Tumbleweed Tiny Houses

[Russ H]

I have to admit, tiny houses fascinate me.

I grew to appreciate the tiny house concept when I moved from my home state (Michigan) to California. Unlike most folks, who would have rented a U-haul and brought their entire lives with them, instead, I spent $400 on a tiny house trailer (7' x 13'), and pared down all of my worldly possessions to fit inside that tiny space.

I had:

-A full kitchen (w/frig, stove, sink)
-A gas furnace (warmed up the place in minutes)
-2 bunk beds (initially used the top for sleep, bottom for a couch)
-A long table/counter, for record storage (I was WAY into music)
-A TV/hifi cabinet
-Clothes closet
-Large (well, large for the space) bookshelf.

It pretty much had everything I needed, except a bathroom.

I stayed in an RV park when I first moved out to CA, and used their main bathroom.

I have to say, it was a simple, and very freeing, lifestyle. Very uncomplicated.

I loved it, in a lot of ways.

**********

I realize that for some of you, owning a mega-mansion is a big goal, so my apologies if I'm skeeving you out here.

As the current owner of two 4000 sq ft houses, one 10,000 sq ft house, two 1200 sq ft cottages (one w/a 800 sq ft apt), and my home (2800 sq ft), you can see I have a bit of space (3 bedrooms in my house, plus 33 bedrooms in the other houses, which are all licensed for B&B use).

Anyways, a few years ago, I heard about a guy, Jay Shafer, who had this "tiny house" concept, and was designing really beautiful small houses. I mean truly beautiful, tiny homes.

I followed his path to fame (he became quite popular as housing prices went crazy). I continued to marvel at his designs, and progress.

He's been on everything from NPR to Oprah. HUGE media attention.

And then this happens:

Tumbleweed Blog

Pity he isn't interested in monetizing his popularity.

I actually tried to contact him-- twice-- those many years ago. He never got back to me.

Happy to see the guy get the attention.

But another part of me feels like this is such a huge waste-- he could be parlaying this into a movement of dramatic proportions. His designs could have even been used for the temp housing after Katrina.

A perfect example of someone who has a MAMMOTH idea, and even partial execution, but just can't get past the "keep it small" mindset (no pun intended-- but it does seem to have stunted his growth).

Anyways, links are included for any of you who may share my fascination w/tiny tiny houses.

Enjoy!

-Russ H.

Tumbleweed Lusby

 

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