BOTH videos....
Above is a random shot (always with the goofy jump! I have a collection of "jump" photos from many of my travels....) in front of the Walden Cabin recreation.
Hopefully I'll have these videos, and others, up very soon...
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
7:50 am- a quick post (another to come later) as I'm off in mere minutes to head to Lincoln, MA to video/shoot/interview treehouse dweller Cameron Shorb- who has lived in/made a treehouse his bedroom for the last few years- through New England winters and all!
As for this house, I can only find this one photo via www.offbeathome.com, but its rather unique and certainly does have that Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs Character to it....
From Offbeathome/Flickr: Developer Earl Young's great gift to Charlevoix, Michigan, was a group of fairy tale mushroom houses that he built around the Boulder Park neighborhood near the city's lakefront starting in 1918
Early 2012, through The Lyons Press (home to tiny housing books from David and Jeanie Stiles, Shay Solomon, etc) is the NEW/current release period for the expanded, very tweaked version of my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks..." (a few underground copies remain- online only, for a little while- see the righthand column on THIS blog) but in the meantime, as I have to clean up my small house and ATTEMPT to downsize....
An old pre-Humble Homes mini-book of mine, "Quick Camps and Leg Cramps" that I barely released in 2009, is going to be offered up on my website soon. I retouched a few things quite a ways back, added a newer cover early last year, and after the attendees in my 2011 Relaxshacks.com Workshop here in MA (July 9th) all get a copy of it as part of this tiny shelter/house building course- I'll soon after re-release/re-post it here on the site....
Basically its a small packet-style zine/mini book- only about 26 pages or so.....but in "slop sketch" brainstorm-form. Its composed of some of the initial ideas for "Humble Homes..." way back when, in their raw, unedited form- and many ideas that never made the book for lack of room, and well, because some of them were just too "out there". I think you guys will dig it in a fun, bizarre sense. I've always wanted to see the behind-the-scenes, rough sketch notebooks of many architects and tiny house designers, and basically, no holds barred, nothing "purtied-up", this is what this book is all about. So, sometime after July, I'll have it up and available again- as I have about 200 or so dusty copies I just never got around to doing anything with.
I might consider releasing it in e-zine/e-book form too....but I have to work on that.
I'm going to work out a portion of the proceeds to some soon-to-be-named charity too.....or perhaps towards the funding of a few of those micro-homeless huts/shelters I've been talking about.
"THE U.B. 30 Treehouse"- which we built only recently- is, idea-wise, from one of the sketches in this book....Here's its video tour...
"TREETOP TINY HOUSING" (Join our facebook group for MUCH more on tiny houses, thrift construction, and small living- HERE)
I stumbled upon this article (below), and contacted this "whippersnapper" immediately after- and long-story short, this weekend I'm headin' out to hang with 18-year old Cameron Shorb, a guy who has now been living in a treehouse for well over a year- through the winter and all....which certainly takes some cajones!
So....new micro-video coming soon....as I'll be touring his place, and asking him a slew of questions related to his treehousin' lifestyle.
Lincoln —(from the Lincoln Journal via Wickedlocal.com)- article from two years ago....
Cameron Shorb likes trees so much, he sleeps in one year-round.
Shorb, 16, had the tree house built next to his house in Lincoln, MA and he spends nearly every night in the unheated 90-square-foot structure.
The tree house has windows without glass. During winter Shorb arms himself with long underwear, fleece pants and shirt, a wool hat, gloves, wool socks, a sleeping bag, and down quilt to fight off the cold.
“There are definitely winter mornings where I’ll wake up and I’ll have spent the night with my head buried inside my sleeping bag and when I wake up there’s a layer of frost from where my breath was getting out. Often times the snow will drift in and cover the lower half of my bed or all of it, just a light layer,” said Shorb.
The only force of nature that drives him out of the tree house is thunderstorms. He said that they are “hard to ignore” and “sometimes make me feel like I’m going to die.” His will has broken down a couple of times during thunderstorms and he has moved inside.
His love for the outdoors began 6 years ago when Shorb’s family lived in New Jersey. Shorb went to a wilderness camp called the Eagle Wilderness Adventures in Vermont where everyone slept in teepees. When he returned home he had trouble adjusting to living and sleeping in the house. When Shorb’s family moved to Lincoln, he slept in a tent at one point and then moved to the screened-in porch at another point. When Shorb’s parents were renovating the house, they decided to build the tree house.
“I am incredibly lucky. I am just so thankful for this opportunity,” said Shorb.
So why does he put himself through all these hardships?
“It’s also about learning my place in nature,” said Shorb. He wants to feel the heat and the cold and learn not to be bothered by it. “That connection to nature is so valuable to me.”
Despite the hardships of trying to acclimate to nature and its seasons, Shorb finds great joy in living in nature even during the winter.
“When you wake up and the first snow of the winter has fallen over night and everything is just white and dazzling and beautiful and fresh and you can smell it and you can taste the snow and the air, then it’s all worth it,” said Shorb. “That’s such a magical feeling and definitely one of my very favorite parts of living in a tree house.”
