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Does anyone know of any co-housing project that uses mini houses, with a large common building and lots of lovely open, but active outdoor space? ( i'm getting tired of the moderator discussion )
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, March 7, 2008 - 1:00 PMOoh, this is one of my fantasies! I love the houses at www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ and I can just imagine a community of them. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, March 19, 2008 - 8:40 AM
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 1:04 PMGood topic. This has been a long term dream of mine: to establish an intentional community consisting of several small houses on one large piece of land, central community center and community garden and perhaps soaking tubs.
As I get older, naturally I envison this as a retirement community or at least one for empty nesters. I envision this as a place where people in my age group who haven't got the retirement pool they planned for (thanks Enron et al) --or any so to speak-- but still want to retire with at least a modicum of dignity and privacy. Ideally the property would also be a nonprofit or co-op so as to utilize what buying power was available. I also visualize a spare house for guests since most older people have children who will bring their families and pets with them.
I haven't found what I'm looking for yet so I will be looking into forming such a group. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 10:23 PM<Good topic. This has been a long term dream of mine: to establish an intentional community consisting of several small houses on one large piece of land, central community center and community garden and perhaps soaking tubs. >
Also a dream of mine. With a large Solarium and Japanese style bath house.
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 9, 2008 - 6:54 PMIn my county, the building code makes it difficult to build small houses. "What? you don't plan to have central heat and air?" "You only want to have one bathroom and one bedroom?" -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Thu, April 10, 2008 - 10:13 AMif you go for the private gated community clause, most code people here will let you do more. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 30, 2008 - 6:01 PM"if you go for the private..."
The code is the code. Whats safe for people outside a gated community should be just as safe for people within one.
please check your facts.
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 10:42 AMYeah, Daive....building codes can be a big bugaboo for any sort of "alternative building". If you think having a mini-house w/ one bedroom/1 bath is a problem, try telling them you plan to have a "humanure toilet"! LOL
I think anyone who is planning any sort of an intentional community needs to familiarize themselves very well with what the local zoning laws are. It would be a shame to invest in property only to find out that there were restrictions that kept people from building there as they would like to. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 11:02 AMI tried to get approval for a composting toilet in a house I was building on a barrier island a few years ago. The state health dept. folk all agreed that a Clivus would make much better sense than a septic tank on a spit of sand in the gulf, and were so sorry that state law didn't allow them. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 6:01 PMNo wonder the oceans are dying. I guess the codes must be written by plumbers. Some counties are a lot more liberal about ecoliving. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 6:40 PMThey are written by these old A'Dolts that were not raised right.... code writing, is a huge issue, and just below that: enforcement... Because, it's all just talk, till they bring out the chalk. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 30, 2008 - 6:20 PM"They are written by these old A-Dolts...."
Shadoan. You're making statements about something you obviously know nothing about. Code writing is not a huge issue. Quite the reverse. Its a continual process that results in changes to the written code occurring in three year
cycles and influenced by research, new product development, community input, etc. Alternative builders love to complain about how the codes prevent alternative building which is incorrect. For the most part the codes are "performance codes" which means that if, for example, you want to build a house out of Q Tips and marshmallows you may do so if you can demonstrate that your structure will "perform" according to the minimum standards of the code for life safety, soundness, etc.
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 7:30 PMlol central heat and air ... i work as a chimney sweep and there are some very efficient wood burning stoves out there. and i always see people throwing away pallets and other wood "scraps" that would be enough to heat a mini house for a winter. but i imagine if you build right with passive solar you could probably get away without really using heat very much at all -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Sun, April 13, 2008 - 12:41 AMinteresting times we live in;
so many people realize that small is beautiful, that being outside in a natural environment is nicer than being inside; and that community is better than privacy. but developers are still creating huge ugly houses and people are still buying them. I guess this is one unreal-estate bubble that hasn't bursted yet: speculations tell us that a big monster house increases its value more than small and cute. so we "invest" in it. but it's an economic bubble, because everyone assumes that its a good investment even though maybe no one actually wants it!
