http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea?format=rss Tribe.net. Local Connections http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#605adcf7-d8d9-452c-bb97-42093a128032 How 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! Mon, 12 May 2008 16:57:07 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#605adcf7-d8d9-452c-bb97-42093a128032 Mariposa 2008-05-12T16:57:07Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#7c305754-740f-4bb5-9e68-713bacf0cfab You're right. It's the comprehensive plan (local development ordinance) that gets in the way of tiny homes here. Fri, 02 May 2008 20:54:45 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#7c305754-740f-4bb5-9e68-713bacf0cfab Davie 2008-05-02T20:54:45Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#2aa76794-403d-4690-bcda-b000c153e3ba "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. Thu, 01 May 2008 01:20:47 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#2aa76794-403d-4690-bcda-b000c153e3ba Leon 2008-05-01T01:20:47Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#308b34fd-b946-44a9-b88e-ee4700ef5b0f Hey 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. Thu, 01 May 2008 01:08:38 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#308b34fd-b946-44a9-b88e-ee4700ef5b0f Leon 2008-05-01T01:08:38Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#9738d25e-0dac-493e-a42f-b03b34d8a3a2 "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. Thu, 01 May 2008 01:01:56 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#9738d25e-0dac-493e-a42f-b03b34d8a3a2 Leon 2008-05-01T01:01:56Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#328aae97-b93c-42d3-bcb5-c5c2f8eef3ee When 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! Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:53:52 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#328aae97-b93c-42d3-bcb5-c5c2f8eef3ee Go Ask Alice 2008-04-16T18:53:52Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#3c0b285d-f91e-481a-b694-8545394bf0e0 Gil, 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. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:41:21 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#3c0b285d-f91e-481a-b694-8545394bf0e0 Blue 2008-04-16T04:41:21Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#1674b2a5-85af-4119-bdcd-77673ba7c0ac many 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: http://www.catalina30.com/C30Yacht/Brochures/MarkI%200202-3.jpg http://www.catalina30.com/C30Yacht/Brochures/MarkI%200202-2.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! Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:01:51 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#1674b2a5-85af-4119-bdcd-77673ba7c0ac RICK 2008-04-13T16:01:51Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#4b2d9ae2-0331-4f8c-8516-3441ffee1cfa So 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! Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:54:39 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#4b2d9ae2-0331-4f8c-8516-3441ffee1cfa Dan 2008-04-13T15:54:39Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#79862c90-a124-4945-a98f-8d6c83037458 interesting 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. Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:41:58 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#79862c90-a124-4945-a98f-8d6c83037458 gil 2008-04-13T07:41:58Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#76983baa-3f6c-4e22-9f07-0d67d1d4a490 lol 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 Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:30:55 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#76983baa-3f6c-4e22-9f07-0d67d1d4a490 Maruti 2008-04-12T02:30:55Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c22197bc-0b63-49b5-9197-3e71af6cc28d this is one of my dreams.... maybe one day we will all meet up in the mini house village of our dreams :-) Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:26:37 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c22197bc-0b63-49b5-9197-3e71af6cc28d Maruti 2008-04-12T02:26:37Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#6353219a-a7d3-478b-86b5-76242c0382c7 They 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. Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:40:58 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#6353219a-a7d3-478b-86b5-76242c0382c7 Shadoan 2008-04-12T01:40:58Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c62baefe-63d3-47e7-912c-bee851684963 No wonder the oceans are dying. I guess the codes must be written by plumbers. Some counties are a lot more liberal about ecoliving. Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:01:55 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c62baefe-63d3-47e7-912c-bee851684963 Blue 2008-04-12T01:01:55Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#cb1c52e1-8af0-4fee-a446-cf9944e7ed6f I 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. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:02:04 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#cb1c52e1-8af0-4fee-a446-cf9944e7ed6f Davie 2008-04-11T18:02:04Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#89217f43-fb39-44a3-87f7-956df96167ca Yeah, 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. Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:42:46 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#89217f43-fb39-44a3-87f7-956df96167ca Mel 2008-04-11T17:42:46Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c6cd7316-ff61-4b30-b527-2bdb5217b89c if you go for the private gated community clause, most code people here will let you do more. Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:13:41 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c6cd7316-ff61-4b30-b527-2bdb5217b89c Shadoan 2008-04-10T17:13:41Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#1d1eca80-890c-423c-95e8-c7e10ead37d6 <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. Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:23:32 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#1d1eca80-890c-423c-95e8-c7e10ead37d6 B 2008-04-10T05:23:32Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#ff42e005-2c72-4e6b-96ad-28b6061b9810 In 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?" Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:54:37 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#ff42e005-2c72-4e6b-96ad-28b6061b9810 Davie 2008-04-10T01:54:37Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#f6ac22bd-e3ad-4c54-b618-d722deb88fda 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. 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. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:04:39 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#f6ac22bd-e3ad-4c54-b618-d722deb88fda Blue 2008-04-09T20:04:39Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#68e7a47a-911d-4022-abcb-7b67577554fd cool! Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:46:17 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#68e7a47a-911d-4022-abcb-7b67577554fd !!☻♥ 2008-03-20T00:46:17Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#a3b3762a-d21d-4faf-a8fd-d2fa67a86eea http://tinyhouseblog.com/about/ (great links page too) Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:40:53 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#a3b3762a-d21d-4faf-a8fd-d2fa67a86eea Zip 2008-03-19T15:40:53Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c6f0011a-b510-4a44-bf22-0a689d5cdca7 Ooh, this is one of my fantasies! I love the houses at http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ and I can just imagine a community of them. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:00:13 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#c6f0011a-b510-4a44-bf22-0a689d5cdca7 Issa 2008-03-07T21:00:13Z http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#3599d0aa-0284-4c0b-967d-4baf6556d9dc 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 ) Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:56:56 GMT http://intentionalcommunity.tribe.net/thread/6fbedba7-2162-4a9e-9c17-2d9a51cef5ea#3599d0aa-0284-4c0b-967d-4baf6556d9dc ~lorenzo! 2008-03-05T18:56:56Z