Shorb has also had close encounters with nature that people normally do not experience. He woke up one morning and “there was a distinct feel of two clawed feet and a beak pulling at my hair.” It was a titmouse looking for material to build its nest and it found Shorb’s hair.
I just love this one....and under the "college-dorm homemade bed loft" (yup, I had one- built it myself) mindset/approach- its a good way to save and utilize space, while creating a brand new cozy, funky, fun space. This one was built for kids, obviously, but does it HAVE to be for kids? Hells no!
I also especially dig this micro loft's use (and repainting) of a simple wooden step ladder- which would work great in many tiny house and cabin applications (and these can be found at tag/yard sales all the time for close to nothing). I've built staircases and galley stairways alike, and they're always somewhat of a pain in the ass. With this yardsale ladder usage, it a no-time-spent project for the most part, except for the paint.
From Apartmenttherapy.comNames: Wylder (2) & Arlo (3 months) Smith Location: Clinton, Oklahoma
A few weeks back we had the pleasure of touring the home of Meridith and Jason Smith on Apartment Therapy. They've been busy with some serious renovating including their boys', Wylder and Arlo's, rooms and playspace. Let's just say there's already a waiting list of folks requesting to move in! Now, are you ready to see where that ladder goes?
A few (of many) photos, and our path towards a film/video project on The Cape Cod Dune Shacks... details below- any donations can be made to paypal account senorsell@hotmail.com (and your business (as an ad) or name will be credited/shown in the film's intro credits).
Join our tiny housing FACEBOOK GROUP HERE- to see much more on this project, and far beyond the posts you'll see on this blog...
A few weekends ago, while I had my micro cabin "The GottaGiddaWay" (see the video tour below) on the road for the Wellfleet, MA Cape Cod Eco Fest (thanks to Lydia Vivante for the invite, and ChezSven.com Bnb for a gorgeous place to stay!), I was able to snap some photos (which will be laid out over several posts) to show just how amazing, especially in terms of micro-architecture, Cape Cod is. And the food....wow....another whole story.....
Anyway, I can find very little on these Eastham, MA camps/cottages (right on route 6), but I did find out that online many artists have painted them in the past. The future of this motorcourt dubbed "Tilted Acres Campground/Cabins" is also uncertain from what I've read. Whatever the case, I HAD to stop the car, turnaround, and snap a few photos...and again, MANY more from others towns, while I'll post over time...
THE PLAN: After seeing how incredible the Cape is, in terms of tiny houses (and more!)- we're slowly trying to raise sufficient funds to shoot a mini-film/episode of my program "Tiny Yellow House" about a trek out to The Cape Cod Dune Shacks in Provincetown, MA- showing many of the amazing sights, cabins, cottages, indie art galleries, and attractions along the way. We're aiming to tackle something like this late in the summer, meaning, we need to haul arse NOW to get things ready and squared away, and to line up rental equipment, a mini crew, etc. If YOU might be interested in backing us, in exchange for exposure in this episode (ie a pbs style thanks ad in the beginning of the film), please contact me at kidcedar at gmail dot com. The end product will be quality- as have been our videos that have been covered/featured in the NY Times, Seattle Times, PBS, NPR, CBS News, Chronicle HD on ABC, The Boston Globe, Treehugger.com, Tinyhouseblog.com, and beyond.We'd love your help and support- or budget isn't huge, but too large for my own wallet alone, as these shoots get costly, especially with a crew of helpers away from home- equipment, lodging, meals, gas, and the list goes on. With any excess beyond our budget, we'd like to film a thing or two, we have planned, in Brooklyn at some point too.
Here's our latest film on a micro-homeless hut I built and designed- which yes, is purposefully goofy- don't worry, the Cape Cod project will be much more straight-laced....
"The Blue Crab"- a tiny kayak/rowboat/canoe (tiny "house"/shelter-boat (eventually))- made from ONE sheet of plywood more or less (built and designed by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen). And YES, it has a thick plexiglass window in the floor- that will be covered by a protective hatch down the road.
'Been workin' on this for a bit- just messin' around- and I've been shooting "how-to" or "how-not-to" (hyuk!) footage all along to make it into a "TINY YELLOW HOUSE"show episode down the road- perhaps for Make Magazine.
I don't mind showing photos of it now, as its not really anything top secret or mega-cool, AND more so because it is far from done. These photos actually represent what this tiny little plywood (one sheet) boat looked like many days ago. Its since been trimmed out, stained, seated, and then some....
I've dubbed it "The Blue Crab"- and it will transform into a micro-sleep/rain shelter when complete- and have a tiny little canopy roof perhaps, when I'm finished with 'er. I plan on trying it out this weekend even- on Walden Pond (time pending), and later filming it in a brackish tidal river on the South Shore of MA, where yup, I'll probably be blue-crabbin'.
I can't wait to try it out, and if all works as planned, I'll tell you exactly how it was made, sealed, for how much, and so on, down the road.... She ain't purty, but I'm hoping it'll make for one effective, and insanely cheap/thrifty boat.
(this project was/is partly inspired by Phil Bolger, Papa Neutrino, and the Triloboat duo)
