Tiny House

[Seasider]

Placing my order for one treehouse office with Wi-Fi, thank you very much!

[Ravin]

I could get on board with a composting toilet and eliminating blackwater sewage. I would still want running water for every other purpose to which it is usually used.

[Outdoorsy Type]

Tiny is okay, but I don't desire to forgo hot showers and an indoor toilet in winter. In the summer I would be okay with a close water source, and a pit toilet. And maybe a good friend not too far away with a hot shower. 😂

[Catwoman]

I've always wanted a big rambling house, and I've always wanted Community.

 

A collection of tiny homes with a clubhouse might fit the bill for some, but I need space for a library (OK, that could be shared), and a yarn stash, and my weaving loom(s), and paper supplies and craft space (OK, that could be shared, not the supplies, but a joint studio with lockers might work). And DH needs space for woodworking, although I guess that could be shared as well. And then there is exercise equipment (could be shared, but I don't like to work out in public), bikes (could have bike lockers at the clubhouse I suppose). Badminton and croquet would be nice. Actually, a little ceramics studio would be nice, too. More importantly, I need a place to set up paperwork and crafts and leave them set up, (needs a big space), and I like to cook and to use good cooking equipment in a very functional configuration (needs a big space), and I like to read quietly (needs quiet!) (but I guess there could be a tiny house library that was quiet, on site) and work on the computer quietly. I definitely would want a nice bathroom.

 

No, this is not for me.

I could have written your post, Carol! I'm a big house person, too. I like having lots of room for hobbies, cooking, exercise equipment, a library, and just general personal privacy. I love watching tiny house shows and I think many of them are very creative and incredibly cute, but I would want the whole tiny house as an art studio; I wouldn't want it as my home, even if I lived alone.

 

I know some tech folks who tried a cohousing set up. There were 3 or 4 families involved. The family that was well to do bought an old summer horse camp in the local hills but not that far from the freeway. It was a lovely, gently sloping setting with a pond, a main house, and three little single walled cabins for summer field hands. There was a corral and a little barn. The concept was that the main house would be living quarters for the well to do family. The other families would live in the cabins but all would use the kitchen, living room, and dining room of the big house. The techies built an enclosed but windowy tree house office where two programmers could work back to back in the quiet, with excellent (elevated) wifi. That enabled them to avoid the horrendous freeway commute several days per week. The group also planted a decorative and functional veggie garden to share.

 

I observed that the cabins were drafty, and it seemed like they wouldn't be comfortable in the winter, though winter is not that harsh here. Also the common areas of the big house reminded me of college coops--no real decor, a bunch of mismatched furniture, never really dirty but never really tidy either. I think that esthetically that would be tiring after a while. But the children who were being raised kind of together were really happy, and the shared work made life so much saner and easier for the adults. It was a really nice set up.

Co-housing wouldn't work for me because I wouldn't like the idea of all that sharing. :) I also don't like the idea of making decisions about the living spaces as a group because I can imagine that there could be problems over time if people don't get along. I need my house to be just for my own family. I don't want to help raise anyone else's children and I certainly don't want them raising mine. I don't want to share my kitchen or my garden, and the idea of having a common living room and dining room would send me screaming for the hills because I don't want to be forced to be social.

 

I know it may sound terrible and closed-minded of me, but arrangements like that sound like they would be best for college kids, young singles without children, or incredibly crunchy "somebody tell them that Woodstock is over" hippie types. I don't think I know anyone with that mindset, but maybe it's a regional thing where people are more interested in that kind of lifestyle and who may be less competitive and not care as much about who has the nicest car and the biggest house. Where I'm from, I only know a few very crunchy families, and even they seem kind of competitive with each other to see who's crunchier. :D

 

 

Edited to fix the quotes. :)

Edited January 31, 2017 by Catwoman

[Carol in Cal.]

Co-housing wouldn't work for me because I wouldn't like the idea of all that sharing. :) I also don't like the idea of making decisions about the living spaces as a group because I can imagine that there could be problems over time if people don't get along. I need my house to be just for my own family. I don't want to help raise anyone else's children and I certainly don't want them raising mine. I don't want to share my kitchen or my garden, and the idea of having a common living room and dining room would send me screaming for the hills because I don't want to be forced to be social.

 

The owner family had the whole upstairs to themselves, which was by far the best living quarters.  Inevitably as owners of the whole place they would call the shots, although they were not inclined that way and in fact arranged the whole set up specifically to live with others but not in each others' pockets.  And I don't know how well the cabin residents did during the rainy winters.