I'm going to start building an ecovillage in the forest of small natural homes knowing that the county might come in an tear it all down. I just don't agree with the injustice of having to be enslaved to a mortgage all your life and end up with an ugly house. it can be cheap and fun to do natural buildings. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 9:41 PMGil, why don't you start a thread on what you want to do. I've seen some pics of very small cob houses built in dense forest. I doubt if anyone even knew some of them were there.
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 30, 2008 - 6:08 PMHey Davie
For many years 120 square feet has been the minimum habitable space for a dwelling unit pursuant to the UBC and now the IRC. It may be, however, that your local county building ordinance, not the code, has up'd the minimum. -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 1:54 PMYou're right. It's the comprehensive plan (local development ordinance) that gets in the way of tiny homes here.
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Fri, April 11, 2008 - 7:26 PMthis is one of my dreams.... maybe one day we will all meet up in the mini house village of our dreams :-) -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Sun, April 13, 2008 - 8:54 AMSo many people want to live this way!
There are a number of ways to work with building departments and planning commissions. If we do things off the radar and get caught we can open up a host of problems. People have done amazing things off the radar, and I applaud them for being cutting edge first responders. But it's just not practical or feasable for many of us. One phone call to the county from a disgruntled neighbor and the whole village could suffer.
That said, I encourage people to work the system. Meet the county's needs for things like septic, and go ahead and put in a composting toilet afterwards. Build to code so your buildings are safe and won't get red-tagged if they're inspected. Consider putting in "mobile" housing so that you can move and adjust buildings easily. Pull permits for the central structures, after which and mini-home village can emerge on its own terms.
There's going to be a lot of opportunity for such models to manifest as we deal more and more with global warming, climate change, and shift into a post-carbon economy. Even building officials are starting to go "green" and if some of us get into the system and lobby the system then we stand a greater chance of building sustainability into the codes. The model of mini homes discussed in this thread should be legal and easy to create, fer god's sakes! -
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Sun, April 13, 2008 - 9:01 AMmany people DO live this way, it is called living aboard a boat, 50% of the boats in my marina are liveaboard boats. my house on the water is a 30 foot catalina sailboat, to get an idea on how much space i have:
www.catalina30.com/C30Yacht...202-3.jpg
www.catalina30.com/C30Yacht...202-2.jpg
i am considered to live in a trailer when i vote, i have a mailbox too. suits my needs and no need for composting toilet besides the marina bathrooms i also have a bunch of free pumpout stations right here in the marina. Not only do i live here but i can take my home out to santa cruz island when the weather is fair. I cruise my dinghy every day too, so much fun!
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Wed, April 16, 2008 - 11:53 AMWhen one of the buildings on the ranch burned down the family who lived there decided to rebuild using a different paradigm.
There's a big mostly open floor-plan building that houses a living space for the adults (a married couple)... and then two small "instant" buildings (I think they were originally sheds of some kind), one for each of their children who, at the time, were just cresting into their teenage years.
There is a single-wide trailer that houses their home office plus the bathroom/shower and another smaller outbuilding that houses the kitchen.
The open floor-plan in the main building means that they have a great gathering and party space. They are quite social and that's where we have many of our potlucks and drum circles (they are a family of frame and hand drum players). I don't envy that they have to walk through whatever weather is going on to get to their bathroom, however.
It seemed like an excellent solution to their children's desire for teenage independence!
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Re: Mini Houses. . .
Mon, May 12, 2008 - 9:57 AMHow fun! I know in Texas, if you build something 198 sq. ft. or smaller, there is no code. I could live in something that small, have larger community spaces and lots of outdoor living. All I need is some land and a good group of people. I am a natural builder, and it would be fun to help each other build each other's houses. If they are small, they would be easier to build. As far as toilets, composting or incinerating toilets would work well. Rainwater catchment . . . solar power . . . ahhhhhh, someday. If anyone is serious, email me and let's talk. I am a teacher, so there would have to be a school nearby so I can still make a living. Summers off to build build build!
