Bear's Tiny Homes goes "smaller" in a scene where tiny houses seemingly are getting "huge".
Mark Warfield (aka "Bear") shows off his new tiny house model "The Bluebelle"- a 20' long build with all the amenities most would need- AND storage.
So I'm recently back from a jaunt of a heck of a lot of traveling.... two different weekends in Florida to speak at tiny house festivals, another weekend near Dallas, TX for the always-great Tiny House Jamboree, and a few other side trips I'd have to sit down to recall. Aside from that I'm finishing up a follow-up to my book "Microshelters", rehabbing a tiny house on wheels, and building a custom tiny office on wheels for a client. So yeah. I guess I've been busy.
But through it all, I've still managed to notice something- tiny houses, or at least a good portion of them, are starting to shrink back to their early-scene "smaller" sizes. Early on, and i'm talking ten years or so back, it was uncommon to see a house that was longer than 18'. Sixteen and Eighteen footers seemed the norm.
Or perhaps I'M just getting larger. After all, we Americans are now in the midst of what I like to call the "Thanksgiving to New Years" gauntlet- 'tis the season of overeating!
In anycase, as the scene continued to grow in popularity through the years, and spread like a virtual wildfire through the media, tv shows, and magazines, somewhere along the line, the houses started to get larger- and quite a bit larger. I remember entering my first 24' long tiny house and feeling it was "enormous" as compared to anything I had set foot in at the time. Well, that was long ago, and 24' has almost become the average- meaning, there are houses a heck of a lot longer and more sizable than that on the landscape. In fact, last year I toured a 540 square foot tiny house(!) on wheels. Call it a mobile home, or call it not "classified as tiny" as all, but it still serves my point. I've included that video right here:
And this is NOT a bad thing that the houses are now more substantial- beefier- fancier- elongated. I'm not saying that at all.
"To each their own" and everyone has their own set of needs, and different lifestyle needs through the size of a family, their mode of employment, and even with factoring in climactic conditions (people in warmer climates can get away with smaller abodes without cabin fever kicking in, and by being able to extend their everyday living spaces out of doors (decks, patios, breezeways)).
But I'm wondering if I'm the only person noticing this, or if true, if its an economical response, or a realization that the much larger tv-dream-fed homes on wheels are far less portable- some getting as low as 4 mph when pulled.
I'm not against the "larger tinies", as some call them, far from it, I just will admit that the smaller houses, if done well, bring more of a smile to my face (and to one's wallet).
But enough on that. Enjoy the above posted tour of Bear's newest tiny house design and I hope at the very least that you grab some new ideas from it- both things you might want to employ in your future small dwelling, OR that which you may want to avoid.
Its all a learning process.
-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen
(....and hey, if you want to ACTUALLY BUILD with us soon, March 23-24-25th (2018) is our next fully hands-on design and build workshop- Joshua Tree, CA! The place is AMAZINGLY beautiful! Before the date passes, the sign up banner is at the top of this website. Space IS limited!
