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Ad Astra 24′ Tiny House

September 25, 2018 By Greg Parham 8 Comments

Check out our latest creation, the Ad Astra Tiny House!  Ad Astra means “to the stars” in Latin, and a fun couple from Kansas commissioned us to build this beautiful custom 24’ tiny house to take them there.

When we initially began the design process, the house was to live in Kansas. However, as the design progressed, so did life, and the house was soon bound for much greener pastures in Portland, OR. That’s the nice thing about tiny houses – they can adapt to all of the changes that life throws at us!

 

This house sits on a sturdy Trailer Made 8’ x 24’ dual axle trailer made in Denver, CO. We used a shed roof to maximize interior space. The cedar lap siding and recycled corrugated wainscot will fit perfectly into the Pacific Northwest setting. A bold sapphire blue adorns the full lite exterior door.  

A large wrap-around, fold-down deck leads from the front door to a serving window outside the kitchen.  The deck consists of three leafs that fold up for travel.   

The Ad Astra features a large storage closet on the rear for outdoor gear. We placed the condenser of the mini split on a bracket high on the back wall to allow more space below for storage.

Ad Astra 24' tiny house storage closet

The customers really liked the interior layout of the Pequod, so we started with that general floor plan and customized it to fit their needs. The engineered bamboo flooring has a hand scraped finish and we stained the pine trim and window boxes to match.

The Ad Astra features the Pequod’s “U-shaped” kitchen. We started with stock, white cabinets and tweaked them where needed to fit the space. One corner of the base cabinets is a lazy-Susan while the other corner is “secret” long-term storage that is accessed from below the sink. The sliding window behind the sink functions as a serving window – a fold-up bar just outside the window will be useful for entertaining.

One of our carpenters is a whiz with concrete, so we put his skills to work on the hand-troweled countertop. The hand-troweling gives it more character than some other concrete methods and brings out its hand-made nature. The customers chose a classic white undermount sink with a tall single-handle faucet.

We were able to locate a stock wall cabinet online for a small space to the left of the sink. We cut out the center part of the cabinet doors and replaced it with glass. This saved a lot of money compared to buying a cabinet with glass doors.

We created a custom pantry/shelf unit to divide the kitchen from the dining area. The bottom houses two pull-out pantries, while the top has adjustable shelves.

Another nod to the Pequod was the nesting dining room table which features two cubes that function as seats and have storage within, a bench, and a 48” long table with fold-up leafs on either side.

This Portland tiny house has a bright, spacious bathroom. The customers chose an all-in-one vanity/sink combo. We incorporated this vanity into a custom wainscot with a glass tile strip above. A frameless mirror medicine cabinet provides extra storage above the sink. A Nature’s Head composting toilet sits next to the vanity.

The tub has white ceramic subway tile surround. We chose a dark grout to tie into the grey hues in the faux wood floor tiles.  

These tiny house dwellers are pet-lovers and the stairway provided opportunities for some custom pet features. First, a built-in glass gecko cage occupies the space under the fourth and fifth treads. Access for feeding and cleaning is granted under the removable fourth stair tread, and an outlet and light are hidden under the fifth stair, with some holes for ventilation. Their cat will enjoy its custom litter box cubby that includes a passive exterior vent for when things get a little smelly.

The customers requested a sunken mattress area in the sleeping loft so we built it out of 2×6 wood framing for a little extra depth. Six storage cubbies in the floor surround the queen-sized mattress depression.

The second loft is a flexible space that will fit a queen-sized mattress for guests if needed. A 2” x 2” steel frame with blue stained beetle kill flooring gives it a slim profile. This loft is accessed from a ladder whose design was inspired by a picture the customers found on Pinterest. We were able to recreate it using galvanized pipes and fittings.

We crafted a custom 6’ long couch with plenty of storage below. The angled backrest even hinges forward to take advantage of every inch of space. The couch sits directly over the wheel fenders and is a nice way to deal with these sometimes-intrusive tiny house features. The seat height of the couch will be at a comfortable level once the customers install 4” thick cushions.