 

I think that parents need to be very likeminded to help with each others' kids, but this was not co-raising; rather it was more like a parent participation preschool extended into everyday life.  The parents were all homeschoolers and all had the same values and the same assumptions about positive discipline.  I could see that working out very well, kind of like a neighborhood where everyone watched out for everyone else, or an extended family or clan.  It helped a lot that that cooperation is what made living in this idyllic place doable.  There were too many trees, the pond for the kids to fall into, a huge lawn/meadow area to keep cut, and too many gardens and buildings to maintain for any one family to handle without staff.  So when you live in a paradise, and you know that everyone being there is essential to that, it covers a lot of challenges.  

 

I know it may sound terrible and closed-minded of me, but arrangements like that sound like they would be best for college kids, young singles without children, or incredibly crunchy "somebody tell them that Woodstock is over" hippie types.

I'm introverted, but the idea of being in a likeminded community with separate buildings to live in sounds pretty nice to me.  This place was pretty special.  As I said earlier, I've always wanted a big rambling house, but I've also always wanted Community.  As a way to have both, this impressed me.

Edited January 31, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[Carol in Cal.]

OK, on another note, I think I have realized that my ideal Tiny House would basically be a library in a cottage.  It would have floor to ceiling bookshelves with library ladders.  One room would be kind of open, with a big table in the middle.  The other would be cozy with a little fireplace and a window seat.  There would be one overstuffed chair by the fireplace, and an overstuffed loveseat in the room with the big table.  In a pinch the loveseat could open into a bed.

 

There would be a small bathroom with a soaking tub with its own little bookshelf.

 

There wouldn't be a full kitchen, but there would be a small counter with a fridge below and a microwave above, and a small sink, and one of those electric kettles to heat water, or maybe just an Alhambra hot and cold water installation.  

 

Just for me.

[Guest]

Anyone can do anything if they have to, and so I won't say, "I could never do that."  

 

But if I were to have to go without running water, I'd have to ask myself, "What happened here?"

 

:0)

[Scarlett]

Anyone can do anything if they have to, and so I won't say, "I could never do that."  

 

But if I were to have to go without running water, I'd have to ask myself, "What happened here?"

 

:0)

 

 

Yes, this is me too.  I try to never say "I could never do that." 

 

I really do want running water.  But I could see myself being content if not thrilled as long as it was set up properly. 

[ktgrok]

Could I do it? Sure. 

 

Would I want to? Hell no. Running water and indoor plumbing are in general a big improvement, there is a reason that such things caught on with the general public. 

[Guest]

I could have written your post, Carol! I'm a big house person, too. I like having lots of room for hobbies, cooking, exercise equipment, a library, and just general personal privacy. I love watching tiny house shows and I think many of them are very creative and incredibly cute, but I would want the whole tiny house as an art studio; I wouldn't want it as my home, even if I lived alone.

 

 

Co-housing wouldn't work for me because I wouldn't like the idea of all that sharing. :) I also don't like the idea of making decisions about the living spaces as a group because I can imagine that there could be problems over time if people don't get along. I need my house to be just for my own family. I don't want to help raise anyone else's children and I certainly don't want them raising mine. I don't want to share my kitchen or my garden, and the idea of having a common living room and dining room would send me screaming for the hills because I don't want to be forced to be social.

 

I know it may sound terrible and closed-minded of me, but arrangements like that sound like they would be best for college kids, young singles without children, or incredibly crunchy "somebody tell them that Woodstock is over" hippie types. I don't think I know anyone with that mindset, but maybe it's a regional thing where people are more interested in that kind of lifestyle and who may be less competitive and not care as much about who has the nicest car and the biggest house. Where I'm from, I only know a few very crunchy families, and even they seem kind of competitive with each other to see who's crunchier. :D

 

 

Edited to fix the quotes. :)

Yes! I like privacy and suitable, well purposed space. It doesn't need to be huge for the sake of it, but person sized and utilized fully for our needs a la Sarah Susanka.

[momacacia]

I whine and complain enough as it is. I can't see no running water improving that. :)

[DawnM]

I'm introverted, but the idea of being in a likeminded community with separate buildings to live in sounds pretty nice to me.  This place was pretty special.  As I said earlier, I've always wanted a big rambling house, but I've also always wanted Community.  As a way to have both, this impressed me.

 

 

There are VERY few people I would want to live that close to, and even they would probably get on my nerves if they were with me all the time.

 

I am an extrovert, but I still like my privacy at home.  I grew up in a community, not quite like that, but as a missionary kid with not too many missionaries.  We all knew each other's business.  It didn't bother me as a kid so much, and I had many aunties and uncles around all of the time, but as I got older I wasn't quite as wiling to have everyone in my business.   And when I got older I went to boring school, another place where everyone was "right there."  But if given a choice, I need some space.

 

And maybe part of it is that i don't like everyone to be of the same mindset.  I like diversity.  Last night I went out with my group of friends who are not from church or work.  We have formed a bond over our sons all having ASD.  I like that.  And I like my church friends, and I like my work friends.  But separately.