Some final details to note: there is space and hookups for a washer/dryer between the stairs and bathroom wall. There is room above this for storage or closet space. Opposite this is the main closet area. This is our first build to utilize a white painted shiplap for the walls that we milled in house. We could not find an affordable, durable, attractive shiplap product commercially available, so we just decided to make our own! It’s a very clean, modern look without too much expense! Shiplap also deals with expansion/contraction due to climate differences better than other materials, which in this case worked out very well since it shipped to a very humid climate from a dry one! A similarly equipped and detailed build like this one would run around $73k. 

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: 24' tiny house, clean tiny house, concrete counter tops, custom tiny house, modern tiny house, Oregon tiny house, portland tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, shiplap walls, Tiny House

FLAGSTAFF 34′ GOOSENECK

May 15, 2017 By Greg Parham 8 Comments

This is lovely 26+7′-6″ Gooseneck tiny house commissioned by a friendly couple down in Flagstaff, AZ. These customers had a beautiful lot abutting national forest that allowed for tiny houses. The were concerned about fire safety, so except for the vinyl windows and rubber tires, the entire exterior was clad in steel using a combination of light gray standing seam panels with a rib profiled charcoal panel. It’s a very modern yet playful feel. A simple shed roof simplifies construction and exemplifies the clean exterior lines even more. We missed the chance to photograph this house since Greg was out of town during its completion, but the owners were kind enough to provide a few shots upon delivery.

On the interior, a near complete juxtaposition of style with Beetle Kill Pine just about everywhere except for the flooring, appliances, and bathroom. The kitchen holds the rear of the house and features an electric range, 10 cu ft fridge, stainless steel apron sink with a tall spray faucet, live edge open shelving, live edge slab countertops, and hickory cabinets. 

From the kitchen, you move into the dining area which features a Hobbit woodstove and live edge folding table. Opposite these attractions are storage stairs that go up to a guest loft. 

Above the folding table is a large picture window carefully placed so they can enjoy the views of town and mountains.

This space meshes with the living area that is shown as a white wall in the picture below, but they placed a couch along this wall and not visible is a thick live edge pine shelf up above to display prized belongings. 

Flagstaff gooseneck tiny house living room

Beyond the living room is a short hallway that takes you into the bathroom, or up a few stairs with pull out drawers into the gooseneck. The bathroom is a wet bath design with a fully tiled floor, and three tiled walls forming a shower area, fed by an overhead rain shower head. There is a flush toilet and a large vessel sink placed on another slab of live edge beetle kill pine. Not completely visible is the sliding barn door and medicine cabinet above the vanity.

Walking up into the gooseneck brings one into the master bedroom. Here, you have standing height and room for a king size bed if desired. Envision now, that you are turning around and facing the rear of the house. On the opposite side from which you came up the stairs, there is one more step that takes you up on a platform that is above the bathroom below. This area is the closet space. It also houses a combo W/D for the few times a month laundry needs done.  It is kneeling room access, but makes for a lot more hanging clothes storage than most other tiny houses have. You will also notice the electric on demand water heater and two trap doors in the floor for additional storage. A similarly equipped house would run in the 80k range. 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Tiny House Design, Tiny House Plans Tagged With: arizona tiny house, beetle kill pine tiny house, flagstaff tiny house, Gooseneck Tiny House, modern tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, rustic tiny house

20′ BITTERROOT VALLEY

December 28, 2016 By Greg Parham 15 Comments

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House Exterior

A retired woman with land in the gorgeous Beulah Valley outside of Pueblo, CO contacted us in the spring of 2016 about constructing a modest tiny house on a budget. She was really into reclaimed materials , simplicity, off grid living, and thermal efficiency. We just so happened to have an 18′ Bitterroot Valley SIP package that had been sitting at the shop for quite some time just waiting for the right customer to come along. 18′ was slightly on the small side for her, so using some cutouts from previous SIP projects, we were able to lengthen the design to 20′.

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House living room

The original Bitterroot Valley design pays homage to the many tried and true barns still in existence and dotted throughout the gorgeous Bitterroot Valley in southwestern Montana. These vernacular structures have weathered time and dutifully served the inhabitants of this serene valley for decades. The form of a barn, or gambrel style roof, originated from the necessity of housing livestock on the bottom floor of the barn, while being able to store as much hay as possible in the loft, all while maintaining pleasant proportions of wall to roof and simplifying construction, minimizing materials, and increasing functional performance ( metal roofs are easier to waterproof than wood walls). These principals can just as easily be applied to tiny houses!

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House kitchen1

Compared to a gable roof, the sleeping loft does indeed have more volume. Compared to a low slope shed roof, it has less volume, however, the average height of the house is less, there is less wall framing, and the trailer is not asymmetrically loaded-in other words, it tows a little better. In our opinion, the gambrel roof also adds some nice architectural interest that boxier shapes just can’t do-“Homey” as some might call it. 

Since budget was a higher priority than material choices, we were also able to empty the shop out of lots of leftover materials from previous projects. We had some rough cut lap cedar no one wanted, so we used that for the wainscot. We had quite a bit of reclaimed corrugated metal with a little bit more rust than most folks desired, so this made up the rest of the siding, except for the gambrel gables, where we used some pre-painted cedar shakes we acquired from a garage sale for pennies on the dollar. 

On the interior, we utilized some 1/8″ luan with a very birch-like appearance that had been ripped into 8″ widths for use on a previous SIP build but the customer later changed their mind. We had some other odds and ends laying around the shop that we were happy to part with and gave her a great deal on! All she wanted in the kitchen was simple cubbies under the counter and enough space for an under the counter fridge. The loft is accessed via stairs with simple cubbies and a closet for clothes storage. The living room was left open. She intends to do all of the painting/staining and accessorizing on her own, but as delivered it was move in ready. 

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House kitchen

The utilities in this house are the simplest we’ve ever installed. She did not require a shower, only a lovable loo compost toilet. We did leave for a shower to be installed in the future, if needed. The kitchen features a single bowl sink with a pump faucet that pulls water from a 6 gallon container below. It drains to daylight under the house. There is no other plumbing in the house! A pair of 30 lb propane tanks power a two burner cooktop and an RV furnace for heat in the winter. The house was wired for 110v AC with LED lights and a few receptacles. This is tied into a 1000 watt solar system with battery bank and an Outback Flex power station.

We were able to complete this house for $39k, and the solar added another $6,400. For those interested, a similar build that included a shower, hot water heater, full plumbing, and larger appliances would run more in the $46k range, pre-off grid options. 

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House stairs

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House bathroom

Bitterroot Valley Tiny House solar panels

 

 

 

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: barn roof tiny house, barn style tiny house, corrugated metal siding tiny house, gambrel roof tiny house, reclaimed tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

Turkey Flats 24′ Tiny House

June 15, 2016 By Greg Parham 8 Comments

Turkey Flats tiny house mountainsAn awesome gentleman in Grand Junction approached us about building this dream tiny home. He was having trouble finding a builder that could customize the house to his needs and stay within budget, until he found us of course! It’s a simple, yet effective layout with some very nice touches thrown in.  Turkey Flats is the name of Jon’s favorite hiking trail!

We started with a 24′ trailer chassis and stick framed a main 10/12 gable roof with a 3/13 dormer pitch above the sleeping loft. A side entry door leads into the large living space where there is an L-shaped couch that convert into a queen size bed for guests or daytime lounging. There is fully accessible storage below the couch.

TURKEY FLATS PLAN

From the living space you can go up the storage stairs into a large and bright sleeping loft, or walk into the kitchen space which features a long granite countertop with undermount sink, a 24″ gas range, and ample wall space for shelf/upper cabinet customization. Opposite the counter is a 10 cubic foot fridge with a pantry space and a large closet. There is a combo washer/dryer on your right before heading into the bathroom.

In the washroom is a simple 32″ shower, a Nature’s Head compost toilet, and a small wall mount sink trimmed out with barn wood. The bathroom is closed off with a sliding barn door. Jon opted for clean white walls, a beetle kill ceiling, and red oak flooring, stairs, and built ins. The cabinets are stock Hampton Bay Hickory with the sand colored granite being hand selected from a local stone yard.

This tiny house weighs approximately 10,000 lbs dry and pricing starts at $64k for those wanting something similar.

While we have some nice exterior photos, we are waiting for interior photos to come in. In the meantime, please enjoy some videos we put together, one of the delivery of the house over the world famous Red Mountain Pass, and the other a short tour.

 

Turkey Flats 24 tiny house exterior mountains

Turkey Flats 24 tiny house couch

Turkey Flats 24 tiny house kitchen 1

Turkey Flats 24 tiny house granite countertops

Turkey Flats 24 tiny house loft

 

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: 24 foot tiny house, custom tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, tiny house red mountain, turkey flats tiny house

The Mac Shack

May 28, 2016 By Greg Parham 6 Comments

Plans can be purchased for this design HERE

There is a super cool chica living in McKinleyville, CA with the last name of McDermott. This is her Mac Shack!

The Mac Shack Tiny House exterior

Based on the same 14′ foundation of the Upslope, we included a bathroom in this build and personalized it to meet her needs. It weighed in at 4600 lbs dry on a single 7k axle. Costs for this build as pictured came in at $31k.

Notable features are rusty corrugated wainscot on the exterior, cedar t&g main interior walls, handscraped engineered flooring, barnwood accent walls and shelving, a thick live edge countertop, 20″ slide in range, loft storage above the bathroom, stairs to access the loft, a Hobbit woodstove, a sheltered fold down porch, and a handcrafted Dutch door.

The Mac Shack tiny house living room

The Mac Shack tiny house kitchen

The Mac Shack tiny house spice rack

Mac Shack tiny house hammock

The Mac Shack Sleeping Loft

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: 14 foot tiny house, 14' tiny house, california tiny house, custom tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, rustic tiny house, single axle tiny house

The Upslope Tiny House

May 15, 2016 By Greg Parham 13 Comments

The Upslope Tiny HouseA hotshot firefighter living in Idaho Springs, CO ordered this very tiny, yet suave bachelor pad to live in on his property up at 9,200 feet. He owns a main house and just wanted to live simply in this small unit while renting out the larger house. Because the main house had bathroom facilities, Nick opted to save money and space by eliminating the bathroom in this tiny house.

The Upslope Tiny House interior

He was very drawn to our East Austin rental, and also the Salsa Box by Shelterwise but being a man of good stature, needed a little bit more room, but still had a tight budget. We began playing around with a 14′ model, a little larger than the 12′, but still small enough for a single axle trailer to help keep costs down. Also small enough to utilize some different construction methods that would further reduce weight and labor costs. In the end, we were left with a house that weighed in at 4,400 lbs (single axle trailer is rated for 7,000#) and sold for around $25,500.

the Upslope tiny house entry

The exterior is defined by the simple shed roof, the Up Slope, if you will. Cedar tongue and groove comprise the siding while strategically sized and placed black vinyl windows offer light, view, and ventilation. A large portion of the rear of trailer is glazing, a 60×60 window to be exact. The views on the property are spectacular, and we aimed to take full advantage of them.

The Upslope Tiny House view

Other notable features include winding stairs to access the sleeping loft, a woodstove, a small closet partitioned off by barnwood, a simple kitchen with a cooktop and gravity fed water system using exposed pipes, and a fold down porch that is protected by a cantilevered roof. The Upslope brand of beer out of Boulder, CO also happens to be Nick’s favorite imbibement. We have no relation to Upslope other than we enjoy their beer as well, and it’s my understanding they like the house!

The Upslope tiny house stairs

The Upslope tiny house porch

While we don’t have plans for this exact layout, you can purchase plans for the Crestone design which is very very similar.

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: 14 foot tiny house, mountain tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, shed roof tiny house, Upslope tiny house

20′ Front Range Shell Build

March 15, 2016 By Greg Parham 7 Comments

An awesome family in Fort Collins commissioned us to build this 20′ Front Range model (aptly named!) to use as a vacation home up on some land they owned in the mountains. They had a limited budget, but were ready to put in some sweat equity to finish the house on their own, so we focused on what we could get complete within their budget and skill level. The result was a very well crafted and comfortable shell that they have since completed and could not be happier with.

The level of completion on our end is what I would call a 3/4 shell. We stick framed the structure on top of a custom trailer,  installed windows, metal roofing, siding, and an exterior door. The structure was then wired and spray foamed before receiving 1/4″ paint grade plywood walls. Cork flooring and beetle kill ceiling as well as a beetle kill wainscot round out the major interior materials. We fabricated and installed two L-shaped lofts from steel tubing and decked those with more beetle kill t&g. A small woodstove was installed for a heat source. The final step left in the budget was to install a closet and partitions for the bathroom area. Here are some photos of the house right before delivery.

Front Range tiny house shell

Front Range 20' shell

The customer was gracious enough to share some nearly finished photos of the house after a few months of working on it themselves:

 

20' Front Range Shell interior1

20' Front Range Shell int2

20' Front Range Shell int3

20' Front Range Shell woods

Filed Under: Tiny House Design Tagged With: 20' tiny house, colorado tiny house, colorado tiny house builder, custom tiny house, Front Range tiny house, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses, Tiny House, tiny house shell

A River Runs Through It: Custom Gooseneck Tiny House

February 17, 2015 By Greg Parham 83 Comments

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House

A gentleman that I went to college and used to race bikes with back in my days of collegiate cycling contacted me last year. He and his wife Krissy were interested in having me build a tiny house for their young family to live in so they could simplify life, pay off their debt quicker, and start saving up for their ultimate dream of buying a sailboat and sailing ’round the world. With a toddler, a dog, and a cat comprising this family, as well as a second child on the way, they knew they would need something on the larger end of the tiny house spectrum, preferably 32′ or longer.

While the 30′ bumper pull tiny house was completed back in December ’14, I wasn’t sure how I felt about doing a 32′, especially knowing that they would eventually be towing it themselves from their current location in El Paso near Ft. Bliss to some place further north where Steve could be a park ranger after his time in the reserve was up. I asked if they would be open to a gooseneck design, partially because I had yet to do one and really wanted to, but also because I knew it would be easier to tow than a bumper pull of equal length. After drumming up some quick sketches, they said “sure!” And so started another fun, innovative, creative tiny house build here in the San Juan Mountains.

I like to name all the houses I build, as does most everyone else, so I asked them what they wanted to name the house, and after a little thought Steve got back to me: “Rio Grande”. It was a fitting name in so many ways. The headwaters of the Rio Grande lie only about 70 miles away from Durango in the San Juans, just on the other side of the Continental Divide. From high up in the alpine, snow melt travels south into New Mexico, meandering by Sante Fe and Albuquerque, before paralleling I-25 down to Las Cruces and then to El Paso. Most of the drive from Durango to El Paso follows the river closely.  The river is always ebbing and flowing, changing with the seasons, reacting to the demands we humans have placed upon it. Just like life.

We took this river theme and found ways to artistically incorporate it into the design. The overall shape of the tiny house with the gooseneck, the changing rooflines, and a shed roof that gently drops off towards the aft invoke a feeling of flow. We took a propane torch to the cedar siding to brand on the shape of a flowing, growing river. Making “water” with fire. It’s awesome. Steve and Krissy collected river rocks, which we inlaid into a “river” that we let into the wood countertop and then applied epoxy over. I was ale to collect some river willow and use it for the guardrail over the gooseneck bedroom. Everything really turned out great.

I will stop babbling let the pictures and video do the rest of the talking. First, here are some quick stats:

  • 24′ deck with 8′ of floor over gooseneck for a total length of 32′. Typical 7′-5″ width 13′-6″ tall at ridge
  • (2) 7000# axles with brakes, GVWR 14,000#
  • actual dry weight 11,500#
  • 218 sq ft main level living ( including front gooseneck), 70 sq ft of sleeping loft
  • 36″ reclaimed front door with a fold down porch, 24″ rear door made from reclaimed wood and glass
  • Custom river rock inlaid counters at 41″ height for tall people!
  • reclaimed picture windows in the main loft
  • propane range and on demand water heater
  • full size fridge, full size bathtub, washer/dryer combo
  • 110v shore power
  • on grid water system with hose hookup
  • Nature’s Head composting toilet
  • greywater drain system
  • Full size 30×60 bath tub
  • Woodstove primary heat
  • Mini split A/C (not shown at time of photography)
  • approx sale price: $73,000
  • time to construct: 6 weeks (from day of trailer arrival)

DSC_3679

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House dining

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House woodstove

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House kitchen

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House custom countertop

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House vanity

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House full size tub

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House stairs

Rio Grande Gooseneck Tiny House loft

 

Filed Under: Company News, Tiny House Design Tagged With: 32' tiny house, El Paso Tiny House, Gooseneck Tiny House, Rio Grand Tiny House, Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